Please support this FORUM

Just letting Yall know if this Forum does not show a tad more enthusiasm.
the totalitarian from (admen) will close it down, just like she has done with two of OUR other Great Threads. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1250371/
(plus the Outdoor BBQ Forum) GOD knows why ???
We can never ever access any of those threads again ?
It's like living back in WWII with Hitler ruling.

I am heading into Winter so I don't have much new stuff to add.
But I will still post some Old Pictures if people are interested ?

Ginger: As long as Dave's refunds our membership, I really don't care. Dave's membership has moved to new pastures and it is hard to generate renewed enthusiasm in the present forum. We'll see. bob

Glad to see you back Ginger. Your season will be here son, right?

Yes Bob, it has.
My new Orchid Cactus has just finished Flowering.
My first ever OC of that kind.
What do you think of it ?

The third picture is my last Queen of this year which bloomed last night--yeah, I missed it. The first two pictures are my greenhouse packed for the winter. I just doubled the size and I'm already running out of space. That's what happens when you grow epies and have the fever===bad. bob

Nice OC Bob,
Its always been the same.
Your winter starts when our winter finishes.
My son who lives in Vancouver is sending me lots of pictures of the trees deciding to shed their summer coats. ^_^

Hi Everyone,
I have had a couple of Epi`s for a few years, but now I have been looking at them on Ebay and found some
fragrant Epi`s......... So Needless to say Im getting the fever! There are some beauties out there for sure!

Karen

Hi Karen,

Do you have any pictures to share yet ?

Hi Ginger,
The only two plants I have that are blooming size are Night blooming Epi and Day blooming, the day blooming
did have one bloom on it this fall and I did`nt get a pic.
I have since bought several new cuttings to root.

What is the best fertilizer to use during the growing season?

I have the rooted ones in a cooler room and I know now not to water much during the winter for more
blooms.
What are some of your favorite epi`s?
Thanks,
Karen

I only have one Epi.

And this is it.

What is the best fertilizer to use during the growing season? I use Osmocote.

Thank you Ginger,
Thats a nice looking Epi do you know it`s name? Is it fragrant?

Ginger that is beautiful. How old is your plant? It looks like a E. oxypetalum. Am I correct?

No Karen, I did not notice any fragrance during the 4 hour flowering period.

And yes Tim, it is indeed 'Epiphyllum Oxypetalum'.
I know because Bob (aka_orchidman1) told me so. ^_^

OMG!!! I adore the Koala painting. Are you the artist? I would love to have a copy. I've had a passion for these little guys for years! In fact our guest room is amassed with Koalas that I have collected. (Not live ones, of course) Love that!

Anyway…Back to the Epi. I also use Osmocote. I acquired 2 cuttings awhile back. I think it was Bob that told me it could take several years for them to bloom. How old is yours? I'm so anxious to see them 'bust' out in flower! :-)

I agree that is a beautiful painting and a lovely background for such a wonderful Epi. Ivy

Ginger: I'd love to send you some hybrid cuttings if you so desire. Your growing season is right for rooting them. I would have to check out how to mail to Austrailia but will do it. DMail me. bob

Caroline Golden Dancer French Gold German Empress Space Rocket

Alas Bob,

But there is a total ban of importing plant material into Australia.
I have already looked into it before. But thank you all the same.
I love your pictures.

Hi Tim,
Yes it is My Painting.
I actually included a similar Picture in the Photo Contest. ^_^

If I take a full size Photograph of it. (4.75 mp)
I can E-mail it to you and I will give you permission to make one large print of it for yourself.
I have made prints of some of My Pictures up to a 600 X 850 mm.

My Epi's were cuttings taken from this very large cluster.
I grew the cutting in water and had roots and at least 5 Flowers within 5 weeks.
I can include More Pictures if Yall are interested.

Your talent causes my jaw to drop! Both in your painting AND your growing of Epis! Amazing! I've not seen a mass of Epis like that before.

Thank you so much for your permission to add it to my 'collection'. It is truly gorgeous! I'll send you a Dmail. :-))))

Wow Ginger,
That is one hugh Epi plant!
Your picture is beautiful, you are so talented!

Karen

Thank you both, Tim and Karen.

This clump of Epi's started off as three single Epis about 7 years ago. (planted one meter apart)
The clump is now 5 meters long, 3 mtrs wide and 3 mtrs high.
The Farmer who first planted them died a few years later and they went feral.
It is not unusual to see more than 200 Flowers in one night.
And that happens about 3 times each year.

This is the Flower spikes about 5 days before the previous Pictures.

I sincerely hope every one of my friends in America is OK after that terrible Tornado.
Reminds me of what I went through January last year.

It took about 5 weeks for these solid water roots to grow.
A lot of times, water roots are very brittle and die when put in soil.
But not these Epis, they just power right on and upwards.

Another Picture before planting.

Nice cutting Ginger, I did`nt know they could be rooted in water, the roots look real good.
Thank you for posting the pic!

Karen

Last Picture being potted up.
I did cut the leaf just below the roots.
That allowed me to use a smaller pot.
I have since potted it up to a 8 inch pot.
And it has Flowerd twice in 5 months.

Just a few weeks after first planting this OC in soil it began to Flower.
That Flower turned into a viable fruit. (on the left)
And only a couple of months later it began to Flower again. (on the right)
So now I have my first ever Fruit.

The Fruit grows and fattens on the paddle? for about 4 weeks.
When it was bright red, I decided to cut it in half to expose the seed.

This Picture shows the full Flower and Fruit.

This was another way I cut the fruit into slivers.
During all that cutting I did not cut one seed in half. ^_^
They seem to be floating in a thick semi opaque jell.

This is a daytime Picture to show just how big the entire plant really is.
All the Flowers were already spent. They only last from 4 to 6 hours.
It's not hard to see why I can collect so many Fruit from this one Plant.

What a wonderful looking plant. All those seeds you have been collecting, you have planted them?. That will be a lot of plants. Wish I could see them when they are in full bloom.
Ivy

ginger, that is a remarkable stand of Epis. I have to ask…What zone are you in? What are your average highs and lows?

Hi tlm,
We don't use zones here in Ozz.
But this link does give you our highs and lows.
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/Brisbane.htm

This is some of the fruit I picked.
Yes Ivy, I have planted over 200 seeds.
I will post more pictures of growth progress later.

Thanks for that link ginger…Sounds pretty perfect to me. No way that I could grow them here without some protection. Darn!

Seeds were placed on a graphed note pad for counting and Photographing.
I then scarified the seeds for about one hour in a glass jar ½ full of water and a teaspoon full of sand.
When 'scarified' properly the seed will begin to grow in 48 hours.
If not it could take in excess of five weeks to germinate.