An orchid cactus is an epiphyllum which is different then an Easter/Christmas cactus. It takes a much longer time to mature and isn't as prolific a bloomer but the blooms are so much prettier and 10x the size. It's a very easy low maintenance plant. Lipstick plants are also low maintenance and have many blooms at once. The pitcher plant is difficult to keep. It's a bog plant and requires very high humidity and an acidic soil with lots of organic matter. I wouldn't order from Logees. They have a nice selection but are the biggest rip off. Very high prices for small plants but they are usually healthy and correctly identified. There's a number of other online tropical nurseries that have nicer plants at much better prices.
Karyn

pagrdnr, I agree with Karyn on most of this. If you are looking for larger epiphyllums let me know as we have many variteties and can send larger cuttings or plants. Just this last year we have seen our seeds come to life! We have been unable to keep those pitcher plants growing even with out acidy soil. Best of luck with your new plants.

Karma is that epi seed that germinated for you? I have often dreamed of hybridizing them, but haven't gotten around to doing the research yet. Did you have do anything special to get them going?
Shawn here's an Epi pic to show you the habit:

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Grrrnthumb I love your epi. The blooms are such a pretty color. Mine are all white and yellow so far. Karma I have 3 little epis growing from the seeds you sent me. I also have a fruit forming on something called a Curly epiphyllum. The "leaves" are a very dark green with scalloped wavy edges. Unfortunately I missed the bloom because it's in the back of the greenhouse so I have no idea what it looks like.
Karyn

Thanks for the info. Too late... the order from Logee's was placed a few days ago. I did see that the pot size is only 2.5", I do wish they were bigger. Karma I may have to take you up on that offer in the spring. Tom the pic is beautiful, now I know what to expect it to look like. I think I prdered a lighter pink variety because it said 10" flowers. So how long will it take this plant in a 2.5" pot to reach blooming size?
Shawn

I have epi plants that would trade for brugs

Thank you for the links you emailed me Karyn, I will be sure to save them and check them out. Redhotflowerwoman which ones do you have? LMK and check my trade page to see the brugs I have available.
Shawn

karyn, great job! We have six and they are about an inch long at this point, a few more years and we will see them bloom!
grrrnthumb nice plant! This was our first attempt as we were showing folks here for a garden tour how it was done last summer when we had several in bloom. The ladies were back in the fall to see the yard again and were surprised that there was a seedpod growing. Matter of fact one lady now lives in Mexico and was back to check on progress a month ago and she was surprised to see them growing. She now can see all that we grow in their natural habitat and is really enjoying living down there. We allowed this to continue growing and when the pod dropped we took it in the house to dry which it didn't. After a month we cut it open and shared the sticky seeds with Karyn. We took half of what was left and place them in a pot to go back into the greenhouse the others were in cells in the Brug house.
I know they will take a few years before we see them bloom from what we have read.
pagrdnr, let me know when you are ready and what you are looking for.

That epi is pretty. I got one this year in a trade and it just bloomed a few days ago, I was really shocked that it bloomed for me (it is white) Mine has little brown spots on it, looks like it has the measles or something, anyone know what is up with that? This is my first one.

Mary

Shawn Send me a email and will get to you with the names of the ones I have. All of them are rooted plants. Judy

Judy, I sent you an email.
Shawn

Shawn never got the email. Tried to send to you but wont come up for me. email is dnj@centurytel.net. look forward to hearing from you. Judy

Judy I sent another one, LMK if you got it.
Shawn

Mary,
Would love to see your bloom!
The leaf you gave me in May now looks like this:
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It is going wild.
Lori

Hey Lori!!!! good to see ya! can't believe that one leaf has grown into that already!!!!! I will post a pic of my plant when I get home from school tonight. I am having HECK week!!!! I have had a micro test from Hades going to my second micro quiz of the week and I have a TN history test tonight. I thought Rob (you know Mr History major) could help me with that, but no!!! He may know American history inside and out but he doesn't know squat about TN history!!!

Mary

My mom and I both got our epi cuttings two years ago and they have grown a lot. I have kept them on my deck in the shade and they didn't bloom this year. Should I have located them to a sunnier site?

How should I treat them in the house this winter?

I got an orchid cactus a few years back and it was already about 30 years old. I uprooted it, broke it into smaller parts and repotted. I also repotted some of the pieces that fell off. Very hardy. Everything i planted took right off. I kept it in almost full sun last summer and have been wintering it in 52 degrees all winter. I have yet to see this thing bloom. I fertilize rarely... but use the job sticks. any suggestions? Ill post pics when i figure out the pic posting.

