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[happyconcacti]

It has been cut, and they are calloused enough to plant soon. There was a brown scab, but I don't feel like it was rotten.

Yeah, I wasn't quite sure. As long as it wasn't squishy to the touch, it probably wasn't rotting.


That one hybrid that I posted a photo of could use some more girth, so maybe I should be more aggressive with the light next year? My plan for the rest is to put them in a well lit room with no water over the winter.

It really wasn't getting much direct sun for the past month, so that probably had something to do with it. I've heard conflicting advice on other forums about how much sun trichs can tolerate, so what's your advice on that?

Well, like you, I've read conflicting things on the internet.

So I tend to go by what the Arizona growers tell me. One of them (he's been growing Trichs for 30+ years) is a firm believer in "as much sunlight as possible". He's okay with them turning yellow during the Summer months and they'll turn back to being green in the Fall, Winter, Spring. Keep in mind, this is Arizona. He says that if you water them enough during the Summer, they won't yellow as much. He always tells me that they just won't reach maximum diameter unless they get full sunlight. On the other hand, he has a few big ones under a Palo Verde tree that grow magnificent blue columns, but they're much thinner compared to the Trichs in full sun. This is drastically apparent with his terscheckii's: the ones in shade have diameters of about 9" where the ones in full sun are about 14" in diameter.

With younger plants, it's important to acclimate them to sunlight. They can burn. I had really good success this Summer by starting them off in early Spring (after the last freeze) in about 50% shade. Over the course of 2 weeks I moved them further from the tree, reducing the shade each time I moved them. After about 2 weeks, I had them in 8+ hours of full light. They grew nice n' fat.

Often times, I think people are a little too protective of their Trichs and don't go for full sun.

The other AZ grower, wraps his big plants in 30% shade cloth during the Summer months. Again, this is AZ where temps regularly get over 110F. I'll be meeting with him soon and will report back with more information about what he does with his younger Trichs.

That one hybrid that I posted a photo of could use some more girth, so maybe I should be more aggressive with the light next year?

Yes, I think so. You'll be in for a surprise

My plan for the rest is to put them in a well lit room with no water over the winter.

I've read about a grower on the East Coast (MS_Smith) that keeps his Trichs in his garage with: no light, no water, and a dehumidifier to keep them very dry. So you might consider no light as well so they completely go into dormancy instead of etiolating.



I hope this helps!
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[JMZ]

Thanks for all the help. That cactus wasn't really squishy, but that brown patch at the base could have been rot. It seems like a lot of problems with cacti present as a brown spot which make the cause hard for me to destingiish. I've read that bridgesii is more prone to rot, and the rain and humidity here in Georgia may have been too much for it. I think I'll need to shield it from the rain next summer. For winter, I think I'll keep some in that bedroom, put some in the garage, and put some in a dark and unheated part of my basement. I'll know what works out the best when spring rolls around.

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[happyconcacti]

Just make sure they've gone into dormancy first: if the tips don't have the neon green color they haven't gone in yet.

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