Tropicals & Tender Perennials: EpiForums, 1 by orchidman1

orchidman1 wrote:
J:
When I propagate, I like to use more mature growth. I use a sterilized pair of scissors to cut off a long segment which I usually cut in half to make several cuttings as long as I have at least six inches of growth per start I allow the segments to scale over for about a week before planting. Just set them aside and keep them dry during this period. I the place the segments into a four to six inch container in which they will stay for the next 2 years. I use my regular epie mix in the pot to root them. My mix consist of hard wood nuggets, ground oak leaves, perlite, 10X10X10 fertilizer(handful to a 40 gallon trash can full of mix), and sterilized garden soil/sand mix.
I usually do not water when I plant my starts but let the misters provide moisture daily.
Starts do best in the warmer months but I have good success year round. I like 3-4 cuts in each pot. After two years I move them into 10" hanging baskets or gallon pots. I've always read that they should be kept in small pots to crowd roots but I really don't see any difference in growth or bloom time.
When I find small pieces of my epies on the floor that have been broken off; I pot them no matter their size. I will mark them with the names of the plants in the immediate area where they're found in order to have some clue as to the identity of the plants when and if it ever blooms. These "noids" I usually put in 2-4 inch pots and will give them away to friends, especially kids, who see my collection and want a plant or, once identified, I will put back into the mother plants pot.
I like to have two pots of all my epies that I really like. You never know when disaster may strike a much loved plant. I have lost plants due to freezes that only effected small areas of my greenhouse, to chemical misuse (be careful with sprays since epies react badly to many chemicals, and sunburn.
I feed all my epies with 10x10x10 once a month from March to October. No fertilizer Nov-February. The March feeding will usually be with a Bloombuster Blend of plant food. I mist my plants daily during hot months, 1 x weekly early spring and late fall, and every other week during the Nov.-Feb. period. During the cold period you want a lot less moisture due to greater possibility of root rot and other problems. You may have to water more frequently once in awhile.
Epies are amazingly resilient to disease and insect pest. My biggest problem is with scale and snails which usually only disfigure plants and will not kill them. I use oil spray for the scale and snail bait on my shelving and floor of my greenhouse. I have not found any effective treatment for snails as of yet.

I hope this is the information you want. I have found Epies to be very forgiving and easy to grow There are some hybrids on the market that grow extremely slow or have unusual patterns of growth. I guess that they might require different conditions for growth than I am providing. When I check with others, I find that they have similar problems with certain plants
If I have left out any information you need just let me know. Your pictures are beautiful so you must be doing a lot of things right. bob