X-mas Cactus (Schlumbergera). 10.15.18

Last winter, I bought these two "Christmas Cactus" plants to cheer up my office.  I think they are more correctly called "Thanksgiving Cactus" or better yet, Schlumbergera.   They bloommed very nicely.  During the summer, and into the cooler nights, they were outside, on the East side of the house, with morning sun and afternoon and evening shade.  I watered them when I remembered.  This is not organic, but I gave them Miracle-Grow for green plants, at 1/4 label recommended strength, until fall, then switched to the Miracle-Grow "Bloom Booster" at 1/4 strength.  Now they are in my South Facing office window.  Lots of buds.  They might actually be in bloom at Thanksgiving.  Meanwhile, there is the joy of anticipation and the pride of growing something that will bloom nicely, soon.

There are also a couple of Schlumbergera that are much older and larger.  They are beginning to set flower buds, but not as much.

Edit:  I can remember reading various schemes about putting these in the dark for a month to get them to bloom.  That's just not true.  I've grown them for years, and just let the change of seasons do it's thing.  They always bloom, every year, without putting them into a dark closet.  Maybe that's the climate or lattitude?  I don't know, and I don't worry about it.

Schlumbergera

I took the best looking Schlumbergera to work, so no pics of those! This one was left to dry out too much this summer, but is making a nice display of salmon colored flowers now. I think I will start some cuttings after it blooms, to have a smaller plant that is easier to care for.

This Sclumbergera was pure white last year. This year it is a very pale pink & white mixture. Really quite striking. It was in a mix, half red, and half white, and I separated them to have each color individual. This is an ideal size. The photo doesn't do it justice.

Eggs / Schlumbergera / leaves

Day off today, lots of homework to do. Fortunatly I have my new home office for that.

The schlumbergera are budding profusely.




I need to clean the chicken house. The poops are making stalactites under their roost. Here is yesterday's egg crop. Somebody didn't try very hard. The rest of the time they are all doing their little chicken jobs.

Winter. Schlumbergera. Homework.

The rest of today will be a homework day. This is made tolerable by the cold & snow outside, and my furry companion and some bright flowers inside.

Back yard. Later I'll publish a summary of the temperatures if I get a chance. Currently 27F on my thermometer in the grape arbor. The "zone denial' banana never made it into the house this year. Looks like it's a bit late, huh? Or was this "denial" of my frustration with the fact that it has never looked good, and since I DID manage to bring in the cannas, maybe I just didn't want to admit that leaving the banana outside was a passive-aggressive way to deal with it. Looks like a nice container for the cannas, or maybe potting up a fig next year?

Maybe the rhodie leaves should have been treated with antidessicant. We'll see this spring whether they perk up again.


Outside for a picture of the "big snow" December 19 2008

Possibly a bit obsessed with the Schlumbergera, but they allow the illusion of tropical lushness indoors. This pink one was added this year.

Also this mix. I'm not crazy about the two together, so used a sharpie to label the stems "W" and "R". The goal will be to pot up the white separately.

Strange, I've been thinking of starting a pot with all of the colors mixed together. Meanwhile not happy with the one combination that I do have.

Since they are no trouble to over-summer, a couple more should not be a burden.

Charlie is keeping me company while doing homework. He makes it all tolerable.

Nice Holiday Cacti (Schlumbergera) In Bloom. 15 Nov 23.

 The Schlumbergera bus are opening.  It's a nice show so far.

They don't get much special treatment.  I keep them on the North side of the house for the summer, bring them in during fall.  Give a little flower fertilizer.  Several are cuttings from older plants that became too big, a couple of years ago.

Edit - here's one more.

A couple of others are not blooming yet.  That will extend the show.

Schlumbergeras are starting to bloom

This salmon colored Schumbergera is usually the first to bloom. This year I took some cuttings from this plant, they are just beginning to make buds. This plant was left unattended for a couple of months this summer, under the grape vine. It might be more prolific now, but I can't complain.

These tend to make buds on the side facing the window. I suppose if I turned them more often they would have buds all around.

