What's wrong with this beautiful cactus?

[fanaticactus]

I've had this Echinopsis oxygona for probably five or six years--maybe more. I've lost track. It has grown in size each year with no health problems or insect infestations. I've fed it with cactus fertilizer, heavy on the phosphorus and potassium. It has NEVER bloomed, while almost all of my smaller, newer cacti have flowers every year. What could be wrong? Is there such a thing as a sterile cactus? The pot is 5" deep and 7" across; the potting mix is loose (a lot of pumice with some regular potting soil) and drains quickly. I haven't repotted it for about three years because it looks so healthy. Does it need a new pot and soil? Should I start new plants from several of the sizable offsets? Any insights into why no flowers? It gets a nice cool winter's dormancy (at around 40F) in the greenhouse.

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[mikethecactusguy]

Looks like you over watered and It's starting to rot. I'd start pulling pups to save them and access how far gone it is.

[hegar]

Hello fanaticactus,
you are not the only one who has been waiting for what seems to be an eternity for some of the cacti to bloom. I also do have several plants, which do look healthy, but they will not flower. Instead they produce additional stems or offsets. I too do try to pamper my plants by giving them acidified water and fertilizing them with fertilizers high in phosphorus and potassium. Some of my plants are just "sitting there", not growing much, another did grow rapidly from being in a 2 3/4 inch pot at purchase to being over 9 inches in diameter now. It is an Echinopsis bruchii and the largest barrel cactus in my collection. However, it has never flowered. In its defense I have to say though, that about two years ago it did produce two flower buds, which it aborted not long after that event. A plant sold to me as an Echinopsis grandiflora has stayed alive, but not flowered in about six years. I also purchased that plant in the same size container as the E. bruchii. Then, on the other hand, my Echinopsis eyriesii, E. chamaecereus, and a red-flowering Echinopsis sp. do bloom dependably every year.
Perhaps someone on the forum will help both of us out and give us a hint about what we are doing wrong.

Harald

[fanaticactus]

Looks like you over watered and It's starting to rot. I'd start pulling pups to save them and access how far gone it is.

I will check it but its body is solid--not at all spongy or soft. I am very careful about watering because in my early experience I lost a lot to overwatering before I began using pumice to lighten the soil. I now use only about 20% soil in the mix. I don't water this one more than every 10 days or so. But, as I said, I'll check more closely.

[fanaticactus]

Hi, Harald...I'm sorry you have experienced the same phenomenon. It seems strange to me since the Echinopsis genus is known for its easy and reliable bloomers. I sort of want to repot with a fresh mixture, but it's doing so well growth-wise in its current pot and substrate, I really hesitate. The only thing I haven't tried is talking to it! I could try that...nothing to lose. It would be great, as you say, if someone can give us both some advice and encouragement about these stubborn cacti!

[greenknight]

How much winter chilling is it getting?

[anttisepp]

Some echinopsis sometimes suffer from this fungus, it's not dangerous but looks not good. I'd try to use some fungicide repeatedly to get rid of this and to prevent later spreading.
As about flowering there're some spots very lazy to flower. I have one ugly Echinopsis eyriesii from my mother-in-law , important for us as a memory. My advice is to pick most of pups away and give really dry winter rest, also potassium and kalium fertilizers are important. My mother-in-law's echinopsis after normal "cactus" care gave it's first bud this summer.

[DaveW]

Too much fertilisation can produce vegetative growth at the expense of flowers, though your plant looks OK. Cacti grown harder will often flower better than lush ones, hence cool dry dormant winter seasons rather than warmer watered winter rests in houses.

Occasionally you can get clones that have been propagated so often from offsets rather than grown from seed they are now very reluctant to flower. However such clones are often used as grafting stock since they produce offsets readily.

