Borzicactus trollii
habitat : Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Peru

Very cold hardy - at least down to 18 degrees (as measured in this greenhouse a few years ago). The "Old Man" forms offsets at the base (new branches or "heads").

1st pic: This plant was estimated to be about 30 years old in 2013 when this pic was taken. A 12-inch ruler is standing next to it to show height. The tallest branch in this pic is 22 inches.

It is covered with white wool but has numerous long spines hidden in the wool that will easily penetrate leather gloves. To repot it I tied a piece of cardboard around it so I could handle it.

The original plant was quite large and old when I purchased it at a plant shop on the Oregon coast (about the mid-1970s).

2nd pic : The same "Old Man" in 2019. Two of the branches (seen in the previous pic) are gone due to rotting at the base. A new branch has formed from one of the remaining original ones. The entire plant shown here is about 2½ feet tall. Estimated age (in 2019): about 36 years

PICS >
Old Man 2013.JPG
PICT0019.JPG

I am impressed by the size of that plant and its durability in the Willamette Valley, with the low light you get in winter. My experience with this species (filed under Oreocereus in our database) has been quite positive. It's quite fast from seed, branches a lot, and develops nice thick wool in the sun.

to: Baja Costero

Listed in The Encyclopedia of Cacti / Llifle Encyclopedias of living forms as Borzicactus trollii (Oreocereus trollii)

The plant shop that I bought the original plant from was on the Oregon Coast, which is typically foggy much of the Fall and Winter - one branch of that original plant is what I have growing now. So the Oregon Coast gets even less light than I do here, I would think. The plant looked much like the one in the photo labeled "Uploaded by: Valentino Vallicelli" when I bought it.

The scan giving the information for cultivation and propagation says that "It need(s) full sun exposures …" which it certainly does not have in my greenhouse due to the tree canopy overhead - so I'm wondering (like you are) why mine has kept the same nice form with ample wool like the ones shown in those pics.

I also have growing several plants of Echinopsis (probably hybrids because they have several different spine lengths and growth habits, e.g. some produce numerous pups, other not). The nicest ones have very prominent ribs and very short spines. These plants also retain their squat short stature in my greenhouse, not becoming etiolated.

scans from:
The Encyclopedia of Cacti / Llifle Encyclopedias of living forms

Oreocereus celsianus in the same Familie is more winter hardy , it can endure 10 fahrenheit (minus 12 Celsius ) and even 4 F (-20 C) if bone dry.

to: svendhoest

Do you have those plants in cultivation? I would like to hear about / see your plants if so. I lived for a couple of years in Germany in the 1970s and many people there were avid collectors. Karlheinz Ühlig Kakteen was one of my seed sources when I started up my own greenhouse nursery specializing in Lithops. Perhaps you've heard of him. During my travels in West Germany (at that time in the 70s) I did visit Denmark riding Eurorail - the train went through Flensburg then crossed the border into Denmark and I got off for a short time at the first train station in Denmark (I forget now which town it was) and walked around the town for a short time, looking in the shop windows, etc., and was thinking then "Should I go on to visit Copenhagen, Sweden or Norway?" but decided not to go farther north or I may not get back to my military base on time before my leave expires. I myself am ¼ Norwegian ancestry, my grandmother's family residing in Løkken Verk, Norway - now that place is no longer in existence I understand.

Well, let's talk about your plants!

Borzicactus trollii is a synonym for Oreocereus trollii. It says that in your photo #4.

to: Daisyl

Yes, Oreocereus trollii seems to be the current accepted scientific name, as stated in the heading of the 1st photo - thank you for your ever-present guidance. Now I have to go out in the greenhouse and correct the plant marker, but not tomorrow since it's supposed to be in the upper 90s here in the Willamette Valley for 2 or 3 days - definitely record temperatures with the National Weather Service issuing a heat advisory. Usually heat like that may occur Sometimes in August, but early June? Wow!

How's the heat in Reno now?

Its been toasty - 90 yesterday and 95 today. Open the door of your greenhouse and, if you can, add a fan in the doorway. That will help keep everything from becoming steamed vegetables. Don't water when its this hot.

My fiberglass greenhouse has a nice adequate fan, and I have it set for about 95, and that's what the outside air temperature is here right now, but the greenhouse doesn't usually heat up enough to kick the fan on, since it's shaded by oaks overhead.

Mine is currently 99 degrees with doors open, misters on (not on the cactus though) and fans running full tilt. But it faces south and there are no trees. I do have a shade cloth but not as good as a tree. My greenhouse in CA was under a giant oak - it never got as hot as mine does here.

