# Can a Cactus survive in cold weather?



## boneboy96 (Dec 15, 2009)

I took some clippings if a cactus plant a while back and stuck them in some potting soil and they rooted and started showing new growth and started producing some little tiny white flowers.  Lately the weather has been cooling off so I thought I'd take them inside and put them in window light instead of being outside on the front porch.  I noticed after a few weeks indoors that they are not looking too good now.   Can they survive the outdoor weather or should I just give up on them?     I don't know much about growing cactus plants.


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## Twenty five ought six (Dec 15, 2009)

Most deserts have extremely cold winters.

Prickly pear is Georgia's only native cactus, and it does very well.

Only concern I would have about them being outside the last couple of weeks is TOO MUCH water.


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## Scott Rogers (Dec 15, 2009)

It depends on what type of catus. The desert gets every bit as cold if not colder then Georgia !!


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## dawg2 (Dec 15, 2009)

Scott Rogers said:


> It depends on what type of cactus. The desert gets every bit as cold if not colder then Georgia !!



I would agree.  If it is a prickly pear, then it will be fine outside.


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## southwind (Dec 15, 2009)

Watch out for over watering.


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## boneboy96 (Dec 15, 2009)

thanks...I'll put them back outside tomorrow.  The porch is covered so they don't get rained on...


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## 243Savage (Dec 15, 2009)

We have cactus here, and you know what kind of weather we have.  I think they go dormant in cold weather.  I remember my mom had a bunch of different types she would leave outside all year in pots and it didn't seem to hurt them.


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## shakey gizzard (Dec 15, 2009)

Pics please! prickly pears shouldnt be flowering now.


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## FishingAddict (Dec 16, 2009)

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1127.html


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## NCHillbilly (Dec 17, 2009)

There are a bunch of different cacti, some will take cold weather, but many won't. Prickly pears are very hardy, but some of the common ornamental cactus plants like they sell in greenhouses and such will die if they're frosted on or exposed to freezing temperatures. Tiny white flowers doesn't sound like a prickly pear.


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## redneck_billcollector (May 8, 2011)

I know this is an old post, but I just came across it.  I collect cacti and there are literally hundreds that will survive the winter here if, and this is the big if, you amend your soil so that it drains real good.  It is not the cold that kills cacti here, it is the winter rain and moisture, the cactus will literally rot due to dampness (there are cacti that will do good to 20 or so below zero out west but here they rot and will not make it, unless you amend the soil to drain and plant in a raised bed).  Opuntia humifusa is the only cactus native to this state (it is the little prickly pear you see in sandy soils around the state).  While there are tons of cactus that will live outside here if the soil is fast draining, there are more that wont.  Many cactus will die at the first hint of frost, while alot of deserts do get cold, more deserts  don't get frosts.  Most cacti are not plants that live in places we think of as deserts, most live in dry tropical or subtropical forests that get their rain during the spring or summer (all cacti are of new world origin, the old world versions are Euphorbias ).  There are dozens of cacti native to the caribbean islands and actually there are a few that are native to south florida and the keys that look like cacti we think of when we think of desert cacti. The vast majority of the cacti you see for sale in places like lowe's or home depot are from south america and can not take any amount of temperatures below the mid-30s or there abouts.


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