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[NN-TNT]

Hello everyone! I am looking to find what plants I may grow in my area that contain our mighty friend. I am thinking Acacia Acuminata ssp. Burkittii due to frost tolerance, she could be kept in the house during the winter.

I am also wondering about cacti, but I am unsure if we discuss that here. I'll have to do a bit more reading

Anyways, I'm zone 3b (Canada), and I would really like to know if there's anything natively growing that I may be a "chaperon" to? I am worried about sustainable future practices... Things have changed quite a bit in  6 years.

1 Like spractral likes this.

[Auxin]

As far as natives go, in zone 3b canada I think your out of luck.
Acacias could be grown as large bonsai brought indoors for winter. The various forms of A. acuminata would be best, I imagine. Avoid tropicals.
Desmanthus illinoensis is variably ranked as hardy down to zone 4 or 5, so lets say 4b. Heavy mulching can give you a whole extra zone ranking (just like growing in a pot looses a whole zone). If I were 3b one thing I would try would be to grow D. illinoensis and then after it had died down into the ground in the fall I would cut the stems down to a foot high so the location of the plant was still obvious and then pile leaves over the root zone, then some grass clippings, then sticks to hold everything in place. So each plant would have extra insulation to keep the ground from freezing as deep as normal. In early spring I'd remove all that while the nights were still occasionally freezing.
Peganum harmala is hardy to zone 5b, for fun I'd try the above insulation thing but with a larger pile of stuff, and I wouldnt be surprised if it failed.
Cacti are easy. you just need pots and somewhere non-freezing to store them without watering them all winter. I partially plant the pots in the ground in the spring so they dont drain too fast. In the fall I stop watering about 3-4 weeks before bringing indoors to reduce etiolation. In summer you can water Trichocereus cacti every other day and fertilize them like theyre tomatoes. Lophophoras are apparently explicitly legal to grow in canada, you probably wont want to treat them like tomatoes unless theyre grafted to Trichocereus, Hylocereus, jusbertii, etc.

1 Like SKUNK likes this.

[SKUNK]

Greenhouses, Cold Frames & Indoor Lighting will be huge assets. 
I'm growing in the same zone up here in Canada.    Not much more to add to what has previously been said above.

Once your able to join the fun around here hit me up and we can someone trading and sharing.  I have an abundance of interesting things.

SkunK

[NN-TNT]

Greenhouses, Cold Frames & Indoor Lighting will be huge assets. 
I'm growing in the same zone up here in Canada.    Not much more to add to what has previously been said above.

Once your able to join the fun around here hit me up and we can someone trading and sharing.  I have an abundance of interesting things.

SkunK

Thanks Skunk, I can't wait! I'd always love some gifts. I am a medical cannabis grower (licensed, end of discussion now) so I have lights and whatnot, and recently have taught myself organic gardening practices, so I am really interested in acacia. Eventually Loph. shall be planted alongside my aloe.  Sounds like I need some bundleflower seeds:)  How would I go about adding to the website to get promoted? Ill check FAQ in the morning.

[NN-TNT]

I also seem to have got my hands on coneflower, so I may be willing to trade these once I am able to!

[NN-TNT]

As far as natives go, in zone 3b canada I think your out of luck.
Acacias could be grown as large bonsai brought indoors for winter. The various forms of A. acuminata would be best, I imagine. Avoid tropicals.
Desmanthus illinoensis is variably ranked as hardy down to zone 4 or 5, so lets say 4b. Heavy mulching can give you a whole extra zone ranking (just like growing in a pot looses a whole zone). If I were 3b one thing I would try would be to grow D. illinoensis and then after it had died down into the ground in the fall I would cut the stems down to a foot high so the location of the plant was still obvious and then pile leaves over the root zone, then some grass clippings, then sticks to hold everything in place. So each plant would have extra insulation to keep the ground from freezing as deep as normal. In early spring I'd remove all that while the nights were still occasionally freezing.
Peganum harmala is hardy to zone 5b, for fun I'd try the above insulation thing but with a larger pile of stuff, and I wouldnt be surprised if it failed.
Cacti are easy. you just need pots and somewhere non-freezing to store them without watering them all winter. I partially plant the pots in the ground in the spring so they dont drain too fast. In the fall I stop watering about 3-4 weeks before bringing indoors to reduce etiolation. In summer you can water Trichocereus cacti every other day and fertilize them like theyre tomatoes. Lophophoras are apparently explicitly legal to grow in canada, you probably wont want to treat them like tomatoes unless theyre grafted to Trichocereus, Hylocereus, jusbertii, etc.

Shucks. I've been eying a patch of what I do believe to be th common reed. I was going to attempt to clone it, for study purposes, but it seems to be basically useless from the reading I've done, just plenty of hearsay evidence claiming usefulness...
Acacias would be extremely interesting to me now that I am aware of organic practices. I regret to inform you that I had a local friend gift me 3 Acacia Confusa  seeds last Chrismas, and I wasn't ready, since I was only using hydroponic methods at the time. I feel that was extremely ungrateful and it eats away at me a bit.. He gifted them to me with the purest of intentions..
I am a very bull headed person, and when I get focused on one thing, I often neglect my other responsibilities. What is this? I'd love to work on it..

D. illinoensis sounds like it would be worth pursuing, cold frames and whatnot, or alongside in my 12/12 room with my HPS'. I'll look in to light requirements.

I actually have some peganum harmala seeds, would they be able to be planted from the stock i have?.. I'd link but thats forgiven, but they are easy to find down by the 'bay, so go down by the water and check it out if need be.

I think some lopho. seeds are in order to be located <3 I have a room with lower light levels and warm 24/7. It's perfect for a spare shelf Grafting to Tric. increases growth rate exponentially, correct? Thanks for the tips!

[Auxin]

Commercial Peganum seeds should sprout just fine. Soak some and try sprouting in a petri dish with a wet paper towel circle or a ziplock bag with a wet paper towel.
Most (all?) seed vendors that sell Peganum seed for growing just buy it from commercial sellers and repackage it. And vastly increase the price, lol.

[NN-TNT]

So I'll have three acacias types starting soon, more photos to follow.

Acacia Acuminata  Narrow and Wide (bought wide by accident)
acacia confusa

Acuminata narrow is going to be getting a lot of attention;) My partner thinks they are beautiful also.


Also, I did research, and Peyote can be grafted and grown very quickly. Along with san pedro afterwards to graft the large grandfather to. This seems like an extremely self sufficient way of growing these plants. It would also make sharing dead simple!