OMG Julie - and they say the blossoms open quicky! Must be a cosmic clock. LOL!!! Your sun sounds like our - makes an obligatory appearance from time to time, just so we don't forget what it looks like!
Here's the BIG one! LOL!
The Epis Are Coming, The Epis Are Coming!! 2005
Sequee, I'm sure any of the "Cactus Juice" concoctions will do just fine......my experience has shown that fish emulsion works best for me combined with my climate, garden habits and the plants that I cultivate. Try whatever you have and if you aren't pleased with the results try something else that rewards you with the results you are looking for. :-)
The buds on my "holiday" cacti start forming in September/October and depending on the season it will be Nov-Jan before the really start to bloom well. The buds take a long time and good conditions to really set well and make big blossoms. Some of the plants that were in full bloom for Christmas have been stripped of their spent blossoms and still have buds that are maturing and opening. Not as full as the initial flush, but still a nice bright spot in this dreary time of year.
This message was edited Jan 24, 2005 9:01 PM
Sequee, here's my holiday cactus with 2 buds. You can see he's all of about 3 inches long. Definitely an ambitious little guy LOL.
-Julie
Oh, my! Your buds are BIG - now I'm really envious! He must be highly motivated!
I think he thinks he's too big for his breeches. ;-) I'll let you know if they ever actually open. Isn't he funny though! One measly little piece that I found on the ground at the garden center...left on the top shelf of my bookshelf and forgotten for about 2 weeks, then stuck in the pot after being dipped in a bit of rooting hormone. And VOILA! The guy seems not to care about all the hail and rain and cold and rain and rain and cold and a bit of sunshine and rain and hail...you get the picture. He doesn't care.....just keeps right on putting energy into those buds. LOL
-Julie
Makes you wonder how the REST of the plants is doing!?!
The rest are dotted with little white marks from the hail (nothing too serious) but otherwise also seem not to mind the cold and wet. Nothing is rotting at least LOL.
-Julie
That was a typo there. I was really wondering how the rest of the Epi must be if the the one fallen branch is doing so well! Either someone got an awesome bloomer, or you got the one good arm!
This message was edited Jan 25, 2005 1:11 PM
ROTFL...yeah, maybe all the "bloom juice" got pumped into that one arm before it fell off LOL
-Julie
Lucky you! (I can't stop laughing - I'm picturing this little fella jumping off - "somebody take me away from all of this"! Too funny!)
Not much new to report on the coming of the Epis, but I did take a shot of the cuttings I ordered a year ago. Most of these were pretty small unrooted cuttings at that time. So a year later here they are, overwintered in the greenhouse, no sign of buds yet.
Just an update on the progress of some of the Epis.
:D
Neat, Candy. Thanks for the update. I have one about to bloom also. I'll post here when it does.
Show off!!! ;-) ROTFLMAO I have only a single bud. I thought when this one just starting showing it's head that there were a few other spots that might turn into buds, but I was wrong. Oh well. I'm happy to have even this one bud though :-)
-Julie
Very nice, Ladies!
Here are my only ones this year:
Clare, well you've got 4 that I can see....and one of those is pretty tiny compared to the others, so maybe you'll have some more come out still. In any case, it looks like all those different sizes means more than one night of queen's visits for you :-)
-Julie
Hi Julie! Yours look great too! I see that you might have a little one coming in on the other side? These are the colored day-blooming ones. I think they are supposed to be a fragrant orange lavender. I've heard that most of the colored ones are not fragrant so it should be interesting to see if this is indeed fragrant. What kind/color is yours?
Clare that little spot has been like that for as long as the big one has been in existence....and that's what made me think I might have more about to pop out. But the dozens of those little spots have remained just that....little spots. I won't object if they all decide to become buds though ;-).
Mine is an Epiphyllum oxypetalum....a white night flowering one that lasts only one night. One bloom will make me very happy as I just found this plant after searching for it for over a decade! :-)
-Julie
Oh, wow, Julie. That is wonderful. I am really looking foward to seeing yours bloom. Of course, you will have to stay up all night to enjoy it and to take pictures! You should have a small dinner party with family and friends to celebrate the end of your decade-long search the night that it opens.
Clare, wouldn't that be nice! But my friends and family couldn't care less about such things LOL. I'll stay up on my own, enjoying a glass of wine and the lovely frangrance from this beauty :-).
LOL, Julie. My friends and family couldn't care less about these things either. Well, at least we have each other here at Dave's to share these things with. We'll celebrate with you!
