Found out that cacti actually store CO2 at night instead of the day

Read it in a little book at my local nursery in Tucson and apparently it's called CAM photosynthesis, has anyone else been surprised by basic plant facts that seem backwards?

2 comments

2 Comments

reeseanderson8d agoMost Upvoted

I grew up in Tucson and remember being blown away when I first heard that about saguaros. Those things can take in like 200 gallons of water during a storm, but the CO2 thing threw me. So does that mean they're actually breathing at night and just chilling during the hottest part of the day? Is that why they survive in places where other plants would just bake? I always assumed all plants did the same photosynthesis cycle, but apparently not.

the_ray7d ago

A buddy of mine from Phoenix tried growing tomatoes in his backyard for three summers in a row and they all fried. Then he read about CAM plants and stuck a bunch of agaves along his fence line and now they're thriving without him even watering them. Crazy how we just assume every green thing works the same way in the desert.