Chiapasia nelsonii

One of my favourite orchid cactus is this early shimmering pink bloomer with confusing names. Even the name tag has two different names. At the front it is written Chiapsis nelsonii, but the other side says Chiapasia nelsonii.
When I checked online, there are quite a few names: Disocactus nelsonii, Epiphyllum nelsonii, Chiapasia nelsonii, Phyllocactus nelsonii, Phyllocactus chiapensis. Frankly, I don’t even know which names are correct, as I am not an expert.

About the plant:

This orchid cactus from Chiapas area in Mexico produces incredible numbers of bright pink 8 cm blooms for a few weeks in Spring. Each stem will produce a flower at almost every areole creating a spectacular sight.

This Chiapas beauty is well suited to outdoor growing in almost all parts of Australia although areas that do not experience cold in winter may not be able to flower the plants.  This plant prefers shade levels of about 50%, less than 30%  will cause leaves  to be sun bleached and more than 70% may retard flowering. It prefers open composted soils or in pots any good quality potting mix. In extremely cold and wet climate, keep plant dry in winter or provide a very well drained potting media.

Fertilise when new growth appears in spring (after flowering), and keep plant well watered  all through growing season. Reduce watering in winter to encourage flower initiation for spring. Stems may need support for best result. Prune back plant every 2 to 3 years to encourage new vigorous growths.

(Source: Paradisia Nursery)

These are the photos of our blooming C. nelsonii right now:

Epiphyllum ‘Ivan the Terrible’ (or ‘Fantasy Dragon’)???

The saying: ‘ To have more than what someone has bargained for’ means more in a negative way. However, what I have got more from buying this Epi in Caribbean market is something very exiting. The seller told me the flower would be yellow and it was the big one. Yes when I bought it, it was not flowering. Last year it refused to flower at all, and only this year it is flowering. Not only the yellow that the seller promised me, but also a big maroon red one. There are four yellow flowers and only one red one…. Obviously it is  two different Epis in one pot.

Soooo…. these epis were sold noid (with no identity). It is hard to match the yellow one, as there are heaps of yellow Epi hybrids out there. So I have given up in guessing its identity. The red one is very distinctive. The red is kind of orangey maroon. The center/throat of the flower has a flash of purple around the edges of the petals. It is very big cup, larger that the yellow one and it is slightly fragrant. After matching it with many pictures online, I have a feeling that it is “Ivan the Terrible’. If it is correct, it is not terrible at all 🙂 Actually I am verly pleased to have it.

The strange thing, I also bought two Cymbidiums that have different colours in a pot last year. What a very nice surpirse!

Note – November 11, 2012:

I read that Ivan the Terrible has rounded petals, while the one that I have obviously don’t have rounded petals. After looking for more pictures, it looks more like ‘Fantasy Dragon’. Anyway, whatever it is does not matter much. I will not be bothered to find the match anymore.

Kaktus Epi

Salah satu spesies dari tanaman Kaktus Hutan adalah jenis Epiphyllum, yang juga disebut dengan Epi Cactus atau dalam bahasa Indonesia saya rasa bisa disebut dengan Kaktus Epi. Kebanyakan tanaman kaktus hutan ini berasal dari Amerika Tengah dan Selatan dimana tanaman ini hidup menumpang diatas pepohonan dihutan (Epiphytic), jadi bukan jenis parasit.

Jenis Epiphyllum yang asli bunganya berwarna putih atau krem dan bunganya terbuka dimalam hari. Banyak dari jenis ini bunganya hanya mekar beberapa jam saja dan saat surya merekah sudah akan mulai layu. Sayang sekali memang, karena jenis bunga ini seringnya beraroma sangat harum. Salah satu spesies dari jenis kaktus Epi ini sangat terkenal di Indonesia dengan nama bunga Wijaya Kusuma. Bunga Wijaya Kusuma nama Latinnya adalah Epiphyllym oxypetalum yaitu yang daunnya berombak kedua sisinya. Satu jenis lagi adalah Epiphyllum anguliger, dimana bentuk daun berlekuk dalam seperti duri ikan. Kedua jenis ini bunganya berwarna putih, harum dan hanya mekar dimalam hari.

Jenis kaktus Epi koleksi kami adalah jenis hibrida yang seringnya tanaman aslinya sebetulnya bukan jenis epiphyllum sama sekali. Namun demikian jenis hibrida ini juga dinamakan Epiphyllum, walau sebagian penggemar tanaman aslinya protes atas simpang siurnya nama. Banyak jenis kaktus Epi silangan ini adalah jenis Disocactus, Psudorhipsalis,  Nopalxochia, dsb.