Maybe Julie and I could time it just right and have our oxy's bloom at the same time on the same night!
What are the chances of that happening.......it would be a party, even if only the few of us who get excited about these things came. (Keep in mind that my oxy just bloomed in the late fall and I see no signs of new buds yet, so keep that thing in check Julie until I can catch up to you!)
I'll definitely be there with my party hat on!
Me too! I'll caution my oxy to hold his horses for you Candy :-)
-Julie
Well, I certainly hope I'm not going to embarrass myself here...
Are these epis?
Oh I think they are. :-) And they are growing well with new little baby leaves. Good job!
Hey, I'll embarrass myself here too Sequee.....
Candy, is this an Epi? (no buds on it as of yet) I bought it without even asking! tsk tsk tsk ;-)
-Julie
Never be embarassed.......my batting average isn't that good either!! LOL What's a good batting average in the majors??? Think about it.....if I'm right half of the time, I'm doing great!
That's a Ric-Rac cactus I think, Norma can tell you about them.....I don't have one, but am on the look-out for one.
Check the PlantFiles
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/62665/index.html
Thanks Candy! :-) I was a bit disappointed when I read the comment that it rarely blooms. But when I searched for better images of it, I decided that waiting would be worth it if mine decides to ever bloom :-) Check out the image of the Selenicereus anthonyanus (aka the Ric-Rac or Fishbone cactus) here: http://www.ecology.org/orchids/EpiCare.html Not quite an oxi (what could ever beat an oxi????? LOL), but it sure is pretty! :-)
-Julie
It would definitely be worth the wait!
I thought I was seeing things....check out the time sequencing image right above the entry for the Ric-Rac!
Here's a direct link to the gif:
http://www.ecology.org/orchids/img/Selen_grandi_animated.gif
Or to the whole page:
http://www.ecology.org/orchids/index5.html#epiCacti
WOW! COOL! That's a great site too.....made me dizzy just thinking about all the lovely Epis to be had..... :-)
-Julie
Julie -
I've been nosing around that sight and also found this about a third of the way down the page:
Epiphyllum anguliger
http://www.ecology.org/ecophoto/articles/Epiphyllum.htm
Yep I saw that too....but mine has sharper "teeth" that that one, so I'm pretty sure mine isn't the Epi. It may also end up not being the Selenicereus, but it sure looks close! The owner of the cactus/succulent market (yes I actually talked to him about this plant without asking the name!), said mine has a red flower on it. This also rules out the Epi as it has a creamy flower. The Selenicereus has a flower bud that is red, but the actual flower inside is more white....so we'll just have to wait and see if mine ever blooms and compare the flower to those on that site :-). (bloom plant bloom!!!!)
-Julie
Julie and Candy, I love that site and have spent many evenings combing through all the pictures. I agree that it is a Ric-Rac Orchid Cactus, and it could either be Selenicereus anthyonyanus or Epiphyllum anguliger. I can't tell how pointy the ends are, but if the tips come to a point, it could be Epiphyllum chrysocardium.
Here is a picture of E. chrysocardium:
Here is the flower of E. chrysocardium:
Clare, yours is lovely :-). The elaves on mine are distinctly thicker than yours and definitely aren't as pointy as yours. So I don't think mine is E. chrysocardium. One thing is certain with these types of plants.....thef lowers will never be disappointing :-)
-Julie
I've got close to 28/30 varieties of epis,give or take one or two. My no name red one which is about 8 1/2 ft long has buds that should be open within a week or so. I have a question though. With the exception of just 2 plants all of these are new for me. I just got them last year as 8-9 inch unrooted cuttings. They are all growing like weeds and have made many new branches. How long do I have to wait until I get to see them bloom? I read somplace that epis will not bloom the first year from cuttings but these little plants are growing so fast I can't believe that they won't bloom this year.
I'm certainly not an authority on Epis, but my experience has been that it depends on where the cutting came from. If it came from an established plant and the cutting was the leading end of the leaf or a portion near the end, it will most likely bloom sooner rather than later. If it was a center cut, it most likely will bloom within a couple of years and probably from the newly established leaves that grow from the cutting. Certainly not scientific, merely observations from my experience.
I've had cuttings near death when purchased (it's that "I can save this plant!" syndrome) that have bloomed the very summer I purchased them. Could it be that will to survive that pushes some of the rattiest cuttings to bloom when their plump, green, juicy cousins just keep putting on new leaves? :-)