The summer has been quite nice to these cactus, very hot days and very little rain. So much as I have been watering them every week or so when we do not get any rain. Though in the recent days we have got a good amount of rain, but for awhile it was quite dry. And even the cactus were showing signs of dehydration, when the cactus gets wrinkly they are lacking the needed water. So it was time to give them some until the rains took back over.
Since transplanting, these cactus have shown a large amount of growth. It is time to get them as much light as possible, so they were moved outside. Previously they were living in the green house, and that is a fine place to keep them for awhile. But its more work keeping them out there as I have to water them and keep fans going to keep temperatures in a healthy range. So I figured they would do well outside and seems like they are happy, with no signs of shock upon moving them outdoors.
Seeing how far they they have come along is amazing. I really like looking back at my previous Hive posts and seeing the progress these plants have made.
This spring and summer has been quite intense, so much my cactus got sunburned. Never seen that before, maybe the transplant stress plus hot summer has done that. Hopefully they will adjust over time and not get burned.
Lots of new growth, as soon as they had more dirt those roots noticed and started growing more growth up top.
Two paddles have formed on this cactus. I hope they can handle the winds around here. We have got up to 50-60MPH winds from time to time so we shall see how these taller cactus do over time.
Seems the pricky pears are the most hardy of the cactus, they have survived even though stressed so much.
The winkling can be seen above, a sign of dehydration.
While I was moving this cactus from the green house to outside the cactus paddle cracked from being moved. Hopefully it will heal itself.
One of the prickly pear fragilis broke off, so I placed it in a empty spot in the basket. Hopefully it will shoot down roots and grow a new cactus.
Curious how they do with the winters here, they are cold hardy down to USDA zone 7 so I think they will be fine. Though the mix of wind and ice one day may be very damaging. We shall see, they are quite hardy so I am high hopes for their survival.
Glad I was able to save them, and give them fresh liners and more dirt grow. They seemed to have adapted to this and are now growing fast.
Glad I added some slow release fertilizer in the baskets as well. I think its helping them out, and cactus are acid loving so maybe it also helped get their PH right. I see some flowers forming, hard to say if they will stick around. The plants may just drop them as they are still adjusting to their new homes.
But its possible I could get a flower from these, and maybe even a fruit. Eventually though I should have many tunas aka cactus fruit. If you have never had any, they taste like a cross between a watermelon and strawberry with lots of seeds. It requires special care to eat, and you must get rid of the spines. But inside is a very tasty fruit. So I am looking forward to getting them once the plants are ready.