Windowsill and patio growing

[jp29]

I have grown to really like and appreciate Pereskia portulacifolia as a miniature windowsill plant. It is easy to grow (and easily propagated via cuttings) -- almost "bullet proof"-- and well suited to windowsill cultivation. It can be readily trimmed and trained as a pleasing "bonsai style" specimen or included as part of a dish garden dispaly.


Pereskia portulacifolia growing "rampant" (normal growth)
in 2" (5cm) - by 3" (7.5cm) deep square plastic pots


Pereskia portulacifolia unpotted to show vigorous root system


Pereskia portulacifolia, pruned and shaped, growing
in 2" (5cm) - by 3" (7.5cm) deep square plastic pots


Pereskia portulacifolia growing as a "bonsai style" windowsill plant

[george76904]

I wish! It's gets too cold here, so I have my cereus in a pot. It's a cereus peruvianus spiralis(I found it listed as a 12 cereus peruvianus spiralis on eBay listed at a rational price so I snapped it up) I hope it will eventually flower, but right now it's only about 15 inches tall, but growing quickly.

[Mertzi]

Great thread, love your tips on windowsill plants! Following it closely and taking notes thanks for some really nice tips on what to grow, please keep 'em coming!

[jp29]

I wish! It's gets too cold here, so I have my cereus in a pot. It's a cereus peruvianus spiralis(I found it listed as a 12 cereus peruvianus spiralis on eBay listed at a rational price so I snapped it up) I hope it will eventually flower, but right now it's only about 15 inches tall, but growing quickly.

I hope it flowers for you soon, Will -- I have had Cereus Peruvianus hybrid/cultivar types occasionally pop a flower at around that size. When I was living in Texas many enthusiasts there fertilized these plants quite heavily during the summer months (and watered them very frequently) to enhance flowering and fruiting -- it seemed to work too.

[jp29]

Great thread, love your tips on windowsill plants! Following it closely and taking notes thanks for some really nice tips on what to grow, please keep 'em coming!

Thank you for your kind comments Mertzi. I certainly will keep the tips coming.

[george76904]

I wish! It's gets too cold here, so I have my cereus in a pot. It's a cereus peruvianus spiralis(I found it listed as a 12 cereus peruvianus spiralis on eBay listed at a rational price so I snapped it up) I hope it will eventually flower, but right now it's only about 15 inches tall, but growing quickly.

I hope it flowers for you soon, Will -- I have had Cereus Peruvianus hybrid/cultivar types occasionally pop a flower at around that size. When I was living in Texas many enthusiasts there fertilized these plants quite heavily during the summer months (and watered them very frequently) to enhance flowering and fruiting -- it seemed to work too.

Your last floral display of your cereus actually convinced me to buuy a bigger cereus that will hopefully flower this year! I will post a picture of them potted up (there was 2 rooted cuttings in the pot). I was a little worried about buying because I was buying them from a big box store, but the roots are literally filling the entire 10 inch pot. The cuttings are about 36in for one and 32 inches above ground. Are those big enough to flower this year?
Thanks,
Will

Well I broke a few roots, but they have been given a H2O2 soak, I will pot them up probably Mon.

cereus.jpg (56.61 KiB) Viewed 1841 times

*Edit to add, Picture*
-Sorry to hijack you thread... Back to your regularly scheduled programming

[jp29]

.......... Your last floral display of your cereus actually convinced me to buuy a bigger cereus that will hopefully flower this year! I will post a picture of them potted up (there was 2 rooted cuttings in the pot). I was a little worried about buying because I was buying them from a big box store, but the roots are literally filling the entire 10 inch pot. The cuttings are about 36in for one and 32 inches above ground. Are those big enough to flower this year? ..........

Looking foward to the pic, Will. The plants you describe are certainly big enough to flower this year -- whether they will or not depends on how well they have been cultivated -- and luck. The healthy state of their root system as you describe it augurs well for success!

[jp29]

.......... The cuttings are about 36in for one and 32 inches above ground. Are those big enough to flower this year?
Thanks,
Will

cereus.jpg

*Edit to add, Picture* ..........

After seeing the pic I am not so sure you will get flowers this year Will -- the lower new stem growth appears to me to be somewhat etiolated (maybe grown in subdued light for a period of time) and that might affect the maturity (flowering zone) of the upper stem. Check for tiny flower buds in the areoles like this:



-- they should be starting to emerge at this time of year (but they could be delayed in your climate).

[george76904]

Thank you very much. Yes it is etoliated, and I relized that before I bought it I figured it was $15 for 2 so its worth a shot. If push comes to shove I can chop them back, and hope they grow big enough to flower next year.
Thanks again,
Will

[jp29]

Thank you very much. Yes it is etoliated, and I relized that before I bought it I figured it was $15 for 2 so its worth a shot. If push comes to shove I can chop them back, and hope they grow big enough to flower next year.
Thanks again,
Will

You are most welcome Will. We did indeed get into "thread drift" with this but it was an enjoyable diversion for me. Now I will get back "on topic" as gracefully as I can.

[jp29]

Great thread, love your tips on windowsill plants! Following it closely and taking notes thanks for some really nice tips on what to grow, please keep 'em coming!

