august 2011 Selenicereus grandiflorus

[hob]

Selenicereus grandiflorus Britton & Rose

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Growth Habits: Climbing branching plant that reaches several meters in length and uses trees to gain access to the light and to support its weight.

Scientific name: Selenicereus grandiflorus

Common names: Night blooming Cereus, Queen of the Night.

Synonym: Cactus grandiflorus, Cereus grandiflorus, Cereus knuthianus, Selenicereus knuthianus,Selenicereus hallensis

Etymology: Selenicereus meaning Moon Cereus. This indicates the nocturnal flowering habit.
grandiflorus meaning grand or big flower.

Origin: Eastern Mexico, Caribbean.

Light: Mine grows in the shade of the opaque roof of my sun room, in the wild they are often in the shade of the trees they grow in.

Compost: I'm using my standard cactus mix with added organic and weak fertilizer added to the watering.

Water: Regular weekly watering from spring to autumn I aim at keeping the soil moist all the time. in winter I stop watering and allow the soil to dry out.

Flower: Night flowering very large, up to 6 to 8 inches long (150 to 200mm) yellow/green thin outer with a white center.

Min temp: Not frost tolerant. I aim at a 5 deg c minimum for mine.

Cultivation: Grow in a large pot, mine is in a 12 inch pot, provide some kind of frame for it to climb up and spread out into...........requires a lot of space.

References.
http://www.cactiguide.com
http://www.desert-tropicals.com
http://en.wikipedia.org

Comments. Fast growing tropical plant that can grow several meters of stems in a growing season, mine has about 20 meters of stems going round the roof of my sun room.stems are usually covered in aerial roots making them look somewhat untidy.
well worth growing if you can find the room to let it run wild in,the flowers are spectacular and one of the biggest in the cactus world, watching the buds develop only adds to the show as they get bigger and bigger.

Sequence of images showing bud development.

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Side view of flower

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Large pot (with my rock collection)

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Not easy to show such a large plant in one image, here is some of it.

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Closer shot showing aerial roots.

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Habitat image Photographer: Leland Smith

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