Does anyone grow Epiphyllum as an epiphyte?

I bought an Epiphyllum cactus today to plant in a tree in my yard, but I can't find any information on growing them epiphytically. I guess most people prefer to keep them potted? Anyway, I planted it in the tree in a similar manner to my Aeschynanthus garrettii (which seems to be doing well), so hopefully the cactus will thrive too. For the past couple nights, the temperature has fallen to the mid-30s, but it's supposed to warm up now. The tree should protect the cactus from any frost later this winter too. Is anyone growing their Epiphyllums in a similar manner?

How cool! I wish I could do that!

That IS very cool! I've never seen them growing in trees like that.

Hmm, yours looks similar to my Dragon Fruit cactus. I wonder if I can grow it up into my oak tree? It does send out roots from the nodes and grabs onto things it touches.

Since it's an epiphytic cactus, will you just spray it with a weak fertilizer mist like you would an orchid? It probably needs a lot less water and humidity than an orchid of course.

I've seen quite a few around here. Often they'll have been planted near the base of a tree which they then begin to climb. Dragon Fruit are the same. Although, they'll go very high up in trees which makes it impractical for getting the fruit. Starting them off on the ground makes them less reliant on frequent watering to get established.

Right, I'd want to train it to go 'round the trunk and stay low enough so I'd see and smell the flowers, too. Darn thing is pretty thorny for messing with, though.

Rally? None of mine have thorns?????

You sure? My dragon fruit cactus has little thorns about every 2in. all along the ridges.

Tried to get a picture . . see upper left.

Thanks for the replies everyone! As for fertilizing, I guess I'll use some orchid fertilizer once it warms up again... I doubt the plant is going to be growing much this winter. I haven't fertilized the Aeschynanthus garrettii yet, and it has been growing well so far. I think, just like they would in nature, the plants receive a certain amount of nutrients from the debris that collects naturally in the crotch of the tree. The main problem here would be that I don't have monkeys or other animals living in the tree and providing nutrients from their droppings, and during the summer it's too dry for the collected debris to decompose anyway, so adding fertilizers will probably be necessary.

dyzzypyxxy - You might want to give it a go! :) Just make sure you can give it some protection during those weird winter freezes you can get in Florida. For me the main problem is the plant either being cold and wet during the winter, or hot and dry during the summer (neither of which most tropical plants are fond of). In Florida it seems like you would have an ideal climate for most of the year, so it might be worth a try.

I think I will. I know several people who have successfully grown dragon fruit here. I have it out back near a fence, but it has been overwhelmed by other climbers out there this summer. It's still in its pot, but I haven't done a thing to it, and it has grown about 6ft. so I need to get it situated soon! The oak tree seems like a natural if, as you say, I can just remember to protect it on the cold nights.

We're hoping to finally get back to a more 'normal' winter here this year, with just a few nights in the 40s - it sure would be nice!

On some other forums there's been mention that the long range forecast for the US is for colder than average winter in the north and the west and warmer than average for the south east. So you might be lucky. Although, this is for averages and doesn't account for any odd sharp spikes in temperature.

Yeah! that bodes well for Florida's economy this winter. More poor cold people coming to visit and get warmed up.

All those climatic zones are based on averages. We've been well below our average the last two years, so we're due for a correction, I figure.

Hey, caught this shot of a wonderful climbing cactus of some sort in the parking lot at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. It's huge, and very happy climbing along the big branch of a live oak tree. Obviously an old, and well established specimen that seems to have survived the two hard winters very nicely.

My dragon fruit cactus is going out onto the big oak tree tomorrow!

I'd love to see that one in bloom!

Wow, that's a beautiful cactus! I can imagine that one that size would be relatively impervious to brief cold snaps into the 20s, given how much water it contains.

Well we had our first frosty morning of the winter yesterday, and the plant looks fine! It didn't get too cold, probably just right around 32 degrees.

Thought you all might enjoy this article I ran across. Hope your tree growing epis are doing well.

http://www.igarden.com.au/archivedBlog.jsp?id=724

Good article, wish I lived somewhere where I could do this!

Now that I've been looking, there definitely are lots of these types of cactus growing up trees around here.

In case you didn't see it on the Dragon Fruit thread - this one, at a local orchid grower's place, has climbed at least 20ft. straight up a big pine tree. There's no evidence of any watering or care being given to it, and it's growing in the ground at the base of the pine. Good luck getting to the fruits if it's a Dragon Fruit - it does have the triangular stems! Fruit are 'way up there out of reach.

This picture was taken at Key largo a few years back. When it reached top, it looped back to ground.