My Peruvian Torches

[MachienDome]

Some pics of my Peruvian Torches! I love these little guys! They were grown from seed but I forgot where I got the seeds from. Once they were about 1cm tall I transplanted them into bigger pots that were about 4-5cm wide. After getting about 5-10 cm tall they got transplanted again into bigger pots and then on to these for the 3rd up-potting. They are so fun to grow (it was my first time!) and are surprisingly resiliant. I've learned so much about them, things like consistency in environmental variables is VERY important. They will actually switch how the spines develop based on cool/hot cycles or even when watering schedules change. They are heavily linked to their environment in the way that they are shaped but even despite near-freezing temps for a short time still pop right back up and keep on going. They are so fun and interesting to grow!

FYI the measuring stick pictured is in centimeters.

Question: Does anyone have experience with getting bulb-raised cacti used to direct sunlight? How soon can it happen and how do you go about doing it? What are you techniques. I was using about 500 watts to grow them and they are rather thin...plus when I put them in sunlight for the first time it killed a few. As old as they are (a few years) they are not well climitized to sunlight and are rather thin (a few cm width). How does one "plump" them up as soon as possible?

 

[oetzi13]

wow! those are quite the vision snakes
Its best not to keep them inside after they are 2" tall. At that point you should move them into sunlight, very slowly.
First just a couple hours in morning or evening sun, then increase every week an hour or two until they can handle it.
Also, they will start to grow thicker on top so you will have to cut them pretty soon, close to the base. Due to lack of sunlight you have 'elongation' happening.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Question: Does anyone have experience with getting bulb-raised cacti used to direct sunlight? How soon can it happen and how do you go about doing it? What are you techniques. I was using about 500 watts to grow them and they are rather thin...plus when I put them in sunlight for the first time it killed a few. As old as they are (a few years) they are not well climitized to sunlight and are rather thin (a few cm width). How does one "plump" them up as soon as possible?

Yeah they are pretty etiolated ('elongat[ed]', as oetzi13 said.) I would suggest moving them to a bright windowsill before setting them somewhere outside. When outside they'll do better if they have shade during the brightest part of the day - although the weather we've had recently in my part of the world would have made that a moot point! (My outdoor tricho's loved it, btw. They have been doing better than they did during the heatwave back in June.)

As far as fattening up goes, even if they do topple over from the weight (which they will), the stems can simply be left horizontal in a long planting trough. They will produce numerous pups along their length while rooting on the underside. This is a simple method of propagation - once the pups have grown to 15cm or so, they can be cut and subsequently rooted. The side shoots tend to be quite handsome and this makes them ideal gifts.

 

[MachienDome]

Thanks everyone for the input! I'll do a much better job getting them acclimated to the sunlight next time I start some, which may be very soon! They do have quite a bit of etoliation as I kept them warm in the wintertime and in direct sunlight ...which you shouldnt do apparently.