cacti flowers sign of stress?
i adopted both of these cacti in late nov. or early dec. on the same day from the same nursery. they weren’t flowering when i adopted them. i know in some plants, flowering shows signs of dormancy approaching or can signal other forms of stress. could that be the case with these? i have them under a grow light for 14 hours a day and they are behind a heater so that they get little humidity. or is this just a happy plant 😃 #CactusClique #BloomingSuccs #HappyPlants #NewGrowth @RJG
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@jonathan1124 it depends on the species. Most are Monocarpatic. They will produce a single flower or stalk with multiple flowers at the end which erupts from the center to signal the end of their life span. It’s always good to know what you have and what triggers the blooming phase if it is a “bloom once and then 💀” specimen.
I have Agave Blue Glow. The trigger is fertilizer or their age. Ic i fertilize them and they bloom, I’ve triggered the process. I know this so I cannot fertilize to prolong its lifespan and hope they survive as long as they are supposed to.
Several Hens and Chicks do this along with some sempervivums, Agaves, Cacti and Succulents. I’m not familiar with this one doing it but I think you may enjoy the blooming process and wait it out. This one looks like it’s happy to bloom. The monocarpathic blooms are usually just one stalk. I see multiple blooms here so I think it may be just really happy but don’t quote me on that.
I have Agave Blue Glow. The trigger is fertilizer or their age. Ic i fertilize them and they bloom, I’ve triggered the process. I know this so I cannot fertilize to prolong its lifespan and hope they survive as long as they are supposed to.
Several Hens and Chicks do this along with some sempervivums, Agaves, Cacti and Succulents. I’m not familiar with this one doing it but I think you may enjoy the blooming process and wait it out. This one looks like it’s happy to bloom. The monocarpathic blooms are usually just one stalk. I see multiple blooms here so I think it may be just really happy but don’t quote me on that.
I am fairly certain this is just a happy cactus doing what happy cacti do. (: @SirLiquorice will be sure to know tho 🫶✌️
@jonathan1124 I agree with @FitSedum and @WickedValkyrie it looks like a very happy cactus. @SirLiquorice can help you better.
Usually it’s more of a form of reproduction at the right time of the year. Many don’t get water much so once they finally Get rain they flower and they usually have really pretty flowers to attract pollinators quickly since they don’t have much time. The shorter the flowers last the prettier they are. The ones that only bloom for a day or two especially. But your cactus doesn’t looked stressed at all. It’s really happy and Healthy and trying to get pollinated with another one so it can grow fruit which contain seeds that way they can reproduce
@SirLiquorice awesome! thanks! do you or can uou self pollinate any cacti and do you have any tips?
@jonathan1124 you can use a paintbrush or even take some pollen out with tweezers and mix it with the flower of another cactus. Mix the pollen from whichever ones are currently blooming at the same time
@SirLiquorice thank you! just tried this with the tweezers as i didn’t have any paint brushes on hand and was eager to try. will update if anything comes from it! And to @starfirejem, @KikiGoldblatt, @WickedValkyrie, @FitSedum @AstroMind thank you all for your correct input and tagging @SirLiquorice!
@jonathan1124 that’s so cool that you can experiment and have your own fruit! Hopefully it goes well!!! ✨
@AstroMind they are not edible. I think they're just called schefflera fruits (Christmas cacti are schefflera). They don't fruit unless pollinated and this year is the first time it's ever flowered. There's also no guarantee that my pollination actually worked, so it's a total experiment. Lol
@AstroMind the first couple flowers fell off already, but I keep trying... I don't have high hopes, but I'll post if I have any luck... Lol