Epicactus - any epiphytic cactus enthusiasts?

[Sirius]

Just wondering if anyone is growing any of the Epicactus, species or hybrids? I have several species and a couple of hybrids going. In just three short years I should get some blooms. Ha ha.

This is my grow list...

Cryptocereus anthonyanus
Disocactus x ackermannii
Epiphyllum crenatum
Epiphyllum oxypetalum 'Mark Twain'
Selenicereus chrysocardium
Rhipsalidopsis 'Sirius'
Hatiora gaertneri
Schlumbergera hybrid (pink)

I want to add an Epiphyllum floribunda, but it's hard to find.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I have Epiphyllum chrysocardium...I originally got it as a few cuttings from the Brooklyn Botanic garden. It grew so large...about 9' across if stretched out, that I contacted Dave Horak to give the plant back to the BBG (which no longer had that plant). I kept a rooted cutting...which is now about 2 feet across. Buds up every fall...most buds blast, but the few that bloom are a foot across and open up around NY's Eve...perfume the whole house, but close up by the next day. I also have several Epiphyllum hybrids, which don't bloom at all, and a Rhipsalis...which also doesn't bloom. I have a bunch of Perskia's and a Pereskiopsis...actually, my son's...he hates cactus, except for Opuntia's (ouch!) and the Pereskia's...because they have leaves....makes them different.

 

[Sirius]

Eric,

I got a single leaf cutting of chrysocardium as a freebie in an order of a couple of other epicactus. I was excited to have it, until I saw photos of it online. I know some of the epicactus plants can get big, but chrysocardium gets BIG. I figure I will try to keep it managed for a few years, and if it gets out of control I will move it along to someone locally.

I am excited to hear that yours blooms. When I was looking up information on the plant, several people said it is hard to bloom. Can you tell me what conditions yours gets? Does it get a dark winter rest? Do you restrict water, and grow it cool in winter?

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I got it because I was so impressed by the monster plant they had at the BBG years ago (before they renovated it and made it spectacular...I so much prefer the old days, when it was a low key but amazing botanical collection). I had brought a few cactus cuttings and seeds to give to Frank Bowman, the cactus/succulent curator at the time. He pulled out his shears and asked me what I'd like...so I immediately jumped at a chance to get the chrysocardium cuttings. (One of the things I gave him was Cryptocereus anthonyanus...similar shape...never bloomed for me..lost it in a move.) It really got huge. It got so big that in winter I'd have to wrap the branches around the plant shelves and support them with wire hangers. At any rate, I keep it outdoors, fairly shaded (less shaded this year since the tornado made my yard way sunnier) from late April to late October. I water it and fertilize it regularly, though I sometimes forget. During the winter I currently hang it in my cold room, where it gets some winter sun. (The parent plant was too large to hang, so it was on a top shelf.) I keep it fairly dry during the winter. It didn't bloom this year, because the cuttings were just starting to grow. Usually though, the buds are forming when I take it indoors. Of course, that means that they blast. In a good year I'll get 2 blooms making it...sometimes only 1, sometimes none. I have better luck if the buds form after its taken in. Somewhere in the archives here should be pictures of its bloom and of my cold room, with the original plant on the top shelf.

 

[Sirius]

Yeah, I have already hatched a game plan to tackle the larger growing species. There is a Dutch grower who posted pics of his epicactus plants growing in pots with dowel rods. He trains the leaves straight up, pruning any leaves that don't grow from the base of the plant. They looked really nice, and allow for better spacing horizontally. How that is going to work for chrysocardium remains to be seen.

 

[Sirius]

Here is a link to a grower using dowel rods to train epicactus.

http://www.orchid-cactus.com/cultivation.asp

They look much tidier, and take up less space. As I said, I don't know how it will work with chrysocardium and anthonyanus. His Deutsche Kaiserin plant is epic though...

 

[SlipperFan]

Amazing display!