I thought I would post some pics of what's happening at my place. I've been doing quite a bit of repotting of my epi's as they all seem to be growing quickly and becoming rootbound very fast. All my epi's live outside all year.
I've got about ten pictures to post so bear with me! Here's the first one of my Thanksgiving Cactus blooming:
It looks very cheery sitting here with my Adenium "Noble Concubine" and with my Epiphyllum phyllanthus var. phyllanthus.
Here are some of my hanging baskets. I think the one on the left is a Rhipsalis. The one in the middle is my Christmas Cactus, and the one on the right is Selenicereus testudo.
These are two that I repotted recently: Selenicereus anthonyanus on the left and Epiphyllum chrysocardium on the right.
This is my Epi oxy hybrid which has been blooming nonstop all summer. I love it. The flowering is winding down now.
Here are my Epiphyllum hybrids which are still growing like crazy. I put in a tomato cage as a kind of support, but I'm not sure that it really helps. They've received a lot of water this summer and a lot of rain recently, and I need to watch them carefully to make sure that they don't rot. I think there is no moving them now. They should be quite heavy. Fortunately, they are under a semi-covered patio.
This is a Hylocereus undatus, I believe, that I have planted in a Mexican ceramic pot and placed against one of my brick retaining walls behind my plumerias. As you can see, it has attached some roots to the wall and is going to climb it. I have another one about ten feet away. The container that it is in is probably not big enough, but there is dirt below if the roots break the container, and I can always add some concrete halves and fill with potting soil if need be.
This is another one that I'm going to repot and put against a different brick retaining wall at my place.
This is Ursula's lovely Selenicereus pteranthus that I am in love with. I just repotted it from a hanging basket to this pot, and I am hoping to also let it grow and climb a brick wall.
This is my Selenicereus testudo, and it too is rootbound and will have a new container soon. It is already starting to grow roots from the tips of the stems, and I think it will climb and share a wall with the Selenicereus pteranthus.
This is the last picture. It's my poor Christmas Cactus which gets ignored for most of the year except November and December. It's starting to set buds now. If I can, I'll give it a new container before the day's end.
I just noticed that the camera's date is way off! All these pictures were taken today. I'll have to fix that:-)
Oh my goooosh! Every single one of these is breath-taking! They are all so BIG and LUSH and healthy looking! TWO GREEN THUMBS UP!
Hmmm - I have friends who live in Camarillo....maybe I should visit them and bring some of my plants along so they'll look like yours!
Awesome growing!
Betsy
LOL! Thanks, Betsy:-)
Afternoon Clare -
Should be working in the garden on this lovely autumn afternoon, but here I am playing. :-)
Your plants are all looking great (as usual!) and I'm already looking forward to the spring frenzy of images that we had last year.
Clare,
all your plants look wonderful!! It is tough to pick out a favorite. I agree, this will be a real show next Spring!!
Thanks Candy and Ursula! Here's wishing you both lots of spring flowers!
Candy, I was encouraged by your late season bud and went out to closely inspect mine, and I found one too! I will post it tomorrow on your "They're back" thread. Hopefully, it won't get too chilly here, and I will see it through.
Ursula, I think of you all the time when I look at my S. pteranthus and E. phyllanthus, and I check in at your web site from time to time just to view all the pretty pictures again and again.
I got busy today grouping my Epis in front of their Winter home, the garage. Now I will have to watch the weather report, they can stay out a bit longer, but perhaps need to go quickly inside for a chilly night. We got last year a new doubly insulated garage door, that keeps the temps well above freezing.
I am not sure how to treat this one, I think it is the Cryptocereus anthonyanus. I read that it doesn't need a Winter chill to flower. But so far I never chilled it and it never flowered either.
Any pointers?
This message was edited Oct 23, 2005 9:13 PM
And the Selenicereus pteranthus and another Epi, they also will go into the garage.
Wow, Ursula! What magnificent specimens! They are gorgeous. Perhaps you could get one of those rolling metal racks from Costco, if they have them in your area, and roll them into the garage at night and back out again during the day.
I wish I could answer your question about your S. anthonyanus, but I've only had mine for about a year, and it hasn't flowered for me yet either. Picabo/Betty got hers to bloom: http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/89220/ and someone else did also over at the Tropicals Forum. I'll have to find that thread. I bet that it does need some winter chill to bloom. I would leave yours out as long as nighttime temps remain in the 40's. Mine stay outside all year and do just fine, but temps don't often drop below 40. I am so in love with your S. pteranthus!
I did some repotting yesterday and today, and here are some pics. I had to use the flash because it was getting late. I know the terra cotta plastic pots are kind of ugly, but I intend to give these plants to my mom eventually so I didn't want to use my good containers! LOL!
Here is my Selenicereus testudo, ready to climb the wall:
This Hylocereus undatus is now ready to climb as well:
This E. anguliger -- I think it is -- had potting soil issues. Even though it was in a hanging basket, the mix stayed too moist. I had some pieces rot at the soil line even though they were rooted pieces. I believe it was potted in a cactus mix, but I've never found a cactus mix that I liked. Now, all my plants which need fast draining soil -- which is nearly all of them -- get Sunshine Mix No. 4. It is a very fast draining mix, and I love it.
Ursula, I checked Tropical Treasures last night, and you are right: he says that S. anthonyanus does not need the winter chill to bloom. Here's the thread of Betty's that I was referring to earlier: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/530690/
Clare, good stuff!!!
