Rooted vs. Unrooted Cuttings Watering Light Requirements
Temprature, Humidity and Air Movement requirements
Fertilizing Pests Abnormal Growth Books Points of Interest Collectors Note
My Picture Gallery Gallery 2Want to trade Cuttings?
Epiphyllum Message Forum
Here is something new! A new Epiphyllum Message Forum! Click here.
Although the above picture was not taken in my backyard. I have several Epiphyllum cactus.
Some of these are Moon Goddess, Black Knight, Flamingo Dancer, Joy, Jennifer
ann, Rick Rack, Padre, Sugar Plum Fairy, Island Melody, Indian Summer. I can't wait to be able to share the pictures
of these cactus with you. I am going to increase my collection sometime after Christmas, some of the plants I will be buying are;
Peach Magic, Masada, Trolean, Virginia Strong, Puppy Love, Whirlybird, Shawna, Ivory Brocade, Ruth Wallace, Ben's Laura, Texas Flame, Big Beauty, Pink Parrot, Melon Whip, French Lipstick, Gay Mood, Princess Linda, Birthday Wish.
Spring 1999 update!!!
Exciting news, I just checked my plants outside that have been wintering in the garage. I have buds forming
on nearly every plant! The most spactacular plant is Padre! I hope to have pictures to share this summer.
Please come back and check!
Happy growing!!!
Rooted vs. Unrooted Cuttings
In my opinion you are far better off buying an unrooted cutting. The reason
for this is that they are cheeper. Unless you want your flowers sooner and don't like to wait. Buy the bigger more mature plant.
It takes an Epi cutting aproximately 3yrs. to bloom. I have found great satisfaction in getting the cutting and watching it grow. For information on what to do with your cuttings Click here.
Epiphyllums prefer filtered sunlight or a few hours of morning or afternoon sun. The plants may be grown under lath, shade cloth (density depends on your climate), a fully leafed tree, or on a patio or near a window where they recieive morning of afternoon sunlight.
Epiphyllums may be reaised under flurescent grow-lights. The distance from the light to the plant should be at least 10 inches. The amout of light should be 500 to 1000 footcandles. The length of time to which the plants are exposed to artifical light should correspond with the actual hours of daylight during each season of the year. This is essential for bud development. I am currently
growing my Ephyllum and Zygo cactuses under a 400 watt metal hylied bulb (60,000 foot candles of blue spectrum light) costs about 4 cents an hour, and a 250 watt High pressure sodium (red spectrum). I leave the light on for around 5-6hrs a day. Note: a 1000 watt light is 100,000 footcandles and takes aprox. 1Kw per hour to run.
Temprature, Humidity and Air Movement for Epiphyllums If nothing else, one could say that epiphyllums are marvles of adaptabilitly. They prefer temperatures that range between 45 and 70 degrees. But they will tolerate extreme heat if some effort is made to keep them well shaded and the humidity level up. Epiphyllums will also tolerate temperatures of less then 32 degrees for a few hours, but will freeze if exposed to freezing temperatures for any lenght of time. The epiphyllum species and the small flowered hybrid epiphyllums are particularly susceptible to cold damage when the temperatures drop below 40 degrees, and some extra protection should be afforded these tender plants. If at all possible, protect your epiphyllums from frost. If you are wintering your epiphyllums in the house, they prefer and evenly cool location between 45-50 degrees F where they do no recieve artificial light after sundown. These cool winter temperatures and long nights are necessary for bud formation to take place. When placed on a fertilizing schedule, your plants should recieve an application of balanced fertilizer (i.e., 6-6-6,8-8-8,10-10-10) at least once a month starting in spring and ending in fall. There are many good balanced fertilizers on the market that are excellent providing they are used according to package directions and are not too high in nitrogen (over 10%). It does not matter whether the fertilizer you select is liquid or granular. If you already have fertilizer on hand that has more than 10% nitrogen, it is alright to use it providing
you dilute it accordingly...as an example, if your fertilizer contains 20% nitrogen, use half the recommended amount or even less. It is always better to use too little fertilizer than too much.
Pests Epiphyllums are relatively trouble free as far as pests go. The most common pests are scale (small round tannish insects) and mealybug (Whitish insects that leave a cottony residue), both of which can be controlled by spraying with one of the insecticidal soaps that are on the market. You can also control these pests by spraying them with a solution of 1/2 rubbing alcohol and 1/2 water. After I treat the scale I pick it off the "leaf". It makes the plant look a little better. Snail bait should be put out on a regular basis, as both snails and slugs love epiphyllums and can do a great deal of damage in a very short time.
It was brought to my attention that there is another pest, sciarid flies (a/k/a fungus gnats). Good watering and good ventilation are keys in controlling them. But if that doesn't work, use household sprays, aerosols, or suspended vapor-releasing strips. All are effective in controlling them indoors. I would use insect sprays which are specificly made for plants. Using something like raid (oil based) would more than likely kill your plant.
Epiphyllums prefer at least 50% humidity, but will tolerate less.
Epiphyllums like free air movement, but do not respond well to strong cold and hot winds. Do not crowd your plants too colsely together. If Epiphyllyms do not recieve good air movement and poor watering can result in bad fungus outbreaks, which will more than likely kill your plants.
In order to promote blooms and harden off tender young growth in time for winter, we use an application of low (or no) nitrogen fertilizer...0-10-10 or 2-10-10...once at the end of February and again in early November. Do not fertilize your plants during December or January.
Information on this page was taken out of the Rainbow Gardens 97-98 Flowering Jungle Cacti catalog.
Abnormal Growth Books
An excellent source of Epiphyllum litrature is Rainbow Gardens Book Shop, Their titles include;
Spotted branches or holes in branches is not uncommon in epiphyllums. It is caused by
uneven tempratures-- high daytime temps with rapid cooling in the evening. This can only be prevented by growing in a perfectly controlled environment. It will not effect your blooms.
Epiphyllum- M. Leue(1987), Beautiful pictures.
Epiphyllum Basics- S. Minogue(1992), Good information.
Epiphyllums and other Related Genera-part 1- T. Hashizume(1982),
Epiphyllims and other related genera-part 2- T. Hashizume(1984),
Jungle orchid cactus book- H. Mitsuhashi/T. Hashizume(1995),
Phyllocactus- C.Knebel(of the 1949 original), Also a good book for cutting and propigating information.
Epiphyllum Handbook- Hazelton
My next endever will be to hybridize these beautiful plants. If you have any information on this procedure or good sorces please let me know. I look forward to any comments, suggestions or feedback you have to offer.
Points Of Interest Epiphyllums bloom from the aereole on the outter edge of their "leaves". They bloom only
one time from each aereole. Once the plant has produced blooms from each aereole the "leaf" is no longer
blooming stock and should be cut off (Good sorce of cuttings). Cutting it off will allow the plant to consentrate
its energy on creating new growth. (This information was out of Phyllocactus by Curt Knebel) Other opinions vary about this, in Epiphyllum Basics by Sean Minogue it says exactly the opposite.
A Collectors Note As a collector you should have a goal, such as; How many plants do you really want? What colors do you want to concentrate on?
What size flowers would you like to have the most of? These are all questions you should ask yourself before you buy. Some people want to own every Epi there is.
I made a decision on what I want my collection to be. This simply was that I want to own L-XL flowering type Epi's, ranging mostly in the oranges in color, with the exception of a few different colors. My main goal as a collector is
to hybridize these plants. This also has a great deal of pull on what plants I buy.
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