Is it fiberglass or plastic? I used to have large commercial size poly houses where I made a shade material by mixing interior white latex paint with lots of water and spraying the entire greenhouse(s) with the stuff - they sold a commercial product like that, but I made my own and it worked like gangbusters. I sprayed it from a 5-gallon bucket using a siphon-ex. A light application, let dry and another light application if necessary until the % of shading is good. Beats buying expensive shade cloth, which must be tied down securely or it will pull up stakes and sail off in the wind.

The spray-on shading washes of in the Fall with the rains (a good thing). For a smaller hobby greenhouse you can just paint it on with a brush.

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't think I will paint the greenhouse. I have a new shade cloth on order and Hubby is working on a frame work to hold it off the top of the greenhouse. Hopefully, it will be done in a couple weeks.

Well then you'll have to (or rather your plants will have to) endure a couple of weeks of hot weather. It's not like "painting" your greenhouse, it's applying a shade compound. Another common method of doing this is what they used to apply to the large old commercial glass houses: a "whitewash" made of hydrated lime and water, they also used a similar whitewash for painting picket fences. The problem with shade cloth is you have to make sure to get the proper grade, such as 25% (it cuts 25% sunlight, for example) - too much and your plants will etiolate. The whitewash or shading compound, if too much, then just spray it off with a hose - very easy! Too easy? I'm going to log out and find a video on YouTube, then come back and post it here for you ...

YouTube titles:

Whitewashing the Greenhouse

making white wash 101

Passive Solar Greenhouse shading Whitewash Method

Greenhouse whitewash removal with helicopter

You can make a very effective "whitewash" (or sunscreen) for your body, and for your plants too, from ordinary clay mixed with water. You can find clay almost everywhere on earth, especially in creek beds.

Let's say your car breaks down in the desert and you have to wander for days trying to get back to civilization. Find an arroyo and go deep down in the canyon to where the water is, and dig down in the moist or wet soil and you're sure to find some "mud" (clay). Now you can apply it to your skin to avoid severe (often life-threatening) sunburn. This is what elephants do when the roll around in the mud, applying sunscreen to themselves.

Same method was formerly used, especially in large acreages in California, when transplanting tomato plants to the fields. The plants were dipped in "mud" and they survived the intense light and heat with this coating on them, which naturally fell off in a few days as the plants grew. I've done this myself on several occasions, transplanting tomato plants from a shaded greenhouse to the intense sunlight of the garden.

YouTube title:

DIY Sun Block for Plants
[ NOTES: chalk / hydrated lime / clay will all work the same, and I applied mine to plants already in the ground with a sprayer like that too ]

Here is a picture of my Oreocereus trollii placed in a greenhouse for the summer .

To svendhoest :

Very nice plant, and how interesting that this species typically has three branches or "heads" for plants in cultivation of about the same size and age.

A side note on change of the conditions in my greenhouse now. About three days ago, my neighbor just to the north and west of my property "removed" (wantonly destroyed is a better word) two large native Oregon White Oaks (Quercus garryana) on his property, now giving my greenhouse about an hour and a half of direct sunlight in late afternoon, where before it was broken or partial shade during this time. So much sunlight now I'm a little afraid of sunburn for my Oreocereus trollii which sits on a shelf getting full sunlight now for that time period. I will be checking it, and other plants, for possible sunburn during this week.

I direct you, and others, to my thread "Our Native Oregon Trees" in the Trees and Shrubs forum for my account of this ( see > Chapter 9 Desecration )

Best wishes

> Nick

To Nick
A Oreocereus trollii will never get sunburn , that long White "hair" protect against strong UV radiation and Sunlight in the Andes in high altitude 2900-4300 metres above sea level.in habitat .

Svend...............

To svendhoest :

Thank you Svend, I think you are correct, but I will be checking other plants growing next to it, like my Notocactus concinnus, "Rattail Cactus" (Aporocactus flagelliformis) (posted on the Cactus and Succulents forum) and several Echinopsis spp. which may be more susceptible to sudden light exposure like they're getting now. It is quite noticeable to me how bright it is in there during the late afternoon hours now. And I think the greenhouse is even getting more early morning sunlight too since two large trees to my east were cut just yesterday morning - details about those trees I just posted this AM in my thread "Our Native Oregon Trees" 'Chapter 10 Good Tree People' in the Trees and Shrubs forum.

This is my Old Man of the Andes. It was 3 inches tall when l got it in the late 80s. It grew to foot in a pot. In 1993 l moved to 3300 feet above sea level and transplanted it to my cactus garden.
He has lived in full sun for 31 yrs. He has stood up to 24 inches of snow, 60mph straight line wind and 130° days in the high desert of Arizona.
The original arm is probably 18 inches tall and is offset slightly from center.
He is about 48 inches at the tallest arm and blooms every year.
The seed pods are ready when all black and the size of a cherry 12-14 mm.
A few arms seem to have started to die back. There's new arms every few years.