Yang saya lebih sukai dengan Epiphyllum hibrida ini adalah warnanya yang amat cantik berwarna warni, mulai dari merah, pink, kuning, oranye dsb. Selain itu, jenis hibrida ini kebanyakannya bunganya tidak selalu terbuka dimalam hari dan bisa tahan kira kira tiga hari lamanya sebelum layu bahkan ada juga yang bunganya bisa tahan lebih lama lagi seperti misalnya Epiphyllum ‘Deutche Kaiserin’ (Nopalxochia phylanthoides). Jadi kecantikan rupa bunganya bisa dinikmati lebih lama siang dan malam, namun sayangnya kebanyakan jenis ini tidak berbau harum sama sekali.

Jenis kaktus Epi hibrida sangat mudah ditanam disini didaerah Melbourne. Ditanam didalam pot dengan media tanam yang berupa campuran potting mix, orchid mix dan kompos. Karena media tanam yang ringan, air akan mudah mengalir keluar dari pot. Kalau terlalu banyak mengandung air, akan menyebabkan pembusukan. Tanaman ini paling cocok diletakkan ditempat yang terlindung seperti dibawah pepohonan atau diberanda rumah. Temperatur yang paling bagus iklim sedang atau sekitar 25 derajat Celcius. Seperti layaknya tanaman jenis kaktus, kaktus Epi tidak perlu terlalu banyak makan pupuk, cukup dengan complete liquid fertilizer sebulan sekali setelah selesai berbunga. Tanaman hanya disiram kalau media tanam sudah mulai kering.

More Autumn Blooms….

The mystery yellow Epiphyllum is flowering much too early….. a real nice surprise! The medium size blooms are soft yellow with very soft sweet smell. The cutting that I planted last year is growing and also having few flower buds.

More flowering  Zygocacti ( Schlumbergera sp.):

What I like best of autumn flower ‘Chrysanthemums’ is the long lasting blooms. Even as cutting flowers in a vase, they can last more than two weeks! More Chrysanthemums from our garden:

My Mother’s Day Present:)

Fully open mauve Chrysanthemums

The first Cymbidium with tiny flower buds poking out of the tip of the spikes!

Epiphyllum crenatum – Flower and Fruit

This Epiphyllum crenatum was bought last year in the market. It had three large white flowers with soft and delicate scent. The uneven crenated stems are large, kind of different from the other epis that I have. Now two of the blooms have turned into fruits. The red maroon fruits are round and smooth.

I picked one of the fruits and I cut it open to see how it looked like on the inside. It reminded me of dragon fruits though it was much smaller. The flesh was juicy with the same colour as the skin and it had tiny black seeds. It tasted kind of sweet and sour. Not the most pleasant taste, but it was palatable. Dragon fruit which is commonly known as Pitaya (Hylocereus sp.)  is said to be related to Epiphyllum.

Epiphyllum ‘Andromeda’ and E. crenatum

Epiphyllum ‘Andromeda’

The ‘Andromeda’ Epiphyllum is flowering this year. When I bought it last year, it was very small with no flower.

Last Friday, I bought a new Epiphyllum crenatum with three flowers. The crenated/wavy toothed margins of the stems look rather different from the other Epis that we have. According to Wikipedia, Epiphyllum crenatum is one of the most important parents to create cultivated hybrids.

Orchid Cacti 2011 – Early Blooms

Firstly, greeting from another green Katydid in our garden…….. Few days ago, I found this one among the foliage of the Michelia yunnanensis while last year I saw some in the bushy leaves of the red Camellia which was not very far along the driveway. It seems that quite a few bugs love the Michelia bush, I also spotted some black and red stink bugs before.

Two of our orchid cactus (jungle cactus) collection, the early bloomers are flowering now. The yellow one is still a mystery. When I bought it last year the label was Gold Coin, but the flowers are definitely are not that of gold coin. Some one suggested that it could be E. floribundum x , but E. floribundum is more white in colour. The one that we have is yellower, it is more like Fruhlingsgold. This yellow orchid cactus has sweet delicate smell.

The other early bloomer orchid cactus is Disocactus nelsonii which is also known as Chiapasia/Chiapsis nelsonii. This one has luminous mauve colour. Very pretty colour and bloom prolifically.

