Oh boy this sucks;)! Euphorbia ingens are cold hardy down to about 28F. So from now on these will need to be protected during the coldest days and nights. I think you've learned that lesson;). Somebody should have made you aware of this when you purchased them. You live in a zone where the temps get down to 10F-15F so the seller should have least tried to sell you frost cloths at the time of purchase. I'm sure those Euphorbias were not cheap.

This is tough a one because they're big and the pics aren't very clear. So it's hard to tell what's going on. The areas that look bad are they mushy? Regardless if they are mushy or not there is frost damage. The growth tip is destroyed. So those parts will no longer grow, but will branch on the sides:). So one of two things will happen or a little bit of both. The areas that have been damaged will either dry up like this.

Or the damaged areas will get mushy and spread. Luckily your Euphorbias are on the bigger side so you can kind of wait and see. Keep a close eye on them. Watch for changes. I honestly wouldn't chop quite yet. Wait and see how things play out.

If you notice things take a turn for the worse you will have to cut:(.

E. ingens can take temps down to 28F, but for most of my plants I don't like to let them go as low as they can go. At least without some major protection.

Any growth tips you see that don't have any damage cover with styrofoam cups or similar. This will help protect them. Heck I would even cover the damaged tips;). Then cover with the frost cloth.

I know I didn't give that much advice, but this is exactly what I would do. I just think if you go and chop now it may be a little premature. I mean there is definitely damage, but I would just wait and see what the Euphorbias will do.

Best to post your pics within your post as people often don’t bother checking ones stored within other viewers. There’s the photo uploading icon below to do that :-)

Gill

Hi Kara, Thank you for the info! .. I am out of town now so my poor guys are just going to have to keep on suffering :( thankfully, the weather has been much nicer though we have a couple more days next week where the low is 27-28. :(

Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do for now!

Regarding your question, yes they were all mushy... all of the tips were mushy and yellow when I left town on Saturday--the main bodies, at least the lower half was still rock solid... so I guess that means they're not fully kaput -- yet.

I didn't buy these guys, well, not explicitly. They came with the house. I wish i knew more about them! Someone else suggested they are Cereus Cacti and not Euphorbia... either way, not doing great in the weather.

I'm guessing once the weather warms up into spring, I'll need to do some amputating. Will return to this forum for more advice and also better prepare myself for next winter!

Per Greenclaws suggestion, I've embedded the photos in this post now (i didn't realize you could do that on this system before!)

Before:

After (just a pic of the first two--the shortest one survived the frost the best it seems):

I already amputated the arms off the middle one b/c they were totally saggy and fallen over and I didn't want them to weigh down the rest of the plant...

Every time I see them I get very distraught and a lump in my throat :( If anyone has any advice on how I can revive them and their arms come the spring, please let me know!