A new year begins

Thought I would get an early start and track my progress throughout the year. I hope its OK to use a forum to track progress through the year. It was encouraging to get input and comments last year. Always looking for feedback. Maybe some other will share their year.
First pics are seedlings called "Curly Locks", from a DG Trader, planted Nov. 9th. Will soon go into their own pots.
Next pic is the new Epi greenhouse that went up last year.
Getting ready for spring fertilizer and watching the growth of new cuttings taken in Spring and late summer.
The cuttings I planted in rows in "rain gutter" pots rooted well and most are in their own pots now.
Counting the weeks now to when those first buds will appear.

Recently joined Epi Society of America. Hoping to learn more describing blooms, growth habits of different varieties and a deeper overall knowledge rather than just putting cuttings in pots. We shall see.

Hoping everyone's Epi year will be successful

I like the 4" grid you've got your seedlings in! Good use of common building materials.

The 4" grid wire is sold in nursery supply stores as a standard commercial nursery bench structure over here. I got mine from a neighbor who has a 10,000 sq ft orchid greenhouse

No nursery supply stores anywhere near here.

Love your setup Microb. I just finished watering all of mine for the month. Next month, I will begin feeding and moving them into more light. My greenhouse was once an aviary, so the shingle roof blocks out too much light but I supplement the windows with some flourescent lighting. I have better plans for this year.
My epi strictum and oxypetalum put on a show in sept-october-november last year. I don't know why they like to bloom when they are supposed to be finished, but I was thrilled to see the flowers. My cuttings have rooted and are filling in nicely. I have several large pots, but I don't think they have rooted yet.

A lot of mine are putting out adventitious roots on the ends of the leaf stems. Is this normal? Should I cut and root them? Most look really good and healthy, they just seem to want to put out lots of air roots.............

I have roots on the end of some of my leaf stems. I understood that it was shortage of water forcing them to pull more moisture out of the air by making roots. Maybe someone else will post another theory.
I'm just fertilizing mine over the next couple of weeks with 10-20-20. I thought the epis were supposed to rest but I seem to get growth all year round. Maybe its the Hawaii climate.
Those Curly Locks seedlings will go into their own pots this week

That makes sense. Maybe I am not watering enough during the winter. I thought maybe the lack of light had something to do with it.
Our Temps got down to 18 degrees and my dragonfruit ( hylocereus) only sustained minimal damage. I had planned to get them wrapped in plastic, but it never happened. I was surprised they survived.

Finished putting 10-20-20 in every pot and gave them a good watering. Had one month without rain and very little cloud. Had to use a watering can with water from fish ponds for a while but it rained steady all night and today so back to the hose pipe.
Long dry sunny spell seems to have encouraged new growth. Lots of new shoots coming.

First buds of the season. My neighbor has "Bagdad" and I noticed numerous buds on his the other day. Low and behold I have four or five buds on mine. Small yet but something to look forward to. No buds showing on any other plants. Early yet.

Counted 589 pots in "The dome". Thats what we call the Epi greenhouse. I have not counted the other locations yet but I must have close to 700 pots. Insane!!!

Still have to put Curly Locks seedlings into their own pots. That's another 30, and I think I still have about 50 rooted cuttings in the gutter pots to be potted up.

Still repairing greenhouse damaged by Hurricane Iselle and have almost finished the new greenhouse destroyed by last months windstorm. The replacement is almost 400 sq ft, that's almost double the old one - more bench space. I will build a lean - to shed roof on the front of the new one for potting and supplies. Will use tree trunks and old roofing plastic that I was able to reclaim after replacing the storm damaged deck roof.

Wow, your greenhouses sound wonderful. I plan to feed my epies this week.

I watered and trimmed and fed everything in the greenhouse over the weekend. I didn't realize I had kept so many epis. I love the big massive ones with blooms all over, but the space in the greenhouse really is beginning to require me to rethink the size of my plants.
I have read that some people keep them trimmed to the size of the pots. ( ie like in hanging baskets).
Does anyone else do this. Will they still bloom as pretty? Just wondering. Need more epi real estate.

Just completed the rebuild of the destroyed greenhouse. In time I will paint. Will be setting up more hanging basket facilities in this one. There will be room for about 180 hanging baskets.
I was going to build an extension for potting area and supplies but decided I have had enough construction experience this year with storm repairs.

The Curly Locks have all been repotted. All they have to do now is grow.

Spotted some buds on Acadia last week

Pics - during construction, after construction and Curly Locks.

Looks great! I am happy for you.
I went to feed what was in the cold frame today and had a devastating surprise. There was a tear in the roof that I had not seen and a lot of things had really been damaged. Some are total losses, some can be salvaged.
Most of the epies in there were noid's but I hate to see them get burned. I am sure the roots haven't frozen, so I may be able to cut the burnt foliage off and pamper them. I don't know.
I am pretty sure I lost my big plumeria though. They actually looked mushy. Not one of my better days.........

