Features of growing forest cactus Epiphyllum Anguliger

As a rule, succulents are not inferior in beauty to cultural flowers. However, among the cactus there are exceptional specimens.

Bright, exotic, artsy, bewitching plants hide from human eyes in humid sub-equatorial forests.

After reading this useful and informative article, you will become acquainted with one of the “brightest” representatives of succulents - Epiphyllum Anguliger.

Epiphyllum Anguliger Botanical Description

Epiphyllum Anguliger or Angular - lat. Epiphyllum Anguliger is a succulent, representative of the genus Epiffillum. Also, this genus is called Phyllocactus or Forest Cactus. The main distinguishing features of this genus of plants are long and branched shoots.

The shape of the stem is flat, the edges bend and bulge like waves, they have air roots. Some take these bends for leaves, which is wrong. The flowers of the plant are large, up to 50 centimeters in length, white or yellow in color, the petals decay, outwardly the flowers look like orchids.

Epiphyllum fruits have a reddish tint, large size and many spines. This fruit is edible and those who have tried claim that it tastes like a banana. Epiphyllum Anguliger is also known by the following names:

• Forest cactus.
• Angular epiphyllum.
• Phyllocereus.
• Orchid epiphyllum.
• Epiphyllum Anguliger.
• "Cactus Orchid."

Forest cactus was discovered in 1812 by the famous botanist Haworth in the tropics of the Americas, Central America and Mexico. After that, the cactus came to England, and from there to the continent. Now "orchid cactus" is a widely known and popular houseplant. In a way, Epiphyllum Anguliger favorably differs in density and color saturation of the shoot.

The stems are elastic, do not twist, but hang to the ground. The plant is low, but its stems can be quite impressive in length. The flower is yellow, cream or yellow-beige, wide, sprawling. In the middle of the shoot there is a dense vein.

Photo

Further you can familiarize with a photo of a plant:

How to care?

Temperature

In the spring-summer period, it is worth keeping a cactus at 21-25 degrees above zero, and during cooling, the temperature must be reduced to 12-14 degrees.

Watering

Since, forest cactus, he loves moisture and water. Watering should be regular and soft water at room temperature. It is necessary to carry out humidification when the topsoil is dried. Naturally, during the warm period, watering is more active. In cold times, they cut it, but in a period of rest they can stop it altogether.

Priming

The substrate can be purchased separately as "soil for succulents," but you can also do it yourself:

• 4 lobes of turf;
• 4 shares of sheet land;
• 1 share of charcoal;
• 1 share of fibrous peat and as much coarse sand.

The hydrogen indicator of the soil should be no more than 6, but not less than 4 points. At the bottom you need to put a layer of rubble or crushed brick for drainage.

Pruning

The structure of this cactus involves a systematic pruning, namely: the removal of sterile shoots. Flat stems are cut that take too many juices. You can cut only shoots that bloomed more than two years ago. Cork shoots are pruned first.

The trimming mechanism is quite simple:

1. Corrupted, damaged or improperly growing shoots are carefully cut with a knife.
2. It is necessary to cut at the base, but not curling the rest of the stems.
3. After cutting, treat the incision sites with charcoal or ash.

Top dressing

Top dressing is used during flowering and growth. As a rule, it falls in the spring. Fertilizers must be applied following the instructions, but not more than once a week. Also, top dressing should not contain nitrogen! But a high content of calcium, phosphorus and potassium is welcome.

Pot

The pot must match the size of the cactus. It should be deep enough, but not particularly wide. The bottom of the pot is covered with a three-centimeter layer of drainage, also, the pot must have drainage holes.

Transfer

A transplant is recommended every two years. This is necessary to update the environment and further growth of the cactus.

The plant is transplanted as follows:

1. Find a new large pot and equip it with drainage.
2. Pour the soil into the pot.
3. Take out the old cactus from the pot and clean them from the ground.
4. Place the plant in a new pot.
5. Cover the cactus with a substrate and water it abundantly.
6. If transplanting is done in spring, add complementary foods to the ground.

Wintering

Wintering or Succulent dormancy lasts from mid-autumn to mid-spring. At this time, the cactus needs a temperature of about 12-14 degrees Celsius, watering up to two times a month in a tablespoon with soft warm water. It is better not to rearrange the plant and not to change its location in any way during this period.

