Epiphyllums- Jungle Cacti
Many years ago while in Southern California I attended an Epiphyllum Society plant show. It was held in Delmar at a large exhibit hall. I was, first, surprised to see isle after isle of tables full of champagne glasses holding flowers. Literally hundreds of people must have grown and nurtured plants to be able to fill this hall with flowers.
Second I was blown away by the beauty of these blossoms. No wonder they call them Orchid cacti. Besides that fact that they grow in similar environmental conditions to orchid, they could easily challenge any orchid in a beauty contest.
The epiphyllum plant itself is not spectacular, you might even say ugly. But once established they gift you with awesome color, shape and textured flowers.
They are easy to start by rooting a cutting. Put the cutting into a small pot with porous soil mixed with coarse grit (chicken grit is good). Be careful not to damage the cut end which has been allowed to callous over. Use a moist soil, but not wet, and place your potted cutting in a shady area and don’t water or water very sparingly until it roots.
It may take several weeks to send out roots. Once the plant is rooted in move it to a filtered bright lit location but not in full sun.
Water when dry and allow the plant to dry between watering. (Not “bone dry” however).
Epiphyllums do not like to be over potted and will not bloom if they are planted in a pot that is too large. I made that mistake with my first cuttings. It took several years for the plant to get large enough to give me a flower!
We have 4” potted and 5”-7” epip cuttings for sale. Contact us at nana@prairieherbs.com for a list of our available epiphyllums.
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