Sorry to read about the frost damage. Hope you are able to save some of the damaged plants.

I wasn't able to repair the plastic today, got sidetracked with an unexpected trip to Myrtle beach. I threw a blanket over what I could and hopefully that will be enough to prevent any further damage. Thankfully the cold frame was very dry. I moved a lot into the greenhouse and put another light and a heater in it. Cut away lots of frozen or just very burnt foliage and the rest remains to be seen. I didn't water or feed anything, I figured it was already stressed enough.

I did find my peach magic epi and some cuttings from my epi "bliss" unharmed. I didn't realize I had left them in the cold frame, so I was very happy they were ok.

Bagdad buds are almost open. Two or three Acadia plants have buds but they will probably open in March.
Purchased a Rhapsilis Grandiflora a couple of months ago and now it has bloomed. I did not know what to expect. They are MUCH smaller than I expected but fascinating.
Finished construction for hanging baskets.
Will post an update when buds open.

It is exciting to see flowers and buds. Mine aren't setting buds yet, but I fed them bloom food around the 1st and I will feed them again soon. Hopefully I will get flowers this year. In the past 2 years the only blooms i have had have been 1 millenium, strictum and oxypetalum. I guess it takes a lot longer to recover from the neglect they endured before.

Due to our lack of winter, I'm seeing lots of new growth, and small buds on a few. I'm hesitant to start feeding this early though. Maybe a couple more weeks before I start the bloom food.

Carol, mine are in a greenhouse, so they are warm even though it isn't too bright. Is it too early to start feeding them?

First bloom of the year opened this morning, this is Bagdad.

ibarto, I would wait until you see signs of buds or new growth. I'm seeing some with new growth and some with buds starting to form, but our weather is erratic for this time of year, so I'll hold off for awhile, then start with bloom food. After blooming, they get balanced fertilizer until fall.

Mike, bagdad is beautiful.

Thanks Carol, I am seeing lots of new growth, but no buds yet. Our weather is also very eratic.
50° one day and then in the 30°'s the next. The rest of this week, our temps will be in the 30's during the day and then low 20's at night, but the weekend is supposed to be back to the 60's.
Still I have friends who are snowed in, so I will not complain.

Thanks Linda, I'm curious as to what types of fertilizer you guys use. I use a 10-20-20 which was suggest for blooming but at the same time it is kind of balanced. I do one dose in Feb and will do another mid March. Then regular triple 14 or 16 in Sept and Nov. Our weather is also very stable so maybe that is a factor also.
If you ask our garden shop for blooming fertilizer the numbers are really odd with single digits. I think they list them as bloom busters. I'm told some of these specialty blooming fertilizers. can stress the plants.

Thanks Mike,
last year I used peters ( jack's classic) 20/20/20 and jacks classic bloom booster I also used a homemade brew that works wonders on the brugs. It varies depending on what I can get at the time. I have been reading more about them and learning a lot. I think they have just been surviving until now, ( ie severe neglect when I was sick, to better care last year) but this year, I started with scotts bloom booster in February. I will have to go to the greenhouse to see what the elements are. Some of the leaves started getting thicker at the areoles after I fed them in February, so maybe I am just too impatient. I think too that after the sunburn fiasco year before last, I put them in too much shade last year to prevent that happening again.
I am hoping for blooms this year. When they bloom, I will definitely be a proud "mama" and will show pics. I am seeing lots of new growth though so I am hoping that is a good sign
.
I do have some great news though, some of the plumeria I thought I had lost in the cold frame damage, are actually putting out new growth. I lost a lot of the smaller ones but I think some of my bigger ones are still
ok.
Will let you know. Hey if you get on facebook at all, there is a great epi group there. You might want to check it out.
Sea Ya

As we move into March more buds are appearing. I think its Wild Acclaim that has 12 buds coming. March will be OK but the pace will pick up in April. Should still have quite a few varieties that will be first time bloomers for me.

This morning Acadia opened up, and of course Gold Charm always seems to have buds and blooms. Have to wait and see who is next to open.

Will probably do another round of blooming fertilizer next week. Nice have everything potted and organized. Just have to maintain and enjoy.

Starting to think about next Sept, Oct time. I think this year I will just pot up the small pots to one gallons and try to resist more cuttings (except for trading). Bigger plants will give more blooms next year and now I have the hanging basket space to give a new feel.

Weather forecast is scary. El Nino is back with a prediction of more Pacific Hurricanes. Everyone is nervous after Iselle last August.

Pics - Acadia, Gold Charm and attempt at Gold Charm buds

Second round of 10-20-20 applied today.
Bagdad gave me another bloom today - see pic Feb 18th.
Buds are really starting to show now, just little red dots at this point but April should be a good month.
Seem to have scale under control. Have some bacteria rotting a few branches so will have to spray for that in the next few days.
The new Rhipsallis cuttings are all showing new growth.

