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Cultivating Cactus Indoors

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Aiwass

Aiwass

Rising Star
I’m wondering if anyone has any advice pertaining to the cultivation of cacti in regions that have cold winters not suitable for species of cactus. I have just recently rooted two cuttings in the extremely hot summer we have been experiencing here and I’m wondering how I could keep them alive indoors during the winter. I’m not interested in using grow lights that require a large amount of energy (and also money) but I’m curious about maybe LED light fixtures or something like that. If anyone here successfully cultivates cacti indoors I would appreciate any advice on how to properly go about this.
 
IME, without proper grow-lights, hibernation is the only way to go. Stop watering around early September, and put in a dark, cool place at start of October. Bring out into a shady spot around early March, and gradually increase light levels for the first month, to wake 'em up, and only after that give them a good drenching.

Like you, I had rooted cuttings by mid-summer, and I kept them on a windowsill through their first winter. They did grow, but diameter was reduced (etiolated) because they had heat, but insufficient light, so now they have a narrow section just above the base, but below the wider, proper, summer-only growth of the last few years.

Cactus Care for Northern Climates

Not quite for you Australians, but I would love any input. ~Michael~ ********* Cactus Care for Northern Climates By Michael S. Smith July 21, 2006 *Copyright ©2006 by Michael S. Smith. All rights reserved. Not to be printed or copied and distributed for personal, commercial, and/or financial gain...
www.shaman-australis.com
 
I agree, if you want to avoid very ugly, and hard to harden off, etiolated growth its best to stop watering them as much as a month before the first freeze and then move them into a more or less shady cool room or above-freezing-all-winter greenhouse or garage to hibernate just before the freezes start.
In the spring be careful to avoid sunburn when you move them back out.
 

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Auxin that is an epic indoor garden. Aiwass you might want to look into grafting cactus onto Pereskiopsis. You can grow these indoor or outdoor but they seem to do well indoor under blue and red LED lights. These are pretty low cost, low power and low heat LED's that can go a long way in a small indoor space if set up properly. Search Pereskiopsis grafts of Peyote and San Pedro varieties and I'm sure you can find some cool images and set ups.
 
Thank you so much guys, I really appreciate your advice. I asked about this because I had pretty much zero knowledge on growing cacti and I simply put a couple cuttings in some substrate and put them outside, to my surprise they actually rooted. I also want to ask, they have about 2 inches of roots coming out and I haven’t watered them yet. Should I go ahead and give them a good drink? I’m only asking because I had one cactus a couple years ago grow about one inch long roots and I watered them once, this resulted in the cutting rotting.
 
If you have Trichocereus cuttings and they have callused over properly then it's fine to give them a good drenching. They are not like the average conception of desert cacti, they are considerably more tolerant of moisture than one might at first expect.
 
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