Fruhlingsgold??? Yellow Orchid Cactus – unknown sp

Disocactus nelsonii – Chiapasia nelsonii – Epiphyllum nelsonii

The rest of the jungle orchid cactus flowers are still in buds right now. Hopefully they will be better this year. Oh yes, a little note on the AFL grand Final 2011 this weekend. Collingwood Magpies against Geelong Cats! Hopefully Collingwood will make it. Go Magpies Go!!!

Orchid Cactus 2010

Our orchid cactus/Jungle cactus with very large red flowers is blooming. At first I was not so sure what kind of epiphyllum it was, but now I have a strong feeling it is actually Epiphyllum/Disocactus ackermannii. Such beautiful flowers but they don’t last very long. They start to wilt on the third day after the flowers open.

Epiphyllum/Disocactus ackermannii – Flower buds

Very large bloom: Epiphyllum/Disocactus ackermannii

Red Epiphyllum/Disocactus ‘Ackermannii’

It is a very different story with Nopalxochia phyllanthoides aka Epiphyllum ‘Deutsche Kaiserin’, this species has long lasting flowers. The candy pink and white small flowers open slowly and will continue to grow bigger until they are fully open. A prolific bloomer which is perfect for a hanging basket. This year they are doing very well, many more flowers compared with last year.

Nopalxochia phyllanthoides / Epiphyllum ‘Deutsche Kaiserin’

Nopalxochia phyllanthoides aka Epiphyllum Deutsche Kaiserin

The other epiphyllums that have finished flowering:

Chiapasia nelsonii / Epiphyllum nelsonii / Disocactus nelsonii

Yellow Epiphyllum (Fruhlingsgold???)

Sadly, our “Sunrise cacti /Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri”  are not doing very well. (Note: Sunrise Cactus is not really an orchid cactus, but it is also a jungle catus). The stems are droopy and only have few flowers. Today is raining and dark, so the flowers don’t open fully. Just like Mesembryanthemums, the flowers only open when the sun light is bright. I read that Sunrise cacti are the hardest to grow compared with the other jungle cacti. I am not going to post the picture of the Sunrise cactus now. Hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and the flowers will open properly . Then I will take some photos.

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The next day….. it is overcast but bright enough to make the sunrise cactus flower open.

Pink Sunrise Cactus

Sad looking Sunrise cactus

Links to other blogs on Orchid Cacti/ Jungle Cacti:

https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/epiphyllum-%e2%80%98gold-coin%e2%80%99/

https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/our-blooming-zygos/

https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/our-jungle-cacti/

Epiphyllum nelsonii – Chiapas Beauty

This Epiphyllum nelsonii is a jungle cactus species from the high mountains of Chiapas in Mexico. It is also called Chiapasia nelsonii  or Disocactus nelsonii . This Chiapas beauty has large and pretty mauve pink blooms.  Another early bloomer :o)

Epiphyllum ‘Gold Coin’ (?)

I could not believe my eyes when I saw it in Garden World! It was the only epi-cactus that was blooming, the rest were just small cuttings. It was sitting there on the bench leaning on the other plants as it was too heavy for the quite small pot.OMG, so many flower buds!  I thought all Epiphyllums flower toward the end of spring, but this Gold Coin Epi is flowering now!

Here are the images of the Epiphyllum ‘Gold Coin’ that I bought yesterday (August 11, 2010):

If you read on the comment box, I wrote that my ‘Gold Coin’ Epi looks different from those that I saw online. For comparison, here is the one from http://cgi.ebay.ch/Epiphyllum-Epicactushybride-Gold-Coin-/200489881951:

August 14, 2010: I think I like this new epiphyllum that I have more and more…. it has a very lingering  but gentle and sweet scent. After matching the flower with those that are available online, it looks very similar (not 100 % the same) to the hybrid ‘Fruhlings Gold’ (Spring Gold)…. I haven’t got a chance to go back to Garden World to look at all epiphyllums there to find the match. I’m so sure that it is not Gold Coin!!

Sunday, November 14 – 2o10:

A very strange plant! The last flower of this whatever breed of Epiphyllum look like this:

Yellow Epiphyllum …Fruhlingsgold ?

Why the look of the flower suddenly changed? This last flower is more like Fruhlingsgold. Is it possible if you put two different kind of epiphyllum together, it can changed the blooms????? It is just weird to me! I wonder how the flowers will look like next year, can’t wait to see!!!