no guarantees on grammar.....

Did you let the cuts dry and callous before planting them? I don't have night blooming cereus (huge plants for an apartment!), but I have a bunch of orchid cactus cuttings.

Let the cut heal, then dip in rooting powder, place barely in gritty or perlity mix, and prop them up (I pour about an inch of pea gravel on top of the mix - this holds the cuttings up). Stick the cuttings in too deep and they will rot. They sit with the phrags or near the catts (slightly less light) until rooted - new growth will appear when the roots are growing well.

The ones I've seen start in the ground and climb up - in contrast to epiphytes that start halfway up a tree and hang or climb further.

But my experience is pretty limited and I haven't gotten to the blooming part yet.

Hate to say this, but I've noticed a huge difference in the responses to trades on various forums. Don't know anything about the cacti people, but the carnivorous plant people and orchid people are my personal favorites. The general Plant Exchange forum can be kind of dismal. I can't tell you how many times I've received a response like this to something I had up for trade: "I have this plant with really pretty, pink flowers. I don't know what it is, but the flowers sure are pretty."

Grrrrrrrrrrrr!

while I haven't traded anything, I agree with you aa, orchid and CP are my favorite forums. Houseplants nearly ate me alive when I mentioned getting an atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade). Which will be here within the month, by the way.

Hi ,
I have a couple of the cereus , Let heal before planting , once potted ( I use African Violet mix ) leave them alone they like to be really pot busting , bound . When growing water well , when not reduce water , They do not like full sun and will burn . I feed along with the orchids .
In the spring they go outside under a tree .
Hope you have a lot of room they get big .
Watch close for buds I thought mine were blasting , it was the night bloomer type, flowers only good for one night :( Hope this helps a little . I kint speel either :) Gin

it is so neat to see these bloom.. I had a huge one, gave it away, took a cutting, it's 4 ft tall now..what Gin said, an expert!

also, try moonflowers, omg, they're so cool blooming at night and into the morning.. also, passionflower, love that one, too..

Judy, Have you grown night scented stock ? seeds are hard to find blooms not fancy , it smells wonderful at night .

Gin

Hey Gin:-) long time!!
I adore stock but have not seen that..
making a note now~ thx, G.

G, check out this site, very cool, a new project for me;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: night bloomers

Hello folks, I too have 2 cuttings from a cereus, i purchased on ebay about 2 months ago, followed planting instructions per seller, so far they are just sitting there, all nice and green leaves, but as of yet no sign of any new growth, (sigh), but the seller says it takes time, not to worry....so.....just chiming in here ;-)

Hey pryan,That pic will now make it worth the wait no matter how long,,,that cereus is beautiful, thanks for the input and pic !

I took cuttings from my 2 cereus' this fall and planted in good potting soil and put in a bright east facing window. Same here, not much happening currently but they are still alive and there may be a branch forming on one of them. I've done this in the past and they always seem to grab eventually, in fact it is how I obtained the two from which I took the cuttings.

These better take as I destroyed the mother plants after taking the cuttings, they had became huge and very unwieldy.

Bob

Hello westoh, just wondered do you keep the soil moist that your cuttings are in.I have 2 cuttings planted and the grower i got them from told me to water after the initial planting , but then none untill i see any new growth. i do hit mine with a little water though.

Hello westoh, just wondered do you keep the soil moist that your cuttings are in.I have 2 cuttings planted and the grower i got them from told me to water after the initial planting , but then none untill i see any new growth. i do hit mine with a little water though.

I water mine when they appear dry. I'd say I water the cuttings every 7-10 days. I've started 3 or 4 cereus cuttings this way, usually over the winter also.

I checked this weekend and mine are starting to send out a couple of new shoots.

Bob

Same as bob here. Watered maybe once every week and a half. In summer though it gets watered daily.

Both of my sets of cuttings are taking hold, using a little more water now also. I have new shoots from the bases on both sets of cereus'.

I planted 3 cuttings in one pot and two in another, all three are taking hold in one, only one in the 2 cutting pot and the other one is dieing. (The exact reason I planted multiples in the same pot, better odds at getting one through the winter.)

Anyhow, I think both plants will now live on for a few more years.

Bob

Does anyone know how to take clippings from a night-blooming orchid? I want to try to get a few different clippings off of mine but I'm unsure on how to do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi all;
I inherited my mother's night-blooming cereus, which was my grandmother's before that. It's bloomed the last 2 years, but no buds yet this year. However, the horrendous winter, lingering cold and late spring here in the NE meant that it didn't come out site until mode June or later. Still checking every day. Sigh.

It does have some new leaves, which appear as tiny red leaves growing off the edge of an existing leaf - which is similar to the way it buds, but so far they all look like tiny red leaves wit yellow tips. I've been lightly feeding it with a very dilute solution of a water-sol fertilizer, 10-30-20 (dilute as those numbers seemed high.) Should I bump up the fertilizer? Or leave it alone?
So, two questions:

1) Looks very healthy (besides the non-budding) but It does has some old leaves which have turned yellow or weirdly pink. Wondering if its ok ago trim them off..?
And -
1) Is possible that the small new red leaves, growing from the margin of a green leaf, are the beginning of a bud?

TIA. I do love this gangly plant, both for reminding me of my grandma's sunporch, and for its weird beauty.

I received a Cereus for my bday in May. I live in FL and keep it in a shady spot on my back patio. This Thing is growing like crazy! It's bloomed twice and I've just taken some cuttings to give to my daughter next month for her birthday. Its a lot like having a succulent or air plant. Give them a little attention once a week, 10 days.

I got a night bloom cactus i hope get new growth

I knew a lady in her late 80's that had a party every year when her cereus was going to bloom..everyone came at night and just waited in another room..the cereus was alone in a dark room..the scent called us! when we smelled it we all went in and saw, it was gorgeous!

How to grow said plant indoors is a mystery? Easy Outside in Zone 10b.

The lady I knew grew hers in an unheated enclosed porch 3 seasons and brought it into her kitchen in the winter. She let it dry out a lot between waterings..that's all I can remember.

I have a few in Florida which I pretty much ignore. They grow in sand and bloom on and off all year. I really don't do anything with them.

Jane

For myself, they are pretty easy to grow and I'm in Nwestern NY zone 6. During later spring to around November, I water once plant is dry, or almost dry. I fertilize about once a month with a bloom booster, and it blooms for months. I actually have a flower bud on mine right now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will mature and open for me before I have to bring it back in for the winter. I can place it under my HPS light if need be.

Mine came from a plant trade (cutting) here on GW years ago. I'm Z4a, and I keep her in the sunroom. She blooms 1-2X/year, and it's always a thrill! Smells like heaven, blooms are about 4" across. Here she is:

Best way I have found to start cuttings of all kinds (including night-blooming cereus) is in Forsythe pots. Make a Forsythe pot I should have potted these cuttings on months ago (too busy with the outdoor garden!) but they all seem very happy and have grown amazingly large with no fertilizer of any kind. The recycled sour cream lid is atop the clay pot in the middle to keep the water from evaporating since the point is to allow water to seep from the pot into the growing medium (a mix of a little peat with perlite and vermiculite). I check the water level in the clay pot weekly. I'm determined to take new cuttings from it today and set them aside to dry, and then hope to pot up the rooted cuttings -- if I can tease individuals apart from the entangled roots that I know I will find. If not - well, the new cuttings will be along in due time! In the meantime, I've prepared another Forsythe pot...

Ive not see this before, but now that i have . . . brilliant!

I’ve not seen this before. But, now that i have . . . brilliant!