Good morning everyone! Right now I own a "Selenicereus Macdonaldiae" Epi that I'm growing in a plastic pot. Now this cutting was purchased several years ago and I'm very curious to know if I should replant it in a Clay pot? I've seen many Epi plants that are growing in Clay pots and from other information that I've investigated, they all claim that Clay pots used for growing Epis are not a good idea.
Can someone please let me know what is best?
Thank you so much!!
BARRY
Pots? (plastic/clay)
Thank you for posting this question! I've wondered this myself. I'm new to Epi plants and have all mine in green plastic pots. I want to re-pot in Spring but want to know what type to focus on - ceramic, clay or plastic.
Great question. I look forward to the answer since I too am new at trying to grow these.
Ditto.....
I have no clue as to the real answer, but all mine are in plastic pots and have been growing just great and flower every year.
My issue is putting them in a hanging basket, and I have found pre-made hanging baskets fairly cheaply so my choice is plastic, I have not found a stable way to hang plants in clay pots.
I use terracotta pots and macrame hangers. My Dad installed the hooks so they are quite strong. I'll be switching to plastic when I get 2-tier macrame hangers though.
Where do you get decent Macrame hangers, I have only found tacky ones.
The ones I have now are from Lowes (I don't like them) but my next ones will come from Ebay or Etsy. Someone on ebay sells 2-tier along with single tier and you can find a lot of singles on Etsy.
These are temporary until I actually figure out how to macrame. I have some booklets but I need a good book to explain knots.
I just started to Macrame hangers again after making them back in the 70's, its funny when I was making one, my daughter asked me if I was reverting back to my hippie days. lol I like them alot better than just the wire hanger on the hook.
My Nana use to make them. I've always wanted to learn but I'm more a "monkey see, monkey do" type of person. I learn by watching and seeing pictures. I cannot find any good macrame books within my budget. I'm stuck buying them for now.
I agree with the wire hanger part.
I tried to make one, but with all I need to do, I need to buy decent ones, not make them.
hmmm...I do know how to macrame, I learned back when I was a kid in 4-H, and actually took a weekly class for it. I had forgotten all about macrame, but, now its all flashing back. Maybe I should get back into it lol.
Thats what I thought when I was hanging my planters by the wires, once you figure the first knot it all comes back to you.
I am moving all my ephis to Hydroton and semi-hydro conditions, starting with the shelf plants now, followed by the hanging baskets. I have found a source for baskets without a whole to have a built in reservoir, using a drain 1" from the bottom, but not in all sizes, as I like wire pre-made hangers for my plant.
I currently have Hatiora salicornioides, R. crispimarginata, R aff elliptica, R aff micrantha fm kirbergii, R oblonga, R occidentalis, R pachyptera all on this but they are mostly cuttings and are on the windowsill. The bigger epis will wait until I find bigger pots and I think I have a good source. for hole-less pots.and baskets.
Analog, To answer your implied question and noting that you have a lot of Rhipsalis: I much prefer plastic for the Rhipsalis. While using a good draining mix, as long as the water drains from the pot, I like the plastic's better retention of moisture for my Rhipsalis than clay. This lends itself to hanging pots. I've had better results growing my rhipsalis in plastic over clay - also clay is heavier and can be a problem for hanging pots.
One of the best investments I made in the past couple of years was to buy a package of 50 wire hanging pot holders. Not the plastic ones, but the three wire ones. You can find them on the web via google. A pair of tin snips allows you to trim the hangers to desired size. I think I got a package for about $20.00.
For my Rhipsalis cuttings, they go into hanging pots after rooting. I buy cheap 3" plastic pots, use a drill to drill 3 holes about 1/4 - 1/2" from the top of the pots to feed the hanger wires through to make a small hanging pot. If you keep the hangers short initially, you can hang multiple pots from the edges of other pots, creating a cascading chain of pots to minimize space in the window or greenhouse. As the plants grow larger or longer, you can move them to bigger pots.
You are in a much warmer climate than I, but I find that hanging the Rhipsalis is better than the colder windowsill. However, I probably have to water a bit more because of the better air circulation. It sounds like you have a nice collection that is complementary to mine. We should discuss trading a few cuttings in the spring, if you are interested.
I understand where you are coming from, but the rhips are doing fine on a windowsill near a double pane window with a room temp of 65F or so. As they get bigger, I will move them to hanging baskets and letting them have more air space.
Well, I plan to stop watching this thread since my question has diverted to a different subject matter of macrame pots. My specific question was plastic or clay pots.
Plastic pots are best here in the midwest, once a clay pot gets seasoned they will hold to much moisture and eventually your epi will rot. Anyway thats my thoughts on the subject.
Dear Barrysewall:
For what it's worth, I have two Epis of the same size and age (about two years old), one in clay and one in plastic.
The one in clay is not as healthy, shiny, or vigorous as the one in plastic. Not by a long shot. So, I'm finally taking it out of the clay pot today.
Sincerely,
Timmy Jo