All of these were summered outside, some under the grape arbor and some on the North side of the house, where they received some morning and some evening sun, but not midday. I watered them when I remembered to do so. Most years I'm more attentive, but they don't seem to mind. Others are just beginning to make buds, so there will be Schlumbergera flowers for at least 2, maybe 3, months.

In their own way, these are as colorful and exotic as orchids. In fact, they are epiphytic and originate in Brazil, in some of the same general areas as some orchids. I may not appreciate them enough, because I'm so accustomed to them. But it's always great when they bloom.

I don't know orchids well enough yet to know if some are as easy as Schlumbergera - maybe so. There is more diversity of flower. I'm glad I don't have to choose, these are all great exotic indoor bloomers that brighten up the shortening days.


This pink one is newer. I wish they had name tags, but as it is I have to accept them for who they are.


A little lopsided, but that's fine. It's really beautiful.

These are supposed to be "Christmas cactus" or "Holiday cactus" or "Thanksgiving cactus" . The "Christmas cactus" label is really a different species but these are sometimes given that label. I prefer the genus name, otherwise what would these be - Columbus Day cactus?

Schlumbergera

Several are in full bloom now. Schlumbergera = "Holiday cactus" = "Thanksgiving cactus" = "Zygocactus" = sometimes, incorrectly, Xmas cactus

Salmon, cutting-grown 4 years old. Summered outdoors, North side of house.

3 years old pink. Summered same as the others.

Creating Schlumbergera hybrids

Holiday Cactus. Obviously, I don't need more of them, but it's interesting trying to see if I can create hybrids and grow them from seed. I transferred pollen among the 3 colors that I had blooming at the time, red, pink, and white. According to various web sources, most are self-infertile, so hybridization is necessary in order to get fruit - and then seeds.

I wonder, what is the advantage to the species to be self-infertile? Some plants are self-fertile, and others are self-infertile. It seems like it would take a special mechanism to become self infertile. I suppose that 'enforced' genetic exchange might result in hardier plants due to mixing of genes, and also result in faster transfer of beneficial genes throughout a population.

Another possiblity is that since the modern varieties are all hybrids, the pollin-producing mechanism and the pollen-receiving mechanisms might originate from different, incompatible species, so another plant with matching mechanisms is needed from a different hybrid. Again, this is just a wild guess.

I pollinated these 2 or 3 weeks ago. Each was pollinated from another variety of a different color.


Here is a web posting about hybridizing and growing Schlumbergera from seeds.

Here is a posting on the gardenweb, with some individual challenges and successes.

It's interesting that the young fruit of the white-flowered variety is not pigmented, so is green.

And the pink variety is a bit more pigmented than the white one.


And the red-flowered variety has the darkest fruit pigmentation as well.

Now comes the long wait. According to some sources, it can take a year for the seed to mature, then 2-3 years to obtain flowering plants from seed. Faster than Clivias, which take a year for the seed to mature and up to 7 years to bloom. But patience is still needed. And luck.

Schlumbergera. 11.27.14

Schlumbergera.  11.27.14

This is my oldest Shlumbergera.  Started from cuttings, about 2003 I'm guessing.  Nice salmon color.  Just beginning to bloom.

No special care.  Outside East side of house in shade for the summer.  Water when I think of it  Bring back inside in October.

More schlumbergera

Another Schlumbergera in full bloom. They all did great this year, some are starting to fade but have a second set of buds. I like the 2nd bloom better than the first, because it's less prolific and the individual flowers show better.

Schlumbergera season

They are way to easy to grow and bloom. Downside: as they grow larger, the flowers face downwards. If hanging, that's fine. On a table, up-facing flowers are easier to view. Summer outside in the shade. Try to remember to water them at least weekly. Bring inside when it's cooling down. Avoid keeping them in lit rooms at night - not difficult. When they start to bud, I provide some orchid bloom food in weak solution.

A pink Sclumbergera. Probably about 3 or 4 years old.

I think I was going to throw away this red one. But this year the color is very good. So I will keep it.

I grew this salmon Sclhumbergera from gift cuttings about 6 years ago. I think this year I will start from cuttings again, for more compact size.

The mysterious "night blooming Cereus" blooms again.

