My Epiphyllum {new pictures}

[sunstar]

Hi everyone , I saw a post on this site where some one was rooting an Epiph and thought I would post mine,
I didnt want to hijack the thread with Betha, she is a huge plant.

Bertha was just brought inside and I am waiting for blooms in a few weeks.
I cant wait, if it blossoms this will be her first time in 5 years.
like a dope I didnt know until recently they were like christmas catus and needed a chill to set blossoms.. I cant wait to see what color she blooms.

 

[injunjoe]

Welcome to TEG!

Wow that is a great plant!
I sure hope it blooms for you!

Joe ( The one rooting Epiph )

Oh do you know the color?

 

[sunstar]

Welcome to TEG!

Wow that is a great plant!
I sure hope it blooms for you!

Joe ( The one rooting Epiph )

Oh do you know the color?

No unfortunately she has never blossomed for me, I didnt know about the chill factor to set buds.
I feel a might foolish LOL.

I will be watching your thread on rooting them even though I have raised Orchids for a long time and had Bertha forever I still feel like a newbie when it comes to certain Orchids.

I also have one of the saw tooth variety of Epiph also, never blossomed either, thinking of putting it outside tonight for a chill , its not supposed to get to freezing tonight but will be a bit below 50 degrees.

 

[Greensage45]

Hi Sunstar,

Can you reference the 'chill' info?

I think you're confusing the word 'Orchid'. It is called 'Orchid Cactus' because it has such a spectacular bloom, but it is not an orchid at all but a member of the cactus family.

As for the chill info, I think this part is a confusion to. Chilling your plant could damage vital tissue structures. This is a tropical delight and is not meant to be chilled.

What is happening is the days are shortening and your plant is triggered to bloom based on the amount of daylight it is receiving. Although, what I call chill is not necessarily what you call chill.

Let me say You will hear me say this time and time again. Please include either a zone location or a city and state to your avatar or signature lines. This really helps everyone all the way around! Thanks! or you can be a rebel like Beefy and have us guessing where he is half the time LOL

If you do have info on the 'chill' part of an epiphyllum I would like to review that.

Thanks again and Welcome to TEG,

Ron :watering

 

[injunjoe]

Glad you stepped in here Ron.
I did not think that sounded right but what do I know?

That is why some are called Christmas cactus and some are Easter cactus. The length of the day!

Joe

 

[sunstar]

I usually leave my christams cactus out untill just before the first frost, normally temps down to 45 tend to set the cactus buds heavier.

When talking to our neigborhood green house they suggested temps just under 50 degrees to get Bertha to blossom.? bad or good advice?
Thank You everyone for the warm welcome. its appreciated.

 

[Greensage45]

Hi again,

You might be right sunstar, even Pat's Epis says 45-50 degrees will trigger blooming. Although it also says blooming should start in May to June LOL, so I cannot imagine why anyone would have a chill during those months.

Now I need to see how your results go. Let us know! Please be careful that it is not lower than 45 degrees. Zone 5 right now must be a cold place! :coolsun

Ron

 

[sunstar]

Hi again,

You might be right sunstar, even Pat's Epis says 45-50 degrees will trigger blooming. Although it also says blooming should start in May to June LOL, so I cannot imagine why anyone would have a chill during those months.

Now I need to see how your results go. Let us know! Please be careful that it is not lower than 45 degrees. Zone 5 right now must be a cold place! :coolsun

Ron

Actually today has been beautiful its been 60 degrees.
very weird after all the 30 and 40 degree nights. We brought all the plants inside over the last few days and broke down the green house. ( we have heaters in there to keep chills to a minimum)
I would be crushed to lose my Phals and Dendrobs.

we never know when snow will hit and last thing I need is for the green house to be crushed under snow weight.
Nov through March can get snowy.
With the Snow in Colorado I am not taking the chance and leaving the green house up.

ETA: at the first sign of a bud I will be doing the happy plant dance and posting pictures LOL.

 

[journey11]

Hi Sunstar,

When your epi blooms, you must post pictures for us. One that big will probably be most spectacular!

I have never thought about it (or researched it), but you are probably right on the lower temps helping Christmas Cactus set bloom (and epis are closely related). I keep mine in light morning sun/mostly shade outside on my porch all summer and bring it into my sunroom in the fall. My sunroom is not heated and there is a lull of a few weeks before I fire up the woodstove, so mine gets a little chill too. It has grown and bloomed prolifically for me since we moved into this house and I started keeping it under those conditions.

 

[Greensage45]

Do you have an epi yet Journey? It sounds like this would be a great addition to your x-mas cactus. I bet an epi would just love your arrangement!

Ron