Breeding

There are three main ways of propagating the Epiphyllum Anguliger, namely: cuttings, seeds and division. Further more about them.

Seeds

An effective and uncomplicated method of reproduction. It consists in the following.

You need:

1. Sift the seeds into a moist, specialized cactus substrate.
2. Place soil in a flat bowl.
3. Cover the composition with the seeds with a film and maintain a warm temperature (20-22 degrees).
4. Water the future plant regularly once a day.
5. Ventilate the cactus one hour a day.
6. When the crops come up the film can be removed.

After such a planting, the plant will bloom in about four years.

Cuttings

Such reproduction is possible only during the growth period., from April to June. For germination, stems are about 12 cm long.

For landing:

1. The shoot is cut so that an island pyramid forms below.
2. The stem is placed in an empty container for several days to deprive the plant of juice.
3. After which, you can plant a shoot in the ground to a depth of not more than 1 cm.
4. After landing, the shoot is sprinkled with a layer of sand.
5. Watering begins to be carried out two days after planting.
6. It is better to keep the plant in the shade until it gets stronger.

The transplant pot should be deep, but not deeper than 8 cm.

Division

Like that only possible with large Anguliger individuals and immediately after flowering.

The transplant mechanism is as follows:

1. Pull the plant out of the ground and lightly peel off the ground.
2. Divide the cactus into parts so that each has both young and strong, and most importantly - healthy roots.
3. Take the separated part and drop it into a separate shallow dish with drainage and substrate.
4. Moderate, infrequently water the plant and store it from hot sunlight.

Over time, watering can be raised to normal and take care of an adult cactus.

Bloom

The formation of the bud occurs after the end of the dormant period, in early spring. Also, the shoot of the plant thickens and the active phase of growth begins. It is important not to disturb the flower at this time, as this can damage the inflorescences. Usually, flowers last up to five days.

Fertilizing, spraying and reasonably generous watering of the cactus in this period will not be out of place. Then, the amazingly beautiful yellow flowers will be even more attractive.

If you are interested in learning how to make the epiphyllum bloom and what varieties of this plant can please you with beautiful flowers, we suggest reading this article.

Disease

A number of extremely harmful diseases can threaten the well-being of your plant.

Here are the most popular of the threats:

• Rust. Yellow or red spots on the surface of the shoots are signs of rust. The reason for its occurrence may be non-compliance with the rules of the flower, hard water, sunburn or waterlogging of the soil. “Rust” is treated by external treatment of the surface with special preparations.
• Black rot. This disease is manifested by black glossy spots on the stems. The cause of the disease may be a violation of the rules of the cactus. To combat this disease, the affected parts are cut, and the incisions are treated with wood ash.
• Anthracnose. Brownish-yellow spots on the stems are a sure sign of anthracnose. Causes and radiation are similar to black rot.
• Fusarium Reddening of stems and their wilting is a signal of the appearance of Fusarium, rotting of the root system. In most cases, this is caused by waterlogging. To combat this terrible disease, it is necessary to remove the affected roots and change the soil.

Similar plants

1. Simply confuse Epiphyllum Anguliger with Epiphyllum hookeri. However, the last plant has a snow-white flower and a different form of shoots.
2. Also, his Guatemalan fellow countryman is similar to Anguliger. It is equipped with the same parts as Anguliger, but has an appendage in the form of wide green spreading leaves.
3. Epiphyllum laui is like Anguliger, but has the flower of the first much brighter and red.
4. Some inexperienced gardeners can confuse Anguliger even with Hatior, relying solely on the distant similarity of Hatior's segments with the shape of the stalk of Anguliger.
5. Also, Schlumberger and Forest Cactus are sometimes mistakenly related. After all, these are cacti, of an exotic form and with colorful flowers. But do not forget that the type of flowers discussed in this article is much smaller, but they are larger, and the stems of this cactus are integral.

There are amazingly many beautiful plants in nature. Succulents are no exception. In this article, one of the representatives of the species Epiphyllum was considered. I am sure that everyone who is familiar with this plant will note its indispensability in their home collection.

Watch the video: On The Ledge Podcast Episode 67, part seven: Epiphyllum anguliger aka fishbone cactus (May 2024).