Tropicals & Tender Perennials: How do you get your orchid cactus to bloom?, 0 by AbbieOriginal

AbbieOriginal wrote:
Certainly not an expert, but I find that Epis like to be pot bound (will bloom better when they are..) in pots, and they will likey bloom a lot better if given a bloom booster about a month before spring (I only use fish emulsion whenever I do fertilize, but this seems to help out many of my customers!) Here in sunny san diego I find they bloom best also if left unwatered for extended periods of time (of course this isn't the best idea to do with new cuttings, only rooted plants!), this season I was really upset to lose well over a hundred buds on many different Epis. I had not watered them in about 2 months so I thought they must be thirsty and rain was not in the forcast anytime soon, so I went to it. Though the leaves all looked thrilled two days later and I did see a lot of new growth, many of the small and med. sized buds just dropped.
I have many cuttings that have been rooted for only about 6 months in 3 & 4'' pots that have received NO fertilizer, just constant mist from our misting system, these are also blooming despite their youth;), less water I think may mean more buds in the spring, and if you fertilize early your chances will incease.
Epis are native to south america and mexico jungles where they grow in really warm and somewhat moist environments up in the canopy (usually best in bark mixtures where their root have time to dry out between rainfalls, but they do receive MINIMAL rainfall compared to many jungle environments and other Epiphytes, and can survive extended periods of drought while still being capable of producing blooms - up to at least 4 months if well rooted!
+ filtered sun with a bit of direct light is good on most epis (though my ric rac seems to burn with the slightest amount of direct sun so be careful and let your plants acclimate slowly to a higher light environment if you have them living inside and want to move them!) Out of the few hundred I have, those that are in sunnier locations are making more buds and seems to be blooming sooner in the season.

Hope this helps;)


(I also just made a post on the thred about Epis growing in trees, if your in the right area, they may be happier there!)