Holiday Cacti general Discussionpart #4.

Morning everyone, I have been crazy busy and not online near enough.
JB, look up Ackermanii hybrid. That red cactus with thorns sounds alot like an ackermanii.
JoJoe, that is a gorgeous christmas cactus! I think all of mine have finished blooming. I need to check the greenhouse later today.

I started about 40 pots of epi cactus from cuttings that I took when I had to move mine indoors. I tried to keep them separate, but a terror of a kitten and a well meaning hubby cleaned up for me and put them all together in a box for me. If anyone wants some let me know, they should be rooted by spring.

Hi to everyone I have missed. I hope to be back to normal very soon.
I have pics to post here and on the camellia thread too.
See you all later.
Linda

Linda, I have looked up Ackermanii hybrid and it does look similiar, but someone already said it was not. I am just waiting patiently to see what the real professionals say. I will take all ideas into consideration in the meantime. I appreciate all the time people are taking to help me believe me and I can not wait to see if anyone agrees. LOL

Just wanted to say hi. Must get busy. Jb

Judy-----SO??? You think can read Russian?????????????????????????

Nice time-lapse photography, of course.....Have NO idea what it says!

JB--Please see my D-mail to you!!!

Gita

Yes Madam, I read it and replied. I will not turn you in. LOL.

Hello everyone,

What would make the buds on my cc get soft and drop? Not all the buds are doing it but it seems like it's mostly on one side of the plant.They are good size buds that are elongated and within days of opening,or have just started to open and the tips get soft & go mushy.The buds that are still round but good size get soft and then drop off.Appreciate any idea's or advice.

Can the humidity be to high around the plant? It's in the kitchen and I always have stuff on the stove boiling,my daughter even said I keep the bay windows etc... foggy and water dripping off the range hood.Usually in the morning and in the evening.

good night and have a merry christmas !!!!

Linda,I would love to send you a D-mail about the cuttings your rooting, if it's ok.
jo

Jo, I think I would move the plant if I were you. They need dry especially when they are blooming and ready to bloom. If there are no insects on them then it has to do with them being too moist or sometimes too dry.
My notes say:
Common causes of bud dropping are over watering, exposure to cold drafts, a position too close to a hot radiator or vent and lack of sufficient potash in the soil. Water it sparingly and add some liquid manure weekly.
I feel it is the location, Jo. JB

JoJoe, feel free to dmail me at any time. I try to check messages at least once a day.

I have found that the difference in temperature is normally what makes my buds drop off. They have just been gorgeous this year.

I have a super busy day ahead. I just wanted to check in before I got started.

Hope everyone has a great day.
Linda

Good morning everyone,

I just love the epi pictures!!! Of course I have another question.I hope you all don't get tired of what is probably simple or maybe common sense question!!!

I bought a cc this year and it's finished blooming.The pot is so root bound you can't get your finger but barely into the soil on one side.There are a bunch of plants just one after another almost touching at the soil line.These plants are the only ones in the pot that are hanging and feeling a little limp.Isn't now the time to repot after blooming? Can I take out only the crowded ones without killing others in the pot.

Will post some pic's remember my camera is ready to be recycled and i forgot to turn of a lamp so the color is a little off on the segments.It's the pot on the left,hanging in the front.

Have a nice day and a Merry christmas

Here's a picture of the one dropping buds and I took your advice JB and moved it.

It has 3 buds open on the same limb kinda hard to see all 3 but it's pretty



JO

JoJo, that plant is beautiful. The pink is so brillant, wow how cool is that.

Gita, got my package, thanks so much. I will take care of them today. I think we finally came up with a close ID for the Orchid cactus I have been working to identify. Thanks to the CactusGuide.com. and my friend in Georgia.

Off to town. JB

jojoe, you might gently work on those limp ones and see if they come out. I just found out a little one of mine had total root rot, no wonder it was limp.

Hi all.....guess I got lost again but coleup found me! ^_^ YEA!!!!!!



Here is the link to a new swap I am hosting in January.
Please check it out and share it with other threads you visit if you want to. Thanks!
Crit

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1233609/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1233609/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1233609/

Crit, looks like fun! Sock, sniff and sip...cool. Glad you are found again,too.

Jojo I had the same prob as you with blossom drop and determined that mine was due to a much cooler location than where grown (I just got mine pre-Thanksgiving). What was blooming when purchased finished blooming, then some blossoms dropped, but now it looks like the rest (a lot!) are getting fatter and may bloom for Christmas.

JB, what did they say your red epi was? Hope you had a good time with your weekend guests.

Sally, how is your smooshing or seed pod doing?

Don't ccs get all pooped out and have to rest after blooming before they perk up again?

