Zygo Cactus (Schlumbergera)

[NYCorchidman]

I love these, so I buy them each year when they come out in the market.

I got a large pot of it at a farmer's market last week. That same day, I stopped by TJ, and da da!!

There were a bunch of cute small ones there!

I picked up a few, mostly electrifying pink, but some red, orange and white.
I was so excited about them that I took a picture while still in the store as you can see in one of the pictures. the one with the cart.

I think I enjoy them in bud just about as much as I enjoy the flowers.

One is in full bloom today and very pretty.
Unfortunately, I just knocked it over and the poor thing is all bruised.

I want to hit myself.

[Tindomul]

Really nice. Do you buy them each year to replace the old ones or just to add to your collection?

[Leafmite]

Very pretty!

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by Tindomul

Really nice. Do you buy them each year to replace the old ones or just to add to your collection?

I only keep them for as long as the flowers last which is not that long, what a shame! such beautiful flowers. I wish they lasted a little longer.

So, yeah, they are like cut flowers to me as I keep them for about one week and then, don't ask me what happens next.

I buy them every year.

I was lucky to find them at TJ this past week because theirs were much cheaper than the ones at farmer's market, yet much better quality. tons more buds.

I went back the next day to get a couple more. guess what, NONE left.
I went back this week, no more zygo cactus.
I was lucky this year.

Do you grow these year around?

I would like to know the care.
I know they need shorter days like poinsettas, but do they need cooling??

---------- Post added at 10:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:01 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Very pretty!

Thank you!

I feel terrible though, because the one I just dropped and damaged badly is my favorite color on these plants.

[Wild Orchid]

In the past, I gave up on this plant as it seems to take for ever to rebloom yet when you buy it in the store, in my experience, it usually goes through the bud drop.

May be I should give it another try and this time I really want the orange one!!

Yours are ALL beautiful!

[NYCorchidman]

Thank you.

My mother had this plant when I was little and we had it in a balcony. The plant was in a huge blue plastic pot for years.
I think it flowered once a year in the fall only if I remember correctly.
That's about all I know.

I did have bud drops on some occasion, and I believe sudden and extreme change of temperature upsets the plant causing the bud drop.

I say this because the only time I had the terrible accident was when I bought them in very very very cold days. Apparently these plants do not mind cold weather.
Once they come to my apartment where it is much warmer, buds will drop like crazy within just a couple of days of purchase. Can you imagine how frustrating it is!
I bought a large pot of it last year and paid quite a bit of money for something that last only one week.
Well, I never got to see the show. lol
I was like, Dang, I should have spent that money getting another orchid. lol

By the way, I bought these plants last Saturday. It has been a few days and not a single bud from all the plants has dropped yet.

You should keep buying them. one will make it. hahaha

[Skycat]

I have one of these that I've had for about two and a half years so far. What I do is keep it outside during the spring and summer, and water it whenever the segments start to feel thin. As fall rolls around, it starts getting buds*, and then I bring it inside and water occasionally (probably quite a bit less often than I should).

*It bloomed beautifully the first year I had it, but then the second year, it got kind of pitiful and only got a few flowers. This year, it was really sick, barely had any branches left, and I seriously thought it was dying. Then after I repotted it again, it came back fiercely. It didn't bloom this year, but I didn't expect it to because all the growing it did over the summer had to have taken up a lot of energy.











It likes Miracle Gro potting soil a lot better than the stuff I had it in last year LOL

But anyway, if the plant is healthy, a few weeks of short days/long nights and/or cool temperatures are the things that trigger it to bloom.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I wish they lasted a little longer.

As with pretty much any flowering plant, keeping the plant in a cooler area and without a lot of strong sunlight shining directly upon it will result in the flowers lasting a bit longer. However, this being a true cactus, it really wouldn't be worth worrying about. (To the best of my knowledge the flowers of any cacti only last roughly a week at best once they open -- and many not even that long.)

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Do you grow these year around?

I know they need shorter days like poinsettas, but do they need cooling??

They are easy growers for the most part and do NOT need cooling temps to trigger bud formation. However, sometimes cooling can trigger bud formation even without change in light duration. Changing light duration is the more powerful trigger.

Should you decide to keep the plant after it is done blooming:
1) Get it out of that peatmoss crap it is likely planted in. There are a number of various media that can be used ... even regular potting/garden soil. Personally, I recommend something more akin to what one would used for some of the terrestrial paphs/phrags or even cyms. A mix of orchid bark (small to medium grade) or coconut husk chunks + perlite/foamed glass (medium to large grade) and perhaps some med-grade charcoal or hydroton. If you wish you can add a bit of potting soil or sphag to the mix. As I mentioned Schlums are cacti BUT they are rainforest epiphytes and as such tend to do best with an airy mix that stays moist (not wet).

2) Water: They can dryout somewhat between waterings, but best not completely. You mix and household conditions will be the main determining factor.

3) Onc - Catt light levels. (Like many catts, the plant will develop a red/purple blush when grown at the upper end of its light range.)

4) Bud set occurs when there is a significant change in light levels ... like going from long days to short days. IME, the reverse can also cause blooming. NOTE: Indoor lighting, if strong enough, can confuse the plant into "thinking" that the days really aren't getting any shorter and thereby cause the plant not to bloom or not to bloom well.

5) Once bud set begins (the bud 'nubbins' appear), DO NOT rotate the plant or move it to a new location. Doing so typically results in all the little budlets aborting. (The BBS suppliers avoid this problem by having strong overhead lighting and waiting until the buds are well along to blooming. And even then at least some bud blast still occurs.)

6) Temperature: Standard household temps are fine.

Originally Posted by Wild Orchid

...yet when you buy it in the store, in my experience, it usually goes through the bud drop.

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I did have bud drops on some occasion, and I believe sudden and extreme change of temperature upsets the plant causing the bud drop.

Bud blast is common. Generally the result of -- major change in lighting and/or major change in temperature. (Especially if you are a northerner who buys the plant, has to then walk out in very cold temps to your car, then make the trip through the cold temps to your warm home. In this, the Schlums are not unlike orchids which will often bud blast under similar circumstances.) See comment #5 above.

There is also the Q of how old the blooms were (assuming they were open) when you got it. Again, once a flower opens, it only last about a week.

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I think it flowered once a year in the fall only if I remember correctly.

It is possible to get a second flush in the spring, though it is rarely the spectacle that the fall "show" is.

[WhiteRabbit]

I have mine potted in various orchid media, including a couple in straight sphag.

And in my experience these do not require much light at all. I have a couple rooted cuttings that have been all year in a bathroom window (thick, frosted glass) on the shady side of the house (no direct sun) all budded up now. - That said, they CAN take more light. None of mine get Catt light, however. The one that gets a few hours of direct morning sun in summer does get red ...

[fotofashion]

I seem to have mixed results with these. This year the ones I bought last year survived to bloom again and they are just starting to bloom now. I leave them in the GH all year. That way I can control the watering. I just throw some water on them when I think about it. They get fertilized weekly, weakly at the same time as my orchids and everything else. IMHO the most important thing is the light. I understand that after buds start to form that they don't want any light at night. I do not remember if I have repotted them from the original mix or not but it looks like a peat based stuff. For once I also have had good going with my giant burro's tail. It also stays in the GH all year.
Beverly A.