Otherwise known as Epiphyllum oxypetallum.

Charlie had to see what it was all about.

If I had taken excellent care of the plant, it might have had more flowers. One or two is sufficient, however. I forgot how fragrant they are. The house was filled with the sweet scent.

Just beautiful.

I applied some pollen to a couple of Schlumbergera. Chances of that coming to fruition are small - I have no idea if they are related! But if they do, it might be fun a few years from now. Assuming they grow.

These are SO easy to grow, it's easy to wind up with extra plants. If a piece breaks off, or is too long and I trim it off, all that is needed is to stick it into some potting soil and it grows. I've never had one not-grow.

Schlumbergera Seedlings. 20 Dec 2023.

 Here are the Sclumbergera seedlings, from seed I planted two weeks ago.

I don't have a macro lens, so they are difficult to see.  There are about ten seedlings.

I had them on a seed starting warming mat.  The pot was covered with plastic wrap to maintain warmth, uncovering daily to air out.  I read they need light, so they are under an LED desk lamp.

So far, so good.  Today I watered from below and turned up the light intensity.  I have not done this before, so it is an interesting experiment.

Schlumbergera Update. Seeds. 6 Dec 2023.

 The Schlumberas have been winding down, but still nice.

The first to bloom has a developing fruit.  I've been pollinating a few flowers for fun.  The fruits take a long time to ripen.  I'll just leave them alone as the plants over-Summer.

I also collected seeds from one that fruited TWO years ago.  The fruit was a bit wrinkly but still moist and soft.  I washed the seeds into a teacup.

Most of the seeds sank in the water, which I guess is a good sign.  I rinsed a second time, carefully pouring off the water, then planted the minuscule seeds on the surface of moist seed starting medium, gently pressing them onto the medium.

From what I read, they might germinate in a few weeks. I'm keeping them covered but in the light.

I saw this one at Winco and bought it.  The color was more purple under the store lights.

First Schlumbergera Flowers. 11.25.22

 These were cuttings I made a few years ago.  The mother plants were becoming too large for me to handle.  I had these on a bench, under a tree, all summer.  Minimal care.   I brought them indoors a few weeks ago and started watering them.   I gave them a little bloom food.

Pruning Schlumbergera. 9 Apr 24.

 I've usually been reluctant to prune the Schlumbergeras.  As a result they tend to sprawl and become top heavy.   I wanted to prune them just after blooming, but some are still blooming.  I started with these two.  I left still- blooming stems in place. I pruned the others back by 1 or 2 or 3 nodes - basically the past 2 or 3 years' growth.

After the flowers finish, I'll prune those stems back the same way, so they are all even.

Schlumbergera Update. Seedlings and Up-potting One. 16 Mar 2024.

 Sclumbergeras tend to become top heavy with age, and fall over.  I don't think they need as large a pot as some plants the same size, but they eventually need up potting.  This one was grown from cuttings maybe three years ago.  Nice, unusual color.  I grew the original plant from cuttings many years ago, and took these when it became scraggly.

For the falling over problem, I think a heavy pot is needed.  I had one extra, so I used it.

The root mass looks pretty good.  No winding roots, but pretty dense.  I roughed it up just a little before potting.

As for the Schlubergera seedlings, they seem to be on a bit of a growth spurt.  They are making new pads at the apex and and the sides of the old pads.  Interesting.

I sat them all outside today, not in full sun except briefly.  Temp 72F.  To night they will come back inside for the expected low40s F.

Repotting Schlumbergera. 11 Apr 24.

 These were the two smallest / newest Schlumbergeras.  One has a sort of fuchsia tone that I haven't seen much in modern ones.  The color was more common in the past.

These ceramic pots are quite heavy.  They won't have any problems tipping over as they grow.  Also, they look nice.  I did not prune these.  They didn't need it.  Also, if my pruning of some of the others was too severe, these will be the blooming ones, next winter.

Here are the roots.  Nice, and I did not disturb them. 

These cacti should be set fir a few years now, with just routine care.

Later.  

I decided to add this photo, rather than a new blog post.  This cactus had a couple of buds.  One opened.

I finally labeled them with the flower color.