Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Now what do I do, 0 by kimskreations

kimskreations wrote:
Since no one has chimed in to help yet, I thought hap hazard suggestions would be better than no suggestions *lol*

Please, someone who has some real experience in these help me out.

First, let me say, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PLANT!

OK....IF it was my plant this is what I would do.

First, if I had the room and a place to display it correctly and it was still blooming fine...I would leave it alone. A nice large pedestal would look perfect under that.

Second, if I absolutely DIDN'T have the room to keep it as large as it is I would put a large old sheet or blanket down on the kitchen floor and ask hubby to help me remove it from it's pot. Once removed, sit on the floor with it and check the roots out.....are they real long? Could they use a trim?.....Root pruning is great for plants.

Then, once it's out of the pot you have many choices. You can see if it's only one trunk or if there are many trunks in the pot. If there are many trunks in the pot you can separate them into 2 piles and have 2 very niced sized plants of this for yourself or keep a few trunks for yourself and pot the others individually for trades for other plants that you may want.

Another option would be.....If you had the space and patience.

Leave it in its pot and go around and "prune it". Dont just cut one or two leaves, try to cut "segments" which contain a thick part of the "branch". Let these "callous" over by just leaving them to air dry for a day or two (I would suggest a couple days). Then, plant them in a very well draining material. I mix cactus sand with lots of perlite. Don't water them too much....mist them real good to only get the top 1/4 inch of soil wet as too much water will turn them to mush. In about a month or so they should develop enough roots to make it on their own (I usually check to see if they are rooted by giving a slight tug). If they resist, they have rooted. If they don't resist I usually take a fork and "lift" them to be sure they are not rotting below. Should you have one or two that show signs of mush....cut the mush off until firm....let it callous for a couple days and try again.

Is this a Thanksgiving/Christmas Cactus? What color does it bloom?

I have a large one that I have had for 8 or 9 years. Although it's big and full it doesn't look ANYTHING like yours as far as size goes! You must be growing it in PERFECT conditions. Here is a shot of mine that I took yesterday. This year it's going to bloom before Halloween and I think that's because I put it outside this year for the first time. I grow mine in a pot with no drain holes which is a no no with these but I'm extremely careful about watering and these seem to be quite forgiving for me (luckily)

Please remember....my advice is only what I would do if this were MY plant....I honestly just "wing" it when it comes to my plants so maybe an expert on succulents will give you completely different advice and if so, take their advice OK? I just thought some ideas might help.

Kim

This message was edited Oct 14, 2006 8:20 AM