How do you make a Night Blooming Cereus bloom?

You're welcome Lily. It was my pleasure to be able to post these. The fragrance is really wonderful and hopefully next year I can get them inside before their last blooms. I was afraid to move them when I saw this last bud, as I had one last year that I damaged while moving it, and of course it fell off. The reason I would like to have them inside when they bloom is that I have heard that the fragrance will just fill a room. Now that would be heavenly indeed!

Enjoy them JeanneK, they're indeed very special!

It looks like porcelain! SO beautiful!

Now--when you say "Good bye until next year"...I am confused again---my normal state!!!
Remember, somewhere in a previous Post I asked if it only blooms once a year--and someone said there can be multiple blooms.
S0--your statement doesn't make sense.....

Thanks for removing my "cobwebs"....Gita

Gita, The two plants I have here in AR started blooming in May, then again in August, and now in October--they will go inside for the winter very shortly and be brought back outside around the middle to end of April. THEN they should start blooming again. When we put them in the sunroom, we leave for FL and the temperature is turned down to around 65. A dear friend comes to the house and waters them SPARINGLY until spring, when they get taken outside for the summer. Hope this clears everything up for you. In climates where they can be left outside year round, I don't know what their bloom cycle is, but for mine, mine are "going to sleep for the winter" soon!

Jean

And it was most beautiful! I am glad you were able to enjoy it before heading south. Thanks for sharing...

edited to add, I allow mine to go dormant for the winter also. I would be curious to know if anyone keeps them blooming thru the winter months.

This message was edited Oct 11, 2008 7:21 PM

Podster, I would be glad to know if anyone has blooms in the winter months also. The one in FL gets brought inside for the winter, mainly because we do get freezing weather sometimes for a night or two and I don't want to take any chances. The nuns orchid also gets brought in for that reason and so we can enjoy the blooms inside. We have it in the yard where it isn't visible from the house. Since the NBC literally bloomed under my nose without my catching it, I figure if I have to look at it every day, I won't miss anything!

Your Nun Orchids are beautiful and so healthy, JeanneK, do you fertilize them often, how and when?

As far as NBC, this is my first year, after the two times it bloomed, new growths were set forth. I'll post of new development as I overwinter them these coming months.

Lily -- Don't do too much to the Nuns Orchid. I gave it a little fertilizer when we put it outside under the trees last year and it gets watered regularly both by the Lord and a sprinkler system. I have been successful in rooting new plants from the spikes after they bloom. Don't know what the plant will look like when we get back to FL, but about the middle of December, we will see flower spikes appearing among the leaves. I believe this year we might have to either separate it or put it in a bigger pot.

Most of my orchids in general decline in performance after the first blooms departing their nursery destination traveling home to mine. lol. Like this one for instance, last year when they were newly purchased, there were blooms galore, this year it yielded only one flower stalk. I'll try to give them better care next growing season. Thank Jeanne for the tips.

Lily -- last year I bought this because it was just loaded with blooms. I cut back the spikes like they tell you (above the first flower -- or the last one, however you count down the stem) and the second one just opened today. There are more buds on this stem and another spike coming off another branch. Don't take them outside and they stay in the sunroom all summer. Perhaps because it got really hot and humid inside the sunroom this summer due to a malfunction in our air conditioner, they thought they were in the jungle once more!

And another pix of the "twins."

Our cereus bloom frequently. We are in Zone 7. They summer outdoors in bright light but not direct sun. Winter they live near a garage window. We add one tablespoon of vinegar to the water when we water them. We did wait seven years for the first bloom! But since then, they have bloomed non-stop as the plants have gotten quite large.

After taking a gander at our plant there, I found two more buds....something happened to one of them yet the other one was watched with extraordinary recurrence, both during the day and into the night.