Easter cactus?

Discussion in 'Cacti and Succulents' started by Cactus Jack, Feb 29, 2008.

  1. Cactus Jack

    Cactus Jack Active Member

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    Anybody else's Christmas cactus producing another crop of buds ready for another blooming? I've heard they can do this, but mine didn't do anything last easter. Why would they produce a second set of buds some years but not others?

    It doesn't look like we're going to get anything like the spectacular display we had in December (on Christmas Eve, we set it on the mantlepiece with candles arranged around it, and it looked beautiful!), but the flowers are still welcome.

    If pollinated, do Christmas cactuses produce fruit? If so, is it any good to eat?
     
  2. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    If I remember correctly, Christmas cacti bloom when they're exposed to a 12-hour sun, 12-hour night cycle, chilled at night, and slightly water-starved. I know that my grandmother used to put hers in the root cellar for three months, leaving the light-bulb on in 12-hour cycles. Her cacti bloomed every single year.

    Not sure about the fruit, though.
     
  3. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

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    If your jungle cactus is in the right happy environment, it could bloom three times a year.
    I just keep mine outdoor in the summer and bring them indoor into a cool room before the threat of frost. It only gets natural light from windows. Never deprived from any water in the month of Sept like many book suggest and it always blooms.

    Pollinating the flowers either by a small soft paint brush, or touching one flower to another can produce a seed pod, (not always successful) I never had much luck with that. I don't know about eating seeds pods but it doesn't sound very appetizing, lol. The new plant (s) from seed can produce a flower color other than the parent.
     
  4. Cactus Jack

    Cactus Jack Active Member

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    The first of my flowers opened, and it's beautiful.
     

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  5. nic

    nic Active Member 10 Years

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    My Christmas Cacti have been Lent, Easter, Michaelmas and Advent Cacti over the years. They're welcome when they like. I put them out side for part of the summer, and I think the difference in flowering time must depend on how much the study where they spend their non-flowering life is used at night,if they are length of daylight sensitive, which I didn't know before. Would this be likely?
     
  6. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

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    Cactus Jack,

    I really like the color of your flowers, beautiful! I forgot to mention, your cactus is not an Easter cactus, but probably a hybrid of a Christmas, or Thanksgiving cactus.

    Here's a link to the difference.

    http://cactus.biology.dal.ca/paulS/christmas/christmas.html


    Nic,

    Shorter daylight hours and cooler temps will set buds in motion.
     
  7. mandarin

    mandarin Active Member 10 Years

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    Yes, but you need two plants (different clones) for that, they are not self-fertile. I have never tried to eat the fruits, so I cannot answer the second question.
     
  8. nic

    nic Active Member 10 Years

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    Bluewing, what an interesting link, thank you! I've had some of my cacti for years, and have recently rescued some really old ones, but Ive learnt more about them in the last few days than in the last few years. I had no idea they needed short days to start bud production, I'm sure this wasn't in any of my books, and I read a lot about them when I got my first one. I've always been quite happy with them blooming when they felt like it, I like them for their form and habit as much as for their flowers, but I shall fiddle around with their routine now, and see what happens. I've read a lot of the other threads about them today, as well, and am looking forward to getting even more pleasure from these fascinating plants.
    Now I shall look up why I have no luck with aspidistras, you wouldn't think it possible, would you!
     
  9. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

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    Mandarin,
    From what I understand, people have successfully pollinated the flowers using one plant and then getting a seed pod like three months later, but it's not always easy I guess, I tried for a few years than gave up.

    Hi Nic,
    Aspidistras aren't fussy plants as long as they are in small pots and have good drainage and some bright indirect light. Water well when dry and they will be happy:>)
    They jungle cactus are beautiful plants aren't they?

    If you have any of the older Christmas cactus's (smooth leaves) your lucky because they are hard to come by and many people want them in their collection.

    Good luck with your plants!
     
  10. nic

    nic Active Member 10 Years

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    That's as may be about aspidistras, but the one I have is a division of a plant of my sister's which itself was a bit of our mother's one. Sister's is thriving, no idea what happened to the original. Mine, from a maximum of eleven leaves is down to three. It grew really well for a while, but has dwindled over the last couple of years. I suspect vine weevil, as we jump on a lot of these, and I'm afraid the damage is done. I haven't given up on it.
    I have eight cactuses, three of which are the same. The rescued ones are all different, and I will identify them accurately with the help of your link, and wouldn't be at all surprised to find them the older kind, as they came from the house of a very old lady, a good plantswoman, and propagator, who would have been quite capable of carrying along a line of plants from an original HER mother had had. I'm looking forward to finding out. Isn't it shaming that I've grown some of my specimens for so long, and only just pulled myself together to increase my knowledge.
     
