Budded, flowering 'Easter' cacti

[fanaticactus]

This is the first time I didn't lose the so-called 'Easter' cacti (Hatiora during the winter. I wintered them over in a sunporch on the northwest side of the house, where they got a lot of light but no direct sun--except maybe some weak late PM rays. I'm happy to be able to post photos of the H. gaertneri (orange) and a H. x graeseri with one bud which will be a light purple flower if I can get it to open. The plants did lose some joints, but what's left seems healthy enough to grow some more during the spring & summer.

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[Zhanna]

So beautiful! The orange is especially striking. Over the past year I've accumulated half a dozen of these in different colors (most propagated from segments of acquaintances' plants), but I haven't seen any buds yet this year. Perhaps they would have preferred cooler temperatures over the winter.

What mix do you use? Some of mine are in a bark-based mix that the plants seem to like.

[fanaticactus]

So beautiful! The orange is especially striking. Over the past year I've accumulated half a dozen of these in different colors (most propagated from segments of acquaintances' plants), but I haven't seen any buds yet this year. Perhaps they would have preferred cooler temperatures over the winter.

What mix do you use? Some of mine are in a bark-based mix that the plants seem to like.

Thanks, Zhanna. Yes, I think they do like cool winter temps. I treat them basically the same as a Christmas cactus--cool, dark and on the dry side until their time to bud.

I've experimented with several mixtures. I believe these are in a combination of a regular potting soil (Miracle-Gro?)--or maybe their richer one for african violets--plus some coir and pumice. I've resorted to buying bags of pumice on eBay from California. I've tried plain grit, gravel, sand, perlite in various amounts and combinations, but pumice definitely has the edge. Good luck with all of yours!

[fanaticactus]

So beautiful! The orange is especially striking. Over the past year I've accumulated half a dozen of these in different colors (most propagated from segments of acquaintances' plants), but I haven't seen any buds yet this year. Perhaps they would have preferred cooler temperatures over the winter.

What mix do you use? Some of mine are in a bark-based mix that the plants seem to like.

Thanks, Zhanna. Yes, I think they do like cool winter temps. I treat them basically the same as a Christmas cactus--cool, dark and on the dry side until their time to bud.

I've experimented with several mixtures. I believe these are in a combination of a regular potting soil (Miracle-Gro?)--or maybe their richer one for african violets--plus some coir and pumice. I've resorted to buying bags of pumice on eBay from California. I've tried plain grit, gravel, sand, perlite in various amounts and combinations, but pumice definitely has the edge. Good luck with all of yours!

[Zhanna]

Thank you! I've been buying pumice too, probably from the same seller. Some of my Easter and Thanksgiving cactuses are in a mix very similar to yours, and I use the bark mix for others as I said. The TCs and my Christmas cactus bloom like crazy (all are on their second bloom of the season now), so I was hoping the same conditions would work for the ECs. It's still early, though ... and it was an unusually warm winter. Anyway, thanks for sharing photos of your gorgeous plants!