Hi I have an indoor garden of about 16 or so cacti and succulents under artificial light. The light runs from 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM every day and is 20k lumens over 6-8 sq ft with T5 high output full spectrum fluorescent bulbs. As seen https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/san-francisco the sun shines from ~7:30 AM to ~6:10 PM at this time of year.
Now what I believe is more relevant - since my plants are indoors the coldest temperatures they are exposed to are probably around 45-55 °F at night and I close the door next to the plants around 12:30 AM. Will my plants ever enter dormancy considering these conditions? If not should I withhold fertilizing during what would normally be a period of dormancy? Also if not how much to water them during that period?
Thanks!
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riverofwind
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Well, I don't know about all cacti and succulents. For adenium or desert rose, it is easy to tell if they go dormant. Adenium comes from South Africa where the winters are dry. They will start to shed their leaves and that is when watering can be backed off. If it does not rain a lot, I can sometimes get away with leaving them outside and they will keep their leaves as long as they are getting light ( My winter days are just shy of 11 hours so it is possible to keep adeniums in leaf all year). If it starts to rain often and I have to bring them under cover, they will drop leaves and I have to reduce watering to just enough to keep them alive. This is especially true of the older plants that have a belly. Younger plants and cuttings that don't have bellies can handle a little more water. They will be put out again next year when the rainy season ends and will grow back new leaves.
As with most indoor plants, cooler weather will slow growth so if the house is cooler than summer time, then the plants will be growing slower. All plants should be watered only as needed. I fertilize my cactus and succulents with osmocote so I only fertilize once a year in the spring.
As with most indoor plants, cooler weather will slow growth so if the house is cooler than summer time, then the plants will be growing slower. All plants should be watered only as needed. I fertilize my cactus and succulents with osmocote so I only fertilize once a year in the spring.
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riverofwind
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- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 1:47 am
The best thing to do is to check the soil moisture with your finger. In cooler weather the soil will dry slower. If the plants are slowing down they take up less water. Not knowing what other conditions you have, I.e. humidity, type of pot and how pot bound each plant is, it would be hard to make any hard and fast rules about how far you can go. I would wait a day more and recheck, the plant will tell you if it is ok or not. Extend one more day at a time. If I don't water my citrus for 4 days it tells me by curling and dropping leaves.
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