I was givin this plant about 4 years ago and told that it was a beautiful bloomer. I was also told that there would be nothing in the first year, but after that it would be spectacular... so far, nice foilage I guess? If you know this plant's name and care it would be great to finally know how to care for it.
WOW! Now that's fast!!! I think you both nailed it, I went out on the net and looked around for what a Epiphyllum looks like and I do believe we have a match. http://www.missouri.edu/~extgrice/nbc/photos/photos2.html I've been feeding this plant a regular feeding of 20-20-20 just because I wasn't sure of it's proper food, but now see it should have 8-8-8. If you have any special Epi tips it would be greatly appreiciated. Many thanks to jimmyq and Junglekeeper!
Buckets, are you keeping this plant indoors in dim lighting or under fluorescents? In your photos, it looks like one "leaf" of the succulent is especially tall and stretched out, and I don't think that's its healthy growth habit. I have one in a hanging basket and cut the leaves on occasion to encourage them to grow out in a more full & balanced way. It is a succulent that likes a fair amount of sun. Good luck with your plant. Mine flowers at night and the blooms last one day so I've missed them several times! I picked one of the flowerbuds once to put in a vase so I could enjoy the flowers, and about ten minutes later, the bud exploded into a bloom and I totally missed all that action! Next time I'm setting my video camera on it. =)
Gooseneck cactus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum), a very common houseplant frequently asked about on the www by non aficianados. Since it has large white nocturnal flowers it is has been called night blooming cereus, but customarily that name really belongs to to cacti in other genera. The many hybrid orchid cacti (Epiphyllums) with mostly daytime flowers in various colors seem to be grown mostly by devotees. Another one that is fairly frequently seen outside of collections is Nopalxochia ackermannii. This has red daytime flowers, stems more like those of hybrid orchid cacti.
Hi Honeysuckle, I thought it was pretty weird too, that's part of the reason that I came asking questions around here. The plant was about 5" tall for the first year or so, then this long stem like thing went shooting straight up to about 2 feet! At about the 14" mark, the stem flattens into the long leaf you noticed, and now at the same point there is a new stem shoot out to create a "Y". All along both "stems" are little hair like sectitions. You can see this in some of my pictures. The plant's location is on an open shelf that about 5 feet away from a large south facing window, it's been there ever since it was giving to me as a cutting 4 years ago. It sits close to direct morning sun, but it never gets hit directly. It's in a very bright area of all natural light, no hydo-pon lighting. I'm wondering if I should leave it as it is or give it a bit of a chop... any thoughts?
Hey Rob, I did a surf around the web as you suggested and came up with http://www.ecology.org/ecophoto/articles/Epiphyllum.htm I was very surprised to find under the Epiphyllum oxypetalum description that this plant grows up over 8 feet tall!!! Because there is a new "stem" shooting off the long "stem" so I'm thinking that this plant is reaching for the roof, I guess I should just let it grow.
This plant is so fantastic when it blooms that I recommend staying home, inviting friends over, selling tickets, calling the local radio station......... You're in for a real treat.
Yes: broad leaflike stems come off of narrow ones after the narrow ones shoot out some distance. Builds itself up in leaps, like a climbing rose. You will have to prune occasionally if you don't want a huge (2-3m) plant.
Okay, now I can hardly wait to see this plant bloom! It seems like my plant is destined to "great heights", but it also seems like it's going to have a large empty space in the middle as there are plenty of "leaves" at the bottom and now as least one "leaf" about 18" above. There does seem to be a few "flower like" nodes that are peeking out here and there, there's a closer pic of the newest stem, the newest "leaf" with a node and lots of the "hair" like things. I have attatched a few more pics (sorry about the sketchey quality) for any comments? Oh ya, Ron B thanks again for all your expertise.
