Unknown Ceroid

[Mike P]

Anyone recognise this?

Thanks
Mike

[MikeT]

Pachycereus pringlei

[Mike P]

Thanks Mike. So not likely to outgrow its allotted space any time soon.

[MikeT]

So not likely to outgrow its allotted space any time soon.

Unless you plant it out in a greenhouse bed and feed it Miracle-gro all summer...

[Mike P]

Interestingly it was planted in a bed before I acquired it. It doesn't have very many roots as it put up quite a fight to stay put!

[MikeT]

if you look at the recent post on Sheffield Botanical Gardens there are 2 Pachycereus pringlei plants, towards the front of the bed (right hand side in the photo), showing how much faster they grow with good root run

[Martin]

Even in a large pot they are slow I find

Mine tends to wake up late in the summer and does not really start to grow until around July then you get a small set of new spines at the top then it stops again in August.

I have tried keeping it wetter, dryer etc etc and can not find a combination that gets ore then one flush of growth out of it

Anyone else found this with this species ?

How do I get it to grow all summer I start watering with the rest in March and stop in late September but it does not make much difference with this one

My plant is about 70cm tall and my similar sized and potted Carnegiea gigantea actually grows more throughout the summer !

[MikeT]

Even in a large pot they are slow I find

I find the same, mine grows for a short time and doesn't add much height. I think it needs a free root run to grow at a faster pace. Mine's staying in a pot, though. I don't have anywhere to plant it out.

[Mike P]

It didn't seem to mind the cool greenhouse last winter but then it was quite mild overall. Would it be happier in the house over winter?

[MikeT]

It didn't seem to mind the cool greenhouse last winter but then it was quite mild overall. Would it be happier in the house over winter?

It's said to be not cold hardy. I've always brought mine indoors over winter, from the days when I didn't heat the GH at all; I now have heating which is used to keep the GH just about frost free, but it still comes inside under the loft velux window for the winter.

Does anyone have experience of exposing this plant to sub-zero temperatures? If so, with what result?