Epi's will bloom anytime of the year that you can give them a cold dry period (month or two). They need to get bone dry for awhile (until the center ribs start to become more prominent), while at the same time undergoing cooler temps than they've been in.
I leave them out, under cover, as late as I can in the fall to get one cold blooming cycle, and put them out early in the spring, under dry cover again, to get another bloom cycle.
The plants are healthier when their leaves get thoroughly washed while in the growth cycle, and they also bloom better under normal fertilization. You should only force them into a bloom cycle if they are healthy and have plump, full leaves.

Tom, The epi, in your picture above, is gorgeous! Great info too.Do you apply this treatment to thanksgiving/xmas cactus also?
Looking forward to everyone's blooming epi pix.

Theresa

grrrnthumb, that is a pretty orchid cactus. What is the name of that one?
I have @ 60 diff ones out on the covered screenporch that I left out all winter except on the nights it got into the 20's. They are growing like crazy now but still too young for blooms I think.

Do you or anyone else on this forum also grow dragonfruit? I have 8 diff ones (2 noids and 6 named) of those now. I hope I can trade for some others I want once they get a little bigger this summer.

Theresa, no, the xmas cactus have different bloom triggers. They need 14 hours of dark every night for several weeks, so they do good in rooms that don't get used (with the lights on) in the evenings. Cooler temps also help, but are not as critical.

SJN, it was given to me me as an heirloom start from my grandmother, so no name that I know of.
I had traded for several starts of dragonfruit, but lost them while when I was away from home for awhile. Hope to try again soon.
-Tom

Of course a Yellow one to wish everyone a happy day.
Bright day!
Worry free day!
Painfree day!
A day filled with at least ONE bright moment!
{{gwi:462831}}From Picture of the day for March 09

I am so excited. This year I will have a lot more growing. They already are showing nice growth. Most of them. yippeeeee

CU later
Lucy

Oh...and in case none of the above comes from anybody else....come back here and get yourself a big big hug from me

yupp...I figured I threw everyone off and you thought you are in the wrong thread all of a sudden. Sorry I wanted to respond to here...left...and forgot where I was when I came back lol

Tom I learned another thing about x mas cactus. Moved it into a room that is not in use at night. Thanks

Lucy

I really enjoy epis too. They love my cool garage over winter. A number of years ago I got cuttings of several named varieties from Ebay sellers. I planted them two cuttings per pot. They are just now getting real potbound -- they need to be potbound before they will bloom. Several have lots of buds for the first time. I will take photos when they bloom.

Here are several from last year. The white and magenta one I moved it into the house too early and it dropped some buds. I'll be leaving it in the cool garage longer to see if it holds more buds this time. Other named ones I have are Pegasus, Dracula, and Yours Truly.

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The last one is your basic Ackermanii, which is easy, easy to grow and bloom.

Dave, They look great. Do you feed yours 'the recipe' (with the beer, molases etc.)or something else?

Never heard of 'the recipe'. If there's beer involved, it would never make it to the epis! LOL!

I use slow-release fertilizer pellets in summer and that's all.

I hear ya about the beer LOL! Especially if its good beer!
There is a recipe from 2005 on the epiforms.com website under the Fertilization section that has the recipe. Its about a mile long lol. Here is the basic version:
12 0z beer (any old cheap kind will do)
1/2 C. ammonia
1 C. epson salt
2 C of water
Mix and use 1 TBS per gal of water q two weeks.

It has been kicking around for awhile and has been changed lots of times. Some people add miracle grow, superthrive,liquid seaweed, tea tree oil etc. to it and use it on other plants too. I tried a version on the brugs last year but didn't do the epies. This year I plan to use it on the epies and dragonfruit too. I still like milorganite for my brugs and plumeria though :D

This is my EPI, I purchased it in a 8" hanging basket about 6 yrs ago. It's never bloomed. I recently took it up to the local greenhouse. They have one that's just beautiful. They treated plant for mites , repotted and fertilized for me. I keep it in the south window, per their suggestion. The plant they have is loaded with beautiful red blooms.This room stays around 67 in winter months. We live in Wisconsin. The soils is compose made at greenhouse with terra-Cotta pieces mixed in soil. The advise I've been given is from the local Greenhouse. She was kind enough to send me home with a small bag of fertilizer to feed plant, she also stated to mist all plants including this one with rubbing alcohol to kill mites. Do this for 2 weeks 1 time a week make sure plant is well misted. I'd love to see blooms on this beautiful cactus

That's a nice looking plant. It might not be getting enough sun to flower. I have some in hanging pots that I put on our overhang from the patio. The sun goes right to the edge of the overhang. There is enough room for my epis to go towards the house for shade or out into the sun. All of them prefer to grow towards and into the sun. So they are getting some direct sun everyday and are going nuts. I always was told they need more shade than this but they made up their own minds lol.