Of course I do realize that much of the information I present here specifically pertains to my own cultivational circumstances and growing environment. Please understand that everyone should follow their own paths in cultivating their plants. For instance, there is no universally correct soil mixture for cacti & succulents. Your own mixture should offer adequate support for your plants and provide sufficient nutrition. It should be based on the type of plants that you grow, your growing environment, your climate, and the type of containers you use. I believe that the most important considerations should be quick drainage and excellent root aeration -- characteristic of a mineral based soil mix that is generally coarse textured and open -- one that does no retain excess water very long. Similarly, your watering and fertilizing regimen should also be based on the type of plants that you grow, your growing environment, your climate, the type of containers you use and the state of growth of your plants.

[jp29]

We have narrow windowsills in our town home that accomodate square plastic pots up to a size of 4" (10cm). My preferences are 2¾" (7cm) and 3¼" (8cm) square plastic pots staged in carry trays. 4" pots do not fit in my carry trays and must be displayed "naked" on my windowsills.


Two plants of Euphorbia balsamifera growing in 4" (10cm)
square plastic pots on one of my townhome windowsills

The virtue of using narrow windowsills is that the plants are close to the window glass where they benefit enormously from the excellent light available. I have considered using tables the same height as the windowsills in order to have more plant display space, and indeed I am planning on doing just that this coming winter in one of my rooms, but I am ever mindful of how quickly available light strength diminishes as plants are positioned farther away from windows. All of my "windowsill plants" are very much "sun lovers" and I do not want to impede their growth in any way -- I have always strived to grow and maintain my plants so that they have healthy and robust root sytems and stems, and produce bountiful flowers and fruit. I think providing optimum lighting is very important in achieving those goals.

[Minime8484]

.......... Some day I hope to find U. flavispina ..........

Another gem of this genus, Tristan, is the diminutive and very rare Uebelmannia buiningii that many enthusiasts consider to be the most desireable species of all. It too is eminently suited to windowsill cultivation -- it grow well in that environment, can be maintained in small containers, and does not need a cold winter rest to flower the following spring and summer.

Been out of town for a while, so missed this...but WOW!! That U. flavispina is indeed drool worthy!! And, I agree, the U. buinigii is a stunner....I will now be looking for that one too!
So many Brazilian cacti, so little time!

I hope the weather in Chandler wasn't as bad as you've gotten - I'd hate to come home to a disaster! (Home on Monday night...)

[jp29]

.......... I hope the weather in Chandler wasn't as bad as you've gotten - I'd hate to come home to a disaster! (Home on Monday night...)

As you know, Tristan, one of my daughter's lives there and she reported no severe storm activity -- so everything should be OK for you.

[jp29]

Stephanocereus luetzelburgii (sensu lato) -- commonly referred to as the bottle cactus.

While on the subject of 4" (10cm) square plastic pots for the windowsill I want to take the opportunity to relate my experiences growing this unique, bizarre and fascinating species. I think it was from Hildegard Nase that I obtained some seeds many years ago, of which only a few germinated, and I lost all but one of the resultant seedlings. This survivor grew into a mature flowering and fruiting plant that never did attain the distinctive bottle shape that this species frequently assumes. I did recover some seeds from the fruit of this plant a few of which germinated but only one seedling survived and developed into a mature plant. I gave this second plant to my old friend Don Vitko in North Dakota to add to his magnificent collection of Brazilian cereoid cacti. Then the unthinkable happened: my surviving plant died the following winter! But the story has a happy ending -- numerous seeds from his plant germinated and the seedlings flourished. Don sent me several seedlings this year (nice payback gesture) and they are all now growing well on my bench at Dan Bach's Nursery.

But I wanted to grow and enjoy a couple as windowsill plants at our townhome -- and grow them on to maturity in 4" (10cm) square plastic pots -- hoping that at least one of them would have the distinctive bottle shape characteristic of this species. I think I can maintain the plant heights at approx, 12 inches (30 cm) tall in 4" (10cm) square plastic pots -- at least I hope so.

You can view several photos of mature Stephanocereus luetzelburgii (plus photos of numerous other Brazilian cacti) on Marlon Machado's great web page Images of Brazilian Cacti in habitat

Cultivation Notes:



Seedlings start out life as small globes, here growing in a 2¾" (7cm)
square plastic pot, which are reminiscent of seedling echinopsis



The seedlings soon elongate somewhat and become
ovoid, here growing in a 2¾" (7cm) square plastic pot


They develop into cylindrical columns that resemble juvenile
Trichocereus spachianus, here growing in a 3¼" (8cm) square plastic pot


Preparation for repotting:
One of the virtues of using plastic pots is that, after a little gentle
squeezing, plants can be easily slid out of them in order to examine
the root ball -- I think that robust root systems are very important
indicators of plant health.


Juvenile plant re-potted in 4" (10cm) square plastic pot where I hope it will
develop the mature, but much thinner, stem growth (almost as it were etiolated)
with coarser spination and, eventually, a flower and fruit bearing apical cephalium.

Here are a few photos I took of the flowering zone of my original plant -- I cannot find the pics I took of the overall plant, flowers and fruit,


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