Christmas cacti

[gwynnethmary]

We have a Christmas cactus which is flowering beautifully in our conservatory at the moment, after spending the summer outside. Will it be OK over the winter ?  The conservatory is unheated, and can get very chilly in the depths of winter.  I had heard/read somewhere that once these plants are in flower, they sulk if you move them, so should we like it where it is, in the cold?

[gwynnethmary]

[pamsdish]

Leave it where it is ,they can stand quite cold conditions,

If you move it ,the flowers twist to the light scource and drop off, so once you see flower buds dont move it even to water or dust under it, use a long spouted houseplant watering can  so its not moved even a fraction

[Robert_Brenchley]

Don't let it get frosted.

[pamsdish]

I was assuming as its in the conservatory it would be out of danger of frost,  ???

[Robert_Brenchley]

We used to have a nice warm climate in Cornwall, yet frost got into the greenhouse regularly. I don't take anything for granted!

[gwynnethmary]

I will pass that on to the watering plants half of the team!  Although the conservatory does get cold, I don't think we've ever had a frost in there, so will leave it where it is- thanks for tips!

[tim]

Easy on the water!

[laurieuk]

My christmas cacti stands on top of my aquarium which has a top lid so I have to lift it off twice a day to feed my fish, it does not seem to affect the flowers. If I was to take it from a warm room to a cold one that would be different, the same as us going from warmth to cold. Like all cacti plants they do not want very much water but do enjoy a spell outside in the summer months to ripen up the bloom buds.

[tonybloke]

i did start a thread,  http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,56538.msg576142.html#msg576142.
???

[laurieuk]

I think Christmas cacti is likely to attract more attention than a botanical name. "Christmas Cacti" covers Zygocactus,Epiphhyllum truncatum and all the forms of Schlumbergia. I find when giving talks everyone knows African violets but Saintpaulia is less well known .The most difficult thing I find to explain to groups is that what we call daffodils are in fact all narcissus and that daffodil is just a commen name for trumpet narcissus. There is a trend now to use better sounding names but I do not know if this is good or not. I have friends who say I must not call myself a "gardener" but should be a "horticulturist" I am happy gardening.

[laurieuk]

Having got batteries for my camera can now load a picture of my cacti on my aquarium , this is moved twice  a day every day which I think shows no blossom drop, but we all have our own thoughts about things.

[img=http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5007/1002403d.jpg]

[fluffygrue]

Having got batteries for my camera can now load a picture of my cacti on my aquarium , this is moved twice  a day every day which I think shows no blossom drop, but we all have our own thoughts about things.

[img=http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5007/1002403d.jpg]

Can I have some Christmas cactus feeding tips, please? Mine flower okay, but never quite like that! :)

[Vortex]

If your conservatory regulalry drops below -4 then bring them in; I lost several in the greenhouse a couple of years ago.

Mine spend all their time on various window cills, and most flowered after the November cold snap. Whilst most of mine are purple flowered, I acquired 4 cuttings from a red flowing variety last May; they've been a little slow in taking this year.

As to watering, I water about once a week throught the winter, ie after they've flowered, and 2 or 3 times a week during hot spells. I always water from the base and never from the top, as this can cause them to rot at soil level.

[laurieuk]

I feed mine with any high potash food phostrogen,tomarite etc. after they have flowered to build them up for the next year. I often say we all do things different whereas one says always water from the bottom I never water anything from the bottom. I water from the top with all plants as I think this is natures way, the rain comes down not up,but we do as suits us not what others do.

Having got batteries for my camera can now load a picture of my cacti on my aquarium , this is moved twice  a day every day which I think shows no blossom drop, but we all have our own thoughts about things.

[img=http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5007/1002403d.jpg]

Can I have some Christmas cactus feeding tips, please? Mine flower okay, but never quite like that! :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

You don't need to be shy about watering any cactus as long as the temperature's over about 50 and the pot is well drained.

[Vinlander]

Hardiness of all epiphytic cacti varies enormously. The hardiest were among the first plants to be carried to Europe by the Conquistadores - because they survive months of bad watering.

Basically yours will be hardy if you got it from someone's granny or picked up and rooted a few segments from the doctor or dentist or any office - anywhere that plants have stood years of neglect!

If you bought it since gardening and garden centres became trendy then it will be a new cultivar and almost certainly tender.

Another distinguishing factor will be how showy the flowers are - showy means tender and probably new, plain means old and probably hardy.

Not that all old hybrids are hardy - just the ones that aren't in professional care - the others all died off long ago.

None of these things are certain, the best course is probably to leave it be and take cuttings - break off some stems that aren't flowering - put these in dryish (not bone dry) compost in a medium temp. bag them and don't water them until you can feel they've rooted (a month maybe).

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you have an epiphyte which is showy and heavily scented, you may well have a species. I had a tremendous one at one time; flowers a foot across, and seriously smelly once the sun went down. It was a true species (I forget what), and it had been in cultivation for I don't know how long.

[Vinlander]

If you have an epiphyte which is showy and heavily scented, you may well have a species. I had a tremendous one at one time; flowers a foot across, and seriously smelly once the sun went down. It was a true species (I forget what), and it had been in cultivation for I don't know how long.

If the 'leaves' actually looked like leaves (up to 100mm wide, flat, less than 3mm thick) with white flowers that died in the morning then it was probably Epiphyllum oxypetalum.

It is a species - unmistakeable and reasonably cold-tolerant too.

You're right that it's been around for centuries though - unfortunately that probably means everyone in the UK has the same extra-hardy clone.

I've got two plants from different sources but despite paintbrush pollination I've never managed to get them to set fruit (so they are probably identical).

A pity because most epiphyllum fruit are delicious and exotic - so good to get fresh exotica with zero food miles.

See what I did there? subverted the non-edible plants forum!

Christmas cacti fruit are quite insipid unfortunately.

That settles it - I'm going to ask for an edible ornamental forum - it's the main part of gardening where  we are lagging behind the US (maybe the only one).

Cheers.

PS. there are plenty of epi hybrids that are showy and well scented (not as heavily as an oxy - but some people find E.oxy oppressive), and generally each one of their flowers lasts through at least 24 hours.

[Robert_Brenchley]

It looks like it, though I can't find a pic of the whole plant anywhere. I didn't mind the scent, but it was a bit reminiscent of an H G Wells short story about a man-eating orchid.