[cactushobbyman]

Echinopsis oxygona and Echinopsis bruchii grow in my yard and flower. A few of the E. oxygona will have some of the pups die out and I look at it as just growing them outside. Most are in full sun and with the low temps during the winter, I look at it as normal. E. bruchii bloomed heavy this year, and some years lighter. The hybrids I grow in the greenhouse I keep the pups off and most will flower in 3-4 year range. The columnar types take longer. If you want to try fertilizer, go to your local grow store, i.e., marijuana store and buy 0-50-50. I live in the Valley and the summers are very hot and winters lows can go down to 25 degrees and lower. Maybe like setting fruit, they require chilling hours?

[fanaticactus]

How much winter chilling is it getting?

Several people have inquired about the winter temperature I maintain. Here's the best answer I can give. I have a greenhouse which is fairly empty in the Summer, as the majority of cacti prefer being out in the fresh air. In the Fall, when it gets too cold to leave them out, into the greenhouse they go until the danger of frost is over in the late Spring. It has two roof vents and one on the south side; they open a bit to let out some of the solar heat that builds up during the day. Even in Winter, it can get pretty toasty in there because of the sun. At night it is kept roughly between 40 and 45 (which I try to maintain as an average temp during dormancy) thanks to a small heater.

Going over my records, here's what I found for temperature extremes this past Winter. The temperatures (high/low) are in F degrees. The highest/lowest in the greenhouse during Nov.-Dec. were 88.5/35.4. January was 87.1/31.6. February, 96.1/32.0--the effects of a stronger sun that month. March, 97.9/35.1. April, 102.9/42.6.

I know that the higher temperatures are not the absolute best for cacti this early, but I don't have the money to maintain a relatively controlled temperature of a constant 40F through a specialized heating/cooling system. The few cacti that need an overall warmer temperature with a minimum of 50F I bring into the house in an unheated but bright porch.

[DaveW]

You may simply have a reluctant flowering clone that has been constantly vegatatively propagated from offsets therefore seldom flowers. It's the form of Echinopsis oxygona known as E. eyriesii and that is pretty common, therefore you should easily get another and see if that flowers for you.

The one advantage of those non flowering freely pupping Echinopsis is they provide plenty of grafting stocks if you root the offsets.

One dealer many years ago in the UK Nottingham area seemed to produce a non flowering clone of Chamaecereus silvestrii. Therefore we all used to buy our Chamaecereus in flower to make sure we did not get it.

[fanaticactus]

Thank you, DaveW, for your comments that shed a different light on the 'problem'. I always wondered what the difference was between E. oxygona and E. eyriesii because they looked identical to me. I've never tried grafting; perhaps I could as long as the offsets make a robust stock. Then, I'd need to know suitable cacti to graft.

[DaveW]

Difference is oyygona produces normal length spines on the mature areoles whereas eyriesii mature areoles are short spined or almost spineless. If you note the new offsets on both are virtually the same being spiny, but on eyriesii the spines get shorter or often disappear as the offset gets older. Evidently both forms can be found growing together in the same population in habitat.

See page 27 of this link:-

http://www.cactusexplorers.org.uk/Explo ... mplete.pdf

[greenknight]

DaveW is quite right about some clones of E. oxygona being reluctant to flower. I have one of each type. The longer-spined one I referred to as the "boring pot filler" when I posted about it 7 years ago still has never shown any sign of blooming.

The short-spined one, which I've had nearly as long, has come close, though. I've kept it very root bound, and given it full sun in recent years. As a result, it turned very red (orange, really) and it produced a flower bud a few years ago which failed to develop. This year, though, it appears to be forming multiple buds - this may finally be the year it blooms. Not getting my hopes too high, but I'm going to hold off on repotting it for now.

Yes, it would be easier to get a more floriferous strain. Maybe grow some from seed - those would certainly not be non-flowering clones!

[greenknight]

Here's what that looks like:

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It's in a 4" full-depth pot, and so root bound that it's barely growing. It was a bit etiolated at one time, thus the odd shape. Anyway, as you can see it definitely has flower buds. Maybe if I give it extra-frequent waterings to compensate for the tight pot, and plenty of fertilizer, I can get them to actually develop this time.