Your Selenicereus testudo started to grow for me nicely!! ( happy)
Thanks for checking the anthonyanus conditions. Maybe I just need to threaten it a little, place a garbage can next to it? It worked for one of my Ascocendas which had not flowered for me after growing it for 5 years. Honestly, I was thinking of pitching it, then I discovered a nice spike!!! What a brat!
A rolling cart would be nice!! But it was not too difficult yesterday, it took me about 10 min. to push everything into the garage and hang some planters on a bar in there too. We are having today a rainy and windy day, so they are protected.
Have you ever added some coarse orchid bark to your Epi soil mixes to improve drainage?
Awesome pictures. I luv the red leaf color one. Is it that red because of getting to much sun?
:) Donna
Hi Ursula! I'm glad to hear that about the S. testudo. I just repotted mine, and I should have worn gloves to do it because I got lots of those prickly hairs in my skin, but they are all out now. I was surprised to see that, as it grows bigger, the stems do too, and mine even developed some three-sided stems in addition to the five-sided stems. It's an exciting plant, and I can't wait for flowers:-)
LOL about the garbage can method! I love it! I've had plants that are brats too. I just pitched a variegated gardenia that never bloomed for me. I have a suspicion that a virus gives it its variegated leaves, and that is why it won't bloom. I've got no room for non-blooming virused plants in my garden!
Thanks for the coarse orchid bark tip. I'll get some on my next trip to Home Depot.
It's raining here too today. Stay warm and dry yourself!
Thanks, Donna! Yes, I think the leaves of my Thanksgiving Cacti have turned red either due to too much direct sun or too much cold or both. It lives on my semi-covered patio all year long. The new growth is green. I also have some red leaves, which are newer leaves, on some of my epi hybrids. These leaves have not experienced full sun or a winter yet so I'm not sure why they are red. It could be due to bright light on my patio.
Donna, you can see two red new leaves of my epi hybrids in this picture:
That's so neat the way it turns red.
:) Donna
Hey Clare! I can't believe it, but we got frost last night.....NOT predicted by the weather TV. I spent some time today getting my stuff ready for the greenhouse. My eppies are all huge already. Your eppi-oxy bloomed twice for me already. The first time was the night before Katrina hit. I put them all in the barn. Our barn was about the only one around here that stayed intact.
Your cacti are beautiful. You should forget about court reporting and go into horticulture full time.
TTYS.
Kay
Clare:
I was so taken with your pictures that I ordered Selenicereus testudo from Shoal Creek the other day (great sale, eh?!). You also posted a picture of "Hylocereus undatus"...do you mean "Heliocereus" or is that something different......cuz I loved THAT picture too and also ordered a "Heliocereus speciosa".!
And........ after seeing your Thanksgiving/Christmas cacti ~~ I'm chompin' at the bit for WalMart to get a shipment in!
Bad Clare! BAD! Stop posting pictures of your fabulous plants ~~ it just makes me want mooooooorrre! =O)
Betsy
Kay,
we had frost here too in some spots a couple of days ago. I was not happy, because right now I really keep an eye on the weather report to watch out for night frost. Nobody had said a peep about that one!! Luckily no damage - it only touched 32 F for a short time, but there was a bit of ice on the car.
It's Kay! Kay's back, everyone! Kay! It's great to see you here. So glad you are back. Darn that frost! I'm so glad that you got some Epi oxy blooms! Were they the big ones or the little ones? Cool! I'm so glad that your barn stayed intact. What a relief. Thank the Lord. Awe, you're sweet. I wish I could!
LOL! Thanks, Betsy! I'm so glad that you got a Seleniereus testudo. It's a pretty cool plant. Hylocereus is actually different than Heliocereus. Here's a link for one: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54131/index.html and here's a link for the other: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54158/index.html So glad to be an enabler!
Ursula, were your epi's outside? The weather person should have warned you guys! I'm glad that you have no damage. Yikes!
Yes, Clare, the Epis were outside at that point, I never saw it coming! But they were fine and they are now in the garage, it is going into the low thirties all week, which means my little micro environment will surely see frost. Everything is inside tonight.
I even found room for the Strawberry pots.
Yep, everybody! That Clare is the world's worst enabler. She's got me hooked on plumeria and eppies all over again after about five years on the wagon!
I LOVE it!
Kay
Hi Ursula! Well, how you could you know it was coming if nobody warns you! I guess we have to rely on the weathermen to tell us these things. They say that this area that I live in experiences frost every ten years, and we are overdue so I keep a sharp eye on the weather predictions. I'll be draping everything in sheets when that time comes. Last year, it got down to about 35 at the lowest, I think. That was only for a few hours in the morning. I had a temporary greenhouse set up last winter, but I didn't set it up this winter. It was a lot of work, and I thought I would skip it this year. I can always run a few things into the house if need be.
LOL, Kay! You're a pretty good enabler yourself! LOL! The plants that you sent me -- the wisterias, the petrea, the gingers, the plumerias -- are all doing well and remind me of you daily! You're the best:-)
Clare, who makes Sunshine Mix No. 4 and where do you buy it? I have never heard of it.
Hi Candy. Sun Gro makes Sunshine mixes. I buy it at a local Farm Suppy place called Western Farm Service. Here's a link that tells about the Sunshine mixes: http://www.mcconkeyco.com/pdf/LR-Soilless_Mixes.pdf
Edited to add link to Sun Gro: http://www.sungro.com/
This message was edited Oct 27, 2005 12:32 PM
Clara you really seem to know your plants ..I have one on the back porch I dont know the name of ..could you help me out with it if you can ..thanks ..Gingerose