Days are busy here. Be at peace you all. Judy

I gather up all the fallen blooms of my CC's and add them to my potpourri . They keep their color.
Have not added all that much to my forever growing pil of dried this and that.
I have a tote-full and am not using it for anything in the last few years.

Some of you may remember--I make lace potpourri balls to use as scented sachets wherever you please.
Seems everything has been on hold for the last bunch of years. I am sad--but do not have the time to sit and work
on anything. In my heart I want to finish all my little craft projects---but, alas.....
DG has a lot to do with it. Spend too much time on here. Love it, of course.

Doing the gentle tug tests on my little sections of CC cuttings. The ones I collected as broken off pieces.
They seem to be rooting! Sitting under my seed lights. That HAS TO be the secret....
My Brug cuttings are growing into small trees.

PLEASE--anyone interested in either the Dr. Seuss or the NOID deep pink Brugmansias--let me know
before out seed swap in Frederick. I will bring them to share.

Here are the sachets....from 2009 when I made a bunch.

Those are adorable Gita. What do you stuff them with?

My home-made Potpourri from years and years of saving and drying all kinds of flower petals.
See that big bag just behind the sachets? That's not even all! As I said--I have a tote-full.

The lace is thrift-shop bought lace curtains cut up. A bit of spool ribbon---a glue gun--and a small silk
flower of some kind glued over the knot of the ribbons.
You can scent these with Potpourri oil if you like. I use a bamboo skewer to dip in the oil and then
swish it around the inside of the sachet.

We are getting WAYYYY off topic here. JB will be coming after me with her broom!

Sneaking in one more picture--then I will run!!!!!

Gita

LOL Gita. Well, they sound WONDERFUL!

Hello everyone,

I haven't been on much but I just had to have surgery and have to go back tomorrow for one more round of poking and looking to see what they can find to try and fix.

Need to get caught up and I need to get a few messages wrote etc...I'm working with only one eye working correctly.(meaning at all)

When I moved my cc that was dropping buds,I put it in the living room taking it out of the bay window.It is in a warmer environment now.It has stopped dropping and is looking good.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !!!!!!

Merry Christmas to you Jo, and I too am a one eyed individual. My sight in my right eye left me when I was in my 50s. I soon learned to compensate and can even out shoot some youngins with my 38.

Crazy busy just now. Talk again soon. I just fixed my website to include some of my newest cuttings and starters, take a look at http://www.Jbsbirdsandmore.com and click on JBsPlants. See you all later. JB

Guess JB said it best for most of us "crazy busy"!

Wanted to drop by and wish everyone Happy Holidays and a great New Year and encourage you all to read today's DG article entitled "My Grandmothers Christmas Cactus" which starts out with

"This time of year always brings both a flood of joy and a tinge of sadness as I think of the dear family members who are no longer with us. I have a vivid, colorful reminder of my grandmother, Gladys Nichols, in the form of her treasured Christmas cactus, which breaks into bloom every December on my enclosed porch."

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3508/

That was a great article coleup. Made me think of my grandma too. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and new year.
Linda
I am going to spend the day with Mom, we may shop, or cook, or just go have lunch. Either way, it will be a great day.

Thank you Cole for the link to the CC article. Hmmmm.......now I am thinking of a way to dispose of leftover coffee. What a great tip. Will have to try it on some of the pots I have going and see if there is a benefit of using it. Sadly, a few of the CC cuttings you sent have done as some above have reported and gone limp to the point of sure death. Not many, but a few. I will try to update you from time to time on their progress.

Gita, I just checked the Epi's from you and they are in fact tagged. One says that it bloomed last year and the other says that it hasn't bloomed yet. So, thank you, thank you. As I said, there is some new growth but no blooms as of yet.

JoJoe, curling and snuggling up with your three year old grand son sounds like my kind of night. I had to laugh that his mom had to bring him over to spend the night with you. How very sweet. I have a twenty month old grand son and one afternoon after changing his diaper, I just sat on the edge of the bed and held and rocked him for several minutes and thought to myself that there was no greater feeling for someone of my age to enjoy. I felt blessed beyond blessed.

Her is hoping that the week will be a good one for all and hope that everyone can spend some time in rest and recuperation. Take good care all.

Ruby

Ruby--

When did I give these to you? Was it 2010? Seems to be....
OR--Was it the late Plant Swap we had at Jill's this year? (2011)

If I know that--I can better explain to you which is which.

The one that "bloomed last year" is, most likely, the red one.

The one that said "hasn't bloomed yet" is the amazing, huge fuchsia color one that bloomed for
the first time last June.

DON'T expect blooms any time soon!!!!! Also--keep them in tight pots if you want to see blooms sooner.
Do not try to transplant them in bigger pots thinking that would help. Nada!

They have to grow some, get root-bound, get some age on them, etc....
Took one of mine 6 years!

