Well, it's time to find out how well some of my cactii will handle the outdoors. After last weeks heatwave here in Sydney, actually broke records as the longest one recorded, I started noticing how some of my potted columnars started growing eoliated from lack of direct sunlight.
So to combat this I've decided to speed up my plans of putting them fully outdoors, originally planned on getting the bed ready for next spring...that way I could do the digging during the cool of winter rather than on a 33C degree day (90F or so) that we had today.

So I got all the things needed today, or so I thought as I didn't get enough scoria to put down as a base and will have to go back for more tomorrow, and started digging. Right now the frame is in place and as soon as I get another bag or 2 of scoria down in the bottom I'll start filling it back in again with a mix of the original soil, some regular potting mix, cource sand and perlite.

It's 120cm by 60cm now but come winter I'll extend it into an "L" shape going almost all the way to the fence.

Going into the bed tomorrow will be the following.
P. Pachycladus
C. peruvianus
T. Bridgesii
T. pachanoi
E. grusonii
N. leninghausii
N. magnificus
And possibly my Echinopsis hybrid aswell as an M. compressa.

A normal C. peruvianus gets very large very quick (once it's established a decent root network) - will you have enough room in this garden bed?

In fact C. peruvianus will almost always do just fine in ordinary garden soil.

I'm sure it wouldn't have enough room in this little raised bed in the long run but it's only going to be in this spot for 7 months or so. Come the cool season I'm extending this bed along the brick wall almost all the way to the colourbond fence, plan on leaving just enough space between the fence and bed that I can get a lawnmower in there. And I'm also planning on extending it about 2 or so meter along the fence and that bit will be wider than the current little rectangle, virtually an "L" with a fat bottom.

The C. peruvianus will be relocated to a spot in the bottom of that "L" along with some Opuntias, and the other columnars will be spread out along the brick wall. Apart from the ones already mentioned I also have a C. strausii that will be put there aswell.

Not to worried about space in that bed, I'm sure they all will have room to grow for quite a few years before it will be crowded. More worried about the bed I have out in the pool area. There I have one Aloe plicatilis, one C. peruvianus and one M. geometrizans all planted within 50 cm of eachother, that will be a squeeze in a few years I think!

Well, checking the soil in the bed this afternoon it turned out to be drier than the soil in the pots the columars were planted in. And that's even though it's just on a week since I watered them last and it's been raining almost constantly all of yesterday.

So all 4 has been planted out now, waiting a few days before I toss out the small ones...want to get up some shadecloth to block the midday sun first.



As for the winter extensions, here's the plan if you excuse the MS paint artwork.

That will extend this 1.2m long bed by another 2.4m along the brick wall and by another 2 or so meters along the fence.

Likely going to curse the fact that I didn't do more to keep the kikuyu grass out but I'll just have to live with it now and keep the weeding up.

Put the rest of the planned ones out today, got overcast days for the coming week according to the prognsis but I'm going to keep a close eye on them and if they start showing hints of sunburn the shadecloth goes up.


Left to right:
N. leninghausii
E. grusonii
N. magnificus
M. compressa
And my Echinopsis hybrid.

Also found the first casualty of likely overwatering, nice clump of M. glasii started rotting from the center. Think I might of saved some of the pups that were furthest from the rot, both bodies and roots still looked and felt ok.

Looking good mate

Finally got around to start getting what I need to turn my temporary raised bed into something permanent. Starting to sink in just how much work I've got ahead of me now

Temporary bed dwarfed by the beginnings of the new border, temp measurements are 120cm x 60cm.


Heading back to the gardening place tomorrow to pick up bricks for a second layer, could only fit 40 bricks at a time into my little hatchback and just that near bottomed the suspension out
Main bulk of the work will come after I get home from holidays in August, diggin out for and concreting a footing for the bricks and thenreplacing the old topsoil and grass for a sandy loam mixed with dg.

Probably be aiming towards a second bed being made aswell in another spot, that one aimed more towards columnars and some opuntia's.

Also redone an older flowerbed in the yard from being overrun by "flapjacks" to be 99% cactii.
Before

After

Nice work, I'm really impressed. I like the chilli plant sneaking in there too...

That's the "before" image though mate
Only 2 things still alive from that image is the M. geometrizans, the Aloe plicatilis and the Aloe vera. The Aloe vera has been relocated to a big pot as it was just getting to large for that bed.
Chilli plant was taken out a long time ago though as it got scorched to death from the sun last summer. It's tried to grow back several times since though as lots of the chillies it grew fell off and germinated.

Here's what the bloody flapjacks went and did before I took a knife to them.


And what the cute little Aloe vera turned into, that's a 60cm pot it's sitting in!

Those flapjacks can get very invasive... that said, I reckon for speedy growth and their striking colouring they are hard to beat in a large C+S garden. That Aloe vera is going well too. Your climate is obviously highly favourable to these plants.