Sam you will need to bring your epies in for the winter they can't take temps below 60 for long. is your pot clay or ceramic if ceramic make sure it drains well most epies will do well in a hanging pot takes up less room I have lots of epies that are in hangers. this time of year is not the best time to send rooted cuttings if there a chance of them sitting in a cool post office or on some ones door step all day. could you tell me the size of the flower on your red one
this is my best red so far I don't remember the name right now but is a small one about 4inches across and blooms most of the summer. did you ever think about growing a Oxypetallum night blooming cereus there one of my fav.to grow
{{gwi:503750}}

Bear

Bear, that is beautiful!! Do you know it's name?

Sam, I have several epi babies but only E. Strictum has bloomed for me thus far (the rest are still babies), but it's a very reliable bloomer! This is their 1st year in the greenhouse so I'm hoping to have a lot more success with blooms now that they have better growing conditions and are getting bigger. Strictum has had multiple blooms on it from about mid summer to fall. I can do some swapping with you when the weather is right! They are a lot slower about rooting this time of year, but seem to handle the lower temps better when you keep water to a minimum.

Gardenbear and rootdigger...Thanks the offers and the information. The earlier blooms were the largest..about 6 to 8" i'd say. Later in the year they were a bit smaller but the entire plant seemed covered in blooms and buds. I did take my cuttings late this season. A week ago, I laid down some more as one of the kittens managed to knock a leaf off. I keep a container filled with perlite and sand and when something breaks, etc. I just stick it in that. I keep it over heat & I think that helps things strike roots, although not everything does. What is the typical blooming season for Epis? They never seem to quit growing, at least to some degree. I assume this is the 'dormant' season?. This epi is in a 12" (if I remember correctly), ceramic pot. I read somewhere that a fully mature epi.will be healthy and happy in a 12" pot and would not require potting on. What is your experience? During the growing season we have to water her twice a day if it gets into the 80's. At least every two weeks we submerge her in a big, deep bucket of water to let her get the air bubbles out and keep her clean. She really reponds to that! Also, what do you do about feeding. I planted her in a mix of Miracle Grow and horticultural sand. I also put about an inch of aquarium gravel in the bottom. By july, when the Miracle Grow should have been exhausted, (as she is watered so much), we would use a very dilute solution of Miracle Grow at every feeding. We have very few night temps that reach 50. Really. So, she has seen several 40 to 45 degree nights. However, she was kept dry, or very nearly dry during this time. But, there is almost always some degree of humidity...at least enough to make my hair frizz! A very long time ago I had a small plant nursery business. At that time I did grow some of the 'Night Blooming Cereus'. They are so beautiful. Now, without a greenhouse, we have to be careful due to space limitations. However, by next winter, we should have the extra bedroom equipped so that we can safely winter over the large plants, and keep the smaller C&S going beneath lights. I would appreciate any cuttings you may have. And, you are right...I wouldn't ship until next season. Do you guys grow stapelias? Hope it isn't against the rules to say so much at one time. ha....have a great weekend an a healthy and happy New Year. Sam

Sam your right about it being the so called dormant season mine seen to bloom when ever they feel like it and I really don't feed them much in the winter so they can rest I have 2 very large night blooming cereus that I have to keep cutting back or I'll never get them out of my basement come spring I end up with tons of rooted cuttings
stapelias I had one but it didn't make it and I find there to much work for me could be why it died and with all I have going on between the basement and the rest of the house I really don't need a fussy plant come spring I'll have a list of cutting I'll let you know when I get ready to post it if you have any questions I'll be more than happy to try and help you with
Happy New Year
Bear

Sam, I let mine rest in the winter and start feeding them again about mid to late Feb. I feed them something with low to no nitrogen (1st number in the 0-10-10 mix). That's supposed to help them get ready to bloom instead of more green growth. Then you feed them something with nitrogen after they bloom and again rest them in winter. Epies by Pat - http://www.epies.net has a very good secton of grwoing suggestions and http://gotepis.com/ has a message board for people into epies. There are some gorgeous pics on those sites too!

The only stapeliad (carrion) plant I have is the Huernia schneideriana aka Monkey Tail aka Red Dragon flower. It's super easy, not fussy like I've heard the others are and the darkest red blooms! The lady that gave it to me gave me one long tail and it bloomed the very first year.

If you want to look into another neat plant look up Ripsalis. It's another epiphytic (like epies) that I really like. Some of them remind me of the plants in the old Dr. Seuss cartoons, lol. Some of the flat leaf forms look kind of like a mini epie.

Bear, Whatever it is, it's gorgeous!! Ackermannii is a very confusing plant. When I first got into epies I read that there were two types a species and a hybrid. As I continued reading there are a couple others that were actually crosses of other plants (one is epi X heliocereus) and then there's the one where E. ackermannii is actually a disocactus and/or a Nopalxochia ackermanni. I've never been able to keep it straight in my head. Not sure the pros can either so I'll just enjoy what I have and not worry about it, lol.... I'm hoping to get my red (marked E. ackermannii) which I got from Epies by Pat to bloom this year!! I would love to do some trading in the spring!

Here are some links about the different ones.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0040-0262%28198902%2938%3A1%3C124%3ATSACTO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage

http://gotepis.com/modules.php?name=Epi_Species#DISOCACTUS

http://www.f-lohmueller.de/cactus/Disocactus/gf_cp.htm

http://www.kammlott.net/DxhAckermannii.html

rootdiggernc, I buy lots of epies from Pat and never had a bad cutting or plant I love all my unknowns just as much as my named one but what gets me is that you never know if what you buy is what they say they are until they bloom so I only buy from a few sellers like Pat because so far every thing she has sent were true to what she said they were
I'm like you can't get it straight but I'll keep growing my epies
Bear

I have a friend that also loves epeis. We buy and share (cut in half) everything we get. Nice thing about that is if one of us loses ours the other one has a back up.

I have a fuchsia-colored ric-rac cactus. When the weather is warmer I can start rooting a cutting or just send the cutting instead as a trade. I'd love a cutting of your red epi.
Boyd

Hi! I would love to trade with you. We are still having cold weather and sunshine...pretty weird for us! Three days ago my epi fell from its 'perch' in the plant room. I now have a sad looking plant, but will be making many more cuttings! I already have 7 rooted cuttings. As soon as it warms up here, I will send you a bare root cutting. Keep in touch! Sam

Trading is fun! I'm all for a trade.
Colder weather here in San Antonio as well, however, not as cold as most of the country. Our high today (1/23/08) may barely get out of the 30's with a predicted high of 70+ for Monday.

Boyd

Boyd. Shouldn't have much more really bad weather. AT least I hope not! A rooted cutting, or a fresh unrooted cutting would be just fine. I'm excited. My husband loves fuschia colored plants, as do I. It would be neat if we could garner a different colored epi for each of the five baskets on the porch. SAM