Wintering these kids.

I have these epis in the bathroom, as should be pretty obvious, for the humidity, and a decent window sill. All are rooted epi cuttings from last spring, and one Rhipsalis salicornioides that I have decimated with improper care.

The Rhipsalis appears to be growing (finally!) but with etiloated looking branches toward the inside of the bathroom. The other epis are in various states of growth, mostly tender and small. The few cuttings that really took off this summer are elsewhere, and looking great!

But how should I care for these plants to get them to be their best come spring. The window is a west facing double pained window, outside temps rarely get down to the upper 20Fs. My plan is to decrease the weekly watering to biweekly by the end of November then Monthly for December and January, reversing the fall pattern, until the outside is habitable, where they get watered almost daily. No fertilizer will be given until late spring, and the last they got was in September.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

sounds like it might work. My poor plants get neglected badly this summer so I to need to get them going again.

sandy

Can't speak about the epi's, but my some of my rhips overwinter in the bathroom as well. I spray with water when I remember and the humidity does help. My house is very dry so it is important to water daily if I want them to grow. Otherwise a weekly watering will keep them Ok but mostly dormant. In late winter, especially in Feb, it is really important to get the water level up again, as the longer daylight seems to make them want to grow. Mine have a tendency to shed if I don't water more then.

Accidentally hit send...

A trick I sometimes use if I want to keep one of my rhips growing through the winter is to completely enclose the whole plant in a sealed plastic bag with proper water level/humidity. Rhips will keep growing that way for months and can really put on size if they get appropriate light and the constant humidity. This really works well for getting a small cutting going as well. When I also start rhips from seed, the seedling's pot is in a bag as well. I have had rhips go from seed to nearly a foot long in less than a year this way.

Krowten: Reading your post, I automatically wonder how your plants do without the winter rest that most plants require to stay healthy. By not allowing the plant to slow down, don't you weaken the plant? Just wondering.

I don't think that the rhipsalis need to slow down. To me, they just seem to take advantage of whatever the environment offers. Slow down the light and water and temps and they just stop growing, waiting patiently for things to improve. Slow down too much and the plant breaks apart, hoping that the new neighborhood offers better conditions. Speed things up and they start growing again. Note that most of my rhips end up blooming after the torturing cold temps, when I bring them into the house. I'll also get a second set of blooms about a month after putting them back out in the spring. Its so hard keeping them growing in the dry house during the winter, that my rhips outside of the bags do slow down. I was just passing on a strategy to keep smaller ones growing without risking losing them to lack of water or low humidty