I saw a couple of tiny buds today. I took everything out of the greenhouse, so with the additional light, it won't be long. I couldn't believe how many plants I had stuck in there. LOL

Latest bloom is Guiding Star. A surprise as it is on a cutting taken a year ago

I love it! You must have well fed epis.

March marches on.
Just out this morning is "Jinx Falkenberg". First time I've seen this one. A bloom on a cutting taken last March, no other branches on the cutting yet.
Where do they get these names. So googled it and turns out she was a1940's model. Learn something new everyday.
Lots of buds coming, should have another bloom over the weekend

Mike, that is beautiful! i love the peachy pink color. A couple of mine are setting buds. A couple that I thought were buds have turned out to be new growth. I must learn patience.

Surprise, surprise - I have a Strictum. My first. I had no idea of the plant name. It was a NOID to me. Been watching this bud for a couple of weeks. Its on a plant that I discarded to the driveway flower bed a couple of years ago after buying it as a cutting. The branches started looking scaly, just not nice to have in the greenhouse. Open to the elements, heavy rain, drought, hurricane. It started putting out growth last year but even cuttings did not thrive.
This year there are five buds and this evening I'm walking the dog in the rain and there it is in the glow of the floodlight.

What a fun surprise!! (I am also quite taken with the idea that you can banish your eipi to an outdoor flower bed and have it survive permanently. Very handy!)

I do love Strictum. Mike you are fortunate indeed. My temps are dropping to 43 tonight and into the 30's tomorrow, so my epies are getting put back into the greenhouse. I was so hoping that the cool nights were over. I keep asking hubby if he wants to move to where I can garden all year and he just kind of ignores me. I guess that means no. But I sure am tempted. LOL

A couple of new blooms this week.
Another Acadia (March 7th pic) gave a nice bloom on a cutting. Nice to put those small pots with blooms on the dining table for a couple of days.
Strictum (Mar.25th) on the driveway had another bloom and has five or six more buds coming.

New blooms this week are Wild Acclaim (first pic). Seven blooms so far with a couple more to come.
My NOID red with fushcia center put out its first bloom. This is my most prolific bloomer. I have multiple plants. They are easy to grow.

I took a photo of my largest plant. Its Grand Prize. I have multiple plants of Grand Prize of various ages. This plant has the longest branches, some are over 3 ft long and lots of growth. Buds are appearing. Not sure what to do at the end of the blooming season. Do I let it keep getting bigger and trim it. I could get 50 cuttings at least. It makes a strong healthy plant, strong cuttings and large flamboyant blooms. Probably offer it as give away or trade in Sept.or October. Should have first blooms to post later this month.

Still early in the season yet.

Those are beautiful! I have a lot of new growth, but nothing I can definitely say is a flower bud yet.

Not sure If I would cut the big one back. It looks so healthy and happy, but by fall, I would have to let my greenhouse space make that decision. You don't have the freezing problem that I have though.

Microb - I've got several trays of the "curly locks" too. It amazed me how well they germinated!
Some little critter ate the tops off of the ones on the bottom shelf but I think a few are going to come back anyway. I was inspired to try some other succulent seeds and now I have several trays of white flowering delosperma to plant. It's been fun but I don't have a clue what I'm going to do with so many "curly locks. Anyone reading this wants a few let me know. I have a feeling they are going to be nice plants.

This is how mine look today - started with 40 seeds, 35 germinated and went into their own pots. 7 failed to thrive upon repotting. I think I rushed them a little but I'm really happy that I have 28 young plants looking good. I don't think they will bloom this year though.

After looking at a lot of youtube and other DG Epi growers pics and comments I am using more hanging pots for more of my Epis. The 8 inch hanging pots I'm using have a small plastic dome in the bottom which creates a water reservoir instead of having the dish attached outside. I'm seeing better growth that way than with pots on the benches which seem to dry out too quick.

Mike, those look great. I have never grown any from seed.
Where are you finding the pots you are talking about. I am using regular hanging baskets but maybe a water reservoir would be helpful.

Hi Linda, I buy from a commercial nursery store. Minimum purchase is a case of 50 and the hangers are purchased separately. Price of the complete pot and hanger comes out at $1 per pot. I will take a photo of the three pieces - pot, hanger and plastic dome and post soon. This guy sells to the local garden stores so I'm sure they are available.
I've got a couple in metal hanging baskets with the coconut liner. The liner seems to help retain moisture also.
My challenge now is how to find an economical way of constructing the rails from which to hang the pots above the benches :)

Here's the hanging pot.

My trip to the greenhouse was rewarded with my first Grand Prize epi of the year.