Greetings

0llusion · Post by **0llusion** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 12:42 pm

Just another polite introduction thread

I'm a software development student from the north of England starting uni in 2 weeks.

Grown up with cactuses/succulents all over the house, but recently been trying to grow some hylocereus undatus from seed for the last 8 months or so with reasonable success (pic below):

I came across this forum by accident trying to work out at what point I can expect these to flower. Originally I was under the impression that they would be 10 foot trees before anything happened, but after coming here I've seen a picture of Daiv's producing fruit while the plant was around knee height.

V. interested in the trading forum when I have some solid specimens.

Post by **daiv** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:09 pm

Hi and welcome! Very nice job on the seed sowing! Even with lots of info and advice, I still manage to kill the majority of my seedlings.

As far as flowering size goes... it is good to note that the one in my pictures was grown from a cutting. I know that cuttings of cacti can flower even if not rooted. So it may well be that a seed grown plant will take longer to flower. I can't say I know how long this is for H. undatus however.

You will find trading is encouraged here, but folk might be a little leery until after you get a few more posts and have been around a while. Obviously - nothing personal there -just the nature of the web.

0llusion · Post by **0llusion** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:16 pm

Ahhh you learn something every day, hopefully it will flower before waist height, because I have no idea where I'm going to put them after that. There really doesn't seem to be much specific information on the species online as far as I can tell.

Post by **daiv** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:29 pm

Well, I don't think they have to be giant to flower either. From what I could tell, a pot that isn't to big, good water and fertilizer - and strong sun/heat will trigger a bloom. Of course, your location makes the strong sun/heat part a little hard unless you've got a greenhouse.

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:44 am

Hello,
I also want to welcome you to this forum. There is a lot of accumulated wisdom and knowledge to be found here.
I do not know how long it would take a Hylocereus undatus plant until it flowers. However, most of these kinds of plants with strap-like stems are reasonably fast growers. Probably some forum member, in addition to Daiv, does have this kind of cactus and can tell you more.
Once again, welcome!

Harald

r_shazrin · Post by **r_shazrin** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:19 am

welcome...

nice pictures and good luck...

alikat · Post by **alikat** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:03 pm

Hello

0llusion · Post by **0llusion** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 4:29 pm

Hi, first of all thanks for all the responses to the question even though this probably isn't even the right place to have put it.

In response to strong heat and light being beneficial to flowering I was rather surprised they germinated at all considering I planted them originally in bog standard garden compost during the onset to winter (flame me now

). I'm hoping the cactus compost I switched them to a couple of days ago will make a difference.

EDIT: Some traditional english weather can be seen in the background of the picture.

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:01 pm

Hi, Welcome.
Great job on the Hylocereus!
They are pretty big for 8 months.

Post by **daiv** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:32 pm

Well seedlings do take cooler/wetter conditions than do plants of flowering size. So the high light and heat would not be the best for your seedlings.

As for the soil mix... Hylocereus more or less a tropical plant and so it doesn't have the strict drainage needs that other "desert" cacti have.

Anyway, nobody can fault your seed sowing methods based on the results!

Lewis_cacti · Post by **Lewis_cacti** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:59 am

Hi and welcome

good job with the hylo seedlings, they look good size for their age and healthy too.
hylocereus can take a lot more water than most cacti because like Daiv says it is basically a tropical plant. it likes lots of heat, and if warm its almost impervious to rotting and overwatering. it also likes warm wintering, so try (yes i am aware this may difficult in during an English winter), to keep them as warm as possible. cut down on the water in winter as well, perhaps keeping them just slightly moist. due to its vigor and fast growth rate hylocereys is also commonly used as a grafting stock for smaller rarer cacti and nuclear mutant Gymnocalycium mihanovichii's too.

0llusion · Post by **0llusion** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:40 am

Thanks! You've put my mind at ease about overwatering them. I have no idea how I should be watering them really I've just been topping them up everytime the soil dries out. One thing I have noticed is that if they stay dry for a day or two they go deformed and yellow very quickly (notice a few have irregular shaped "branches?" that have never recovered.

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:01 pm

Hi 0llusion and welcome.

Your seedling are off to a good start.
I have only been able to get my Hylocereus to bloom once three years ago in mid summer. It was only after it grew 10 feet up the trunk of a tree, split up into 4 branches and was able to gather alot of light. I needed to use a ladder to get a pic of the flower. It was frozen back to the ground the next winter and is still recovering.

Post by **daiv** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 6:31 pm

Tony,
It sounds like yours is in the ground? I think being root bound promotes blooms too.