Rhipsalis pilocarpa 2023

It's doing an autumn flowering this year again ...

 

Nice time of year to be flowering Michael.

 

Very pretty!

 

Looks like sparkly lights on a Christmas tree.

 

It does actually, now you mention it

 

I needn't bother with Christmas decorations this year then

 

The plant you sent me is showing no signs of buds, let alone flowers! It's still clinging to life but not growing The cutting I took of it is growing but it hasn't got any flowers either.

 

I took a few cutting from my plant yesterday as the main stem on the plant you sent me, @MichaelHewett , seems to be drying up. A piece of branch that fell off of it last week was planted up as soon as I discovered it. The cutting I took of the plant the day it arrived looks to be in much better shape than the mother plant! Some of the branches have some yellow in them I expect that means they are dying. I'm not expecting these to root but I have to give them a chance.

 

I hope they root @Balc. I'll take a few cuttings from mine in the spring and if yours die I'll send you another.

 

@Michael Hewett Thanks that's very kind of you! I'm not sure they will root but it's earlier days for the moment but the original cutting I got to root when your plant first arrived is still looking good. It hasn't grown very much but at least it looks heathy.

 

@Michael Hewett The cuttings I took still don't seem to have rooted but nor have they died. The original plant is not looking at all good . Yet the cutting of the broken branch I potted up the day the plant arrived does seem happier.

Any advice on what I might do to get them to grow? Perhaps it's also a bit of a mystery to you as well why they aren't growing - or dying? All 3 pots are in bright light & I have them sitting in the big pot with the Bird of Paradise in. There's lot's of room in the top of the pot for them & some Easter Cactus cuttings as ell. They would get a little extra humidity around them from the compost in the pot.

 

Have you tried laying a couple horizontally on the surface just pegged down or with a large pebble on top.

 

I don't know @Balc, maybe it's the compost. I put them in a very gritty mix and they seem to root easily. I don't water them much either.
They do tend to grow slowly as well so maybe they're just taking their time.
Another thing is that they say cuttings root best if placed around the edge of the pot. I don't do that myself but you could try it and see if they grow better.

 

@Michael Hewett Here are some photos I took this evening.
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Here they are sitting on the Bird of Paradise pot.
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This is the rooted cutting from the branch that broke off the original plant you sent be about 18 months ago.
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These are the cuttings I took some months ago but they haven't rooted- yet! Just over a month ago I changed the compost they were in for a compost specifically for Cacti & Succulents. Doesn't seem to have had much effect - for the moment at least!
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This is what the original plant you sent me looks like now. It was also repotted into the new compost back in April this year.
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This is a cutting taken I think in April when I was repotting the plants in the new compost. This broke off & I put it in another pot.
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Thanks for your replies above. I appreciate it very much. I would like to get these plants to flower - some day!
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If I put a LARGE pebble on top they will be squashed!