It is a lovely plant!

Very lovely!
My S. truncata started blooming kind of like popcorn! It started with just a couple, and then exploded! They all seemed to open at once! Gotta love this plant!







I think I'm completely smitten by this plant…How can you not love a bloom as beautiful as that!?!

Love it! And I love them out of bloom too. I really like the weeping style to the branches and the smoothness of the phylloclades.

Tara, that's fantastic!

Jacquie, I just snapped a branch off of a plant and stuck it in soil. I actually did several of those around the same time but that's the only one that's shrinking. The others continue to be normal size, like the plants they were broken off of. I have no idea why one is shrinking.

And while I'm thinking about it, somewhere around here I posted a pic of a plant with weird bumpy-looking buds. It turned out to be damage by miniscule inchworms (or similar caterpillar.) I've found a couple since asking about that plant. From being outside I'm sure (which is where I put the inchworms I found.)

Using this TC flower as an example, the yellow line indicates the 'sideways' angle I was talking about above. It shows the lean of the petals which are seen by the white line. A CC flower would have petals that match the blue line.


This pic looking straight at a TC flower shows the one axis of symmetry. A CC flower is symmetrical no matter what way you spin the line.


I probably continue to describe it terribly but hope the pics help.

I have had the same thing happen but I did not purposely tear off a cutting, I knocked them off cleaning, etc. and one or two went limp and I stuck them in water, not soil because that was the quickest at the moment. They wilted in the water. Go figure???? I have no clue and I have not had time to research it. If you do, please let me know what you find. I do not take cuttings this time of year or even prior to blooming. I usually wait until after the blooming season....which is Feb.

Thanks for the pictures and the lines Tif, that is very helpful. I need to pay more attention to things like that.

Glad to share info, hopefully as generously as it's been shared with me! I know you do so much of the same.

That's funny and cool that you would say Feb because that's probably when I did the cuttings though it could have been early March, definitely a few weeks before plants went back outside. I'm not surprised to hear about a cutting rotting in water, but sorry that happened. The advice I've always read and used for taking succulent cuttings is to let the cut dry/heal/callous (at least overnight) so pathogens are much less likely to cause rot.

I had done that with those also. Really a mystery as to what happened.

I was just reading that about Pereskias - evidently they are one of the few you can actually stick in water to root - no callousing, nothin'.

Now, if I could just get mine to *do* something, *sigh*....

Okay, back to the pretties!

"Back to the pretties."

I think the show's about over here, for the S. truncatas at least. I've tried to keep these plants in the bedroom after the sun goes down, but have forgotten a few evenings, and then we put the TV on for a few minutes before falling asleep most nights. It's what I have available to try. The number of new buds will not be able to compete with the 'big bang of blooms' that happened at first though.

What's the status of the show at your house? How is everyone doing with trying to enjoy the blooms vs. having the show last as long as possible (for those trying such?) Who's considering trying to fool them during the summer, putting under a box at night? I wonder if that's dark enough while outside?

Tiffany, that's an interesting thought…Trying to "fool" them!

The show is over here too! Our temps have been so mild here, that I've left mine out on my 'covered' deck. This is where it stays year round. The last few nights however, we've had some kind of visitor that has decided that the blooms are yummy. Yup, someone, or something, has taken a fancy to the flowers. My bet is a mouse, but hubby seems to be guessing rat! Poison stations are being put out!

"Why you dirty rat!" LOL, sorry, a quote doesn't soften the blow. Ever since they finally razed the burned used-to-be-a-house next door, we're getting them too. I told DH the stray cats farm them for amusement - they sure don't fix the problem. I haven't seen a mouse since the cats showed up though. I've found a few caterpillars on my Schlums (and other plants,) or should I say I've found 2 but lots of other signs of destruction. Inchworm type. Hard to find!!

Oh yeah, I picked a couple off of a tomato plant today (inchworms, that is). I wonder what they become - moths of some sort?

My two blooms went south when the pot fell over... sheesh, I just have the worst luck with these plants!

I have a question about my schlumbergeras. The tips of the plants are really getting red. I don't think this has anything to do with blooming but it would be nice if it did. Any ideas what causes this? It is cooler here than normal but that still means our overnight lows are in the 70'sF. Sorry that the pics aren't great, the plants are on a wall on the far side of the swimming pool so I can't get very close without getting wet, and it is too cold for me to be in the pool.

Mine did that when outside with the sun shining on them all of the time. I don't have many of these plants, but the leaves didn't turn red on all. The ones that did turn red/purple had red flowers. The ones that didn't were pink/yellow/orange/white.

If you scroll up to Nov 23, 2013 11:50 AM CST, you can see a pic of a pot of mine with multiple plants, wildly diff color leaves.

They aren't designed to be in full sun all of the time, that was kind of an experiment I did with mine. Some of the leaves just turned pale, which is apparently a sign of stress, a little too much sun. Your plant looks nice, Jonna, maybe a little thirsty.

That is probably what it is. The sun moved and in the winter it is shining on that wall much more than in the summer. I can't really move them, it's a pain to even get up there on that side of the pool. We've had a lot of unseasonal rain this "dry" season and so I haven't watered as much as I usually do in the winter. I need to pay more attention though as the rain doesn't always get to all the plants. I hope they at least survive there, it is one place that is safe from the cats and they were breaking off the stems all the time when the plants were easier to reach. No way are the cats going across the pool

If I'm remembering correctly, these bloom white. I could be wrong though, it has been awhile since they bloomed.

I just went and looked at your picture above, yes mine do look like your red one. So, it must be the increased sunlight. I'll try and get them more water to deal with the sun and hope for the best.

All mine in the GH turn red...it has to be the light. The plants I have in the bird room are not turning red. That is about all I can say about that. On the other hand, my one Brazil turns red and that is not in the bird room or the GH, it is just in the house. Sometimes I think I am going to just ignore all of them and see what happens.

There goes that maybe-theory. Fascinating stuff - kind of schizo aren't they?

But an awful lot like many other succulents who take on more extreme coloration when stressed - extra light, less water, cooler temps - who knows which one will trigger the next change? I'm really enjoying some of my cold-tinged aloe leaves right now - especially my "Blue Elf" with the orange highlights. Gorgeous.

sheryl said:my "Blue Elf" with the orange highlights. Gorgeous.

PICTURE PLEASE!!!!

I opened a new forum on Cubit.org this morning called Propagation and Care of Holiday Cactus. I know many of you will have great information or even comments that will help make it a success. If you can possibly do it, please stop over to Cubits and give it a look. It should be fun and informative. The purpose is to help the newer gardeners learn different methods and terms without having to look them up on the internet. I want to keep it simple yet accurate as possible. Please feel free to share your knowledge with us on the thread. This is my project for the winter and hopefully it will help others enjoy their cactus. Both ATP and Cubits can work together for our members and have the best of both worlds.

Here is the link to the forum:
http://cubits.org/JBsPlants/fo...