Look each type of cactii up before placing in ground to make sure they take full sun....and plant away....I am a cactophile and have at the very least 80 cactii/succulents etc. planted in the ground!!!! Just move them out slowly to acclimate to the sunny conditions or they will burn, look bad and possibly croak. Make sure the ground has quite a bit of sand....they do not like clay soil at all. I have decomposed granite, clay, no top soil and mega hard granite soil...(if you can call it that)...In my case I just dig up the area thoroughly and incorporated quite a bit of compost/soil(no sand because I already have the crushed granite) and planted away.
So to answer your question YES by all means you can plant in the ground!!! Remember I live in California so I am not sure what your weather is like...if it rains a lot make sure there is plenty of drainage. Also while looking up the info on full sun etc....look up how tall, wide etc. that cactus will eventually get so you don't have to go transplanting them again...when they are over 8 feet tall and towering over you with mega sharp stickers they are not fun to move....you will have to TRUST me on that one....been there done that! Might I also suggest good gloves, and newspaper help immensely!!!
Catlover

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Thanks for your help!

Do you have any links you'd recommend in helping ID these critters?

And web hosting services that allow image uploads to display here...any recommendations there also?

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Then it got weird.

Hi Nick...I have found Desert Tropicals to be a pretty good one for ID purposes....they have linked us a couple times for extended information.

This link is in Banter listed under Photo Album Links and if you look through there is will give you a better idea what others are using. After you get them set up if you wouldn't mind you can place just your link in that post as well. and you can place it in your signature part of your profile like hisgal and others do if you like!

Maybe since it gets sooo cold for some varieties maybe sinking some pots in the ground would work....then when you can move them to a warmer area during the winter you don't have to keep uprooting them and less risk getting bitten by the stickers. But when transferring back out after the cold period make sure to acclimate them slowly to the sun. Don't know if this is what others would do...but IF it were me I would plant them in pots the size the cactii would eventually get....again less transplanting/shock etc. I know some houseplants like to be kept rootbound before doing very well but I plant almost all of my semi shade cactii in bigger pots to avoid the transplanting/shock etc....and they seem to be doing just fine for me...at least in my case.
Or if you want a sure fire way to avoid moving plants to warmer areas constantly....you could always move to California. Half the people on here are going to give me the LOL
Hope this has helped...Catlover

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