my stepmothers old plant


The plant has a number of stems of a medium color, with the stems running through the center of the leaves. Leaves are notched with flat tops, about an inch or so long. There are a number of leaves on each stem.


Drought Smart Plants reply:

Lucky you - your stepmother must have liked you! The page on Schlumbergera will tell you most of what you need to know.

These plants are routinely long lived, and do quite often get passed down as a legacy with lots of memories attached.

They can withstand a considerable amount of neglect, making them the perfect plant to start your succulent collection. Enjoy the ride!

Jacki

Comments for my stepmothers old plant

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May 14, 2011
 Epiphyllum?
by: Jacki

Hi Sylvia, what you describe with the huge flowers could be Epiphyllum, another arboreal (tree dwelling) type of cactus. Some have what could be described as spines, but not like real cacti. The night blooming white flowered one is probably Queen of the Night, or Cereus. If it's highly scented, that would be the one.

All of these kinds of plants require a summer of outside growing, and then 12 hours of darkness every day to set the buds. Some people put them in a closet so there is no chance of accidentally exposing them to light, which will stop them from blooming. I used to have the best success with all of these types of plants with hanging them in the branches of a deciduous tree over the summer, and then they would bloom so completely, the plant was totally covered with flowers.

The Epiphyllum are a little different, as they usually only have a few blooms, but the sheer size and magnificence of each one makes up for the lack of quantity.

Try giving your plant a summer rest outside, and then bring it in when the nights cool in September.
May 14, 2011
 spoke too soon
by: sylvia

I spoke too soon. I have Christmas Cactus, but I have others that have spines and bloom with large tropical blooms. I want to know more about these.
May 14, 2011
 Love these plants
by: Sylvia

I have some of these plants. Mine used to bloom with large red blooms, and one that I lost this year, had beautiful white blooms that lasted one day. Mine stopped blooming for some reason, still trying to figure it out.

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