  11. koipondgardener

    koipondgardener Active Member

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    My christmas cactus lives in the master bedroom in a south facing window that rarely gets the blinds opened until a about noon time. the plant hasn't stopped blooming since late november! last year it stopped after one blooming but not this year. the plant thrives on neglect with the right lighting. perhaps i will post a picture later.
     
  12. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

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    Nic,
    Your Aspidistra can always do a turn around, Is it outdoors or indoors? Mine (5 leaves) is a very slow grower, slower than normal I think, so it will be moved soon to a little more bit brigher window.

    It sounds like you might have an older Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) I'm not sure how long they live, but they can get pretty old. I saw one in a magazine once that was said to be 117 yrs old. Mine was 100+ passed down from grandmother to daughter, the daughter being an older lady in her late 70s when I got it. I had it for about twenty years, then I overwatered it, grrr. At least I was able to save a cutting.

    Koi,

    Yes, post a picture if you can, we'd love to see it!
     
  13. mandarin

    mandarin Active Member 10 Years

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    It can happen, the mechanism that prevents self-pollination does not always work. But it is much easier if you cross-pollinate two different clones.
     
  14. nic

    nic Active Member 10 Years

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    After a lot of reading, I'm pretty sure I've got two S.x buckleyi, they look slightly different in habit but that is because one is a much younger plant, yes? Definitely got S. truncata, some I've had for years, these are the ones that for me are variable in their flowering times. The other two, I'm finding harder to pin down, I think some form of Rhipsolidopsis, but I really need them to flower to be sure. I'm a gardener, not a botanist, so I need to go to the Botanic Garden here and look at their greenhouses, and also the Winter Gardens in town. Not that either visit will be a chore.
    The aspidistra is on probation. It's indoors,(North East Scotland) and is looking quite hopeful, another two leaves sprouting since I first wrote about it.
     
  15. Rhynno

    Rhynno Active Member

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    And here I thought that mine was probably the only one who decided to bloom right now lol. After having this guy bloom again it makes me want to find the purple and peach coloured varieties.

    Good luck with your Cactus!

    Ryan
     

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  16. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

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    Nice flowers Ryan!
     
  17. Rhynno

    Rhynno Active Member

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    Thanks Bluewing :)! I've got a terrible itch to hunt for more of them (and Easter cacti too! 'Though I've had less luck with them). This is the first time that I've had a Christmas cactus bloom this much for me! How about the rest of you?
     
  18. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

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    I didn't have much luck with an easter cactus myself, but would like to try again sometime.

    My little 4" pot of an old fashion Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) has three tiny buds coming, must be this cold weather!
    Here's what the flowers will look like (photo taken from another Christmas cactus of mine) at another time. "Fuchsia' I beleive they call this the color.
    I have an itch to get more too now that mention it:>)
     

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  19. Rhynno

    Rhynno Active Member

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    Wow Bluewing that colour is amazing! Even the spathe and stamen (I hope I have my terms right) are pink!

    On a side note, is it true that you can get these guys to root in water? I have never tried myself.
     
  20. Rhynno

    Rhynno Active Member

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    Oops, fuchsia I mean. I seem to remember the pink being a slightly different colour but I could be wrong.
     
  21. mandarin

    mandarin Active Member 10 Years

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    Yes, but I don't do that myself, it is an unnecessary step. The roots formed in water also looks a bit weak in my eyes.
     
  22. Rhynno

    Rhynno Active Member

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    I've heard that too (about the roots being weak and also brittle) but I haven't had much luck with rooting them in half peat and half sand while covered and while giving bottom heat etc. I think that I didn't let the cut heal over, that might have been the problem.
     
  23. nic

    nic Active Member 10 Years

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    Thank you, Bluewing, that's the clearest picture of S.x buckleyi I've seen, and I've got two, definately. Mostly, I have an itch for more space to put more plants. I will find out what the others are, but it's taking me a very long time.
     
  24. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

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    Yep, the whole flower is a fuchsia color.
    Yes, cuttings will root in water, but, it's better to root them in a pot of good draining soil that you'll want them to be in for a couple of years, or, you can root them in pure "perlite".
    Water roots are different than soil roots and sometimes certain plants can have a tuff time adjusting to soil after swimming in water.

    Good luck with your beauties!
     

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