Have a great new Year--Ruby and John! Gita

Ruby--

Here is a Thread that you may want to check....Only a few posts--but lots of pictures....

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1232221/#new

Thanks Gita for the responses. I believe I got these from you at Aspenhill's swap in May, 2011 because they spent the summer on the porch and seemed to love it there. They were getting filtered sun on the porch. What kind of indoor lighting is the best for them?

I will definitely check out the thread you posted and let you know what I think. Thanks for advising me.

Ruby

Ruby---

The Epis like bright light. do the best you can.
During winter--water sparingly--but do water now and then. They are "resting"....

Do not be alarmed if the tips of the leaves start growing what looks like spurs.
That is normal--just an adaptation to lower light and humidity. NO harm!

HEY!!!! With all this warm weather we have been having--my Wintersweet is starting to bloom!
Go figure! it usually does not until mid-late February.

My 'Gita Epi' is very happy in my bright cool laundry room.

Alright....that answers it......I am not giving them enough light it seems. They are currently sitting back from the window and aren't getting a lot of light. Will leave this chair in a bit and go in and do some plant re-arranging.

I have spent a good portion of today freshening water in rooting jars and vases and re-potting a few things too. I really enjoy doing this type of thing when I can do it at a leisurely pace. I know of a few plants that need dividing and some other maintenance types of things but wanted to get the holidays behind us before I got in to any thing very major.

Another question for you Gita. You also gifted me with a plant that is similar to the Epi but a bit different in terms of not being spiky like the Epi. It is planted in a white pot and has a tag with NBC on it. Do you remember what this is?

I just went in and put the two smaller Epi's on the chest where I have two grow lights hooked up and some other plants on there too. I am very limited on light but most everything seems happy other than the succulents that Sally gave me at Jill's last fall. The "mouse ears" of whatever they are called are once again doing very poorly for me. I am not sure if I might be over watering, or what. I know I have asked you about these already Sally, but if anyone has any hints I would certainly appreciate hearing them. Other than calling them mouse ears, I am not sure of their names and hope that Sally will speak up and tell us. Thanks all.

Ruby

Ruby---

The NBC stands for Night Blooming Cereus. It is in the Orchid Cactus family as well.

Do you, by any chance, remember Doc showing us his NBC as it bloomed? Only 2 years after
I gave him the rooted plant, which was already about 2-3 years old.
People sit up half the night and hold parties just to witness "THE EVENT" of it blooming.
As the name implies--the bloom opens at night--and is gone by morning....

Coleup--You are good at digging up links to past Posts. Can you help me find the one from Doc?
He even posted pictures....May have been 2 separate Posts????

Also, Ruby----
"Mouse ears" is a tiny, perennial succulent. The key word here is PERENNIAL!!! I believe you would have done well
to plant them outside right after you got them. Sort of like--Hen & Chicks....
Perennials seldom thrive inside. They need the winter cold to go dormant and then "wake up" in the spring....
Sally--can you please verify this for me???

Perhaps you could move all the potted up Mouse Ears to a rather cool, protected location to give them a pseudo winter.
Do you have an unheated garage? A really, really protected spot, next to your house somewhere
where you could put these? Not sure--but it having been inside now for half a year--it may not transition too well
to being outside.

We need some more people chiming in here. Do not just listen to me--i have never grown this plant....

Gita

Night Blooming Cereus thread and pictures by Doc can be found here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1215694/

It is fun getting to know this whole family of plants. Reminds me that JB has not yet told us what her plant expert friend determined her gifted plant to be....How about an update JB?

Jojoe, I'm having to move my plants,too. It is just too cold for them by the window, How are you (and yours) doing?

Thank you, Judy!!!!

I do not have the patience--or the know-how--to track down previous Posts...

Call it selective ignorance.........OH, well---hopefully, I make up for it with all the "selective knowledge" I have...

I attach pictures of my two daughters, in various ages, and the two hand-made dolls (by their Aunt Monika) with their
own hair incorporated in braids. One of my most treasured items.....

YES! They had long hair and I used to braid them in all fashion of hair-do's--until they grew old enough
to complain and choose their own preferences....
I saved all the long hair from their first hair-cuts--and here it now lives--for posterity---in these dolls......

Gita
'

Those dolls are priceless!!! Did one of the girls do that artwork just above?


Ruby that plant is the ''pigs ear'' succulent that came first from CHantell. Cut down on the water- It will live. It has those fleshy leaves which do not lose water easily.. It would like lots of light but it will survive somehow. In spring, take cuttings and they will root and grow like champs.
Here it is in Plantfiles
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/300247/

Note that the plantfiles pics are big happy ones, and my own plant is in its usual sad winter state! It will rebound.


I don't have a picture to confirm right now, so enjoy this red prickly pear bloom instead.