The Schlumbergera Season

by Dick Kohlschreiber

Reprinted form Epi Gram, Newsletter of the South Bay Epiphyllum Society

I have long advocated that if you are interested in epies, you should also collect the other epiphytic cacti. During the Fall and Winter months, when very few of your epies are in bloom, you can have color in your plant collection with Schlumbergera plants. And if you have to bring your plants into the house, Schlumbergera make good house plants and don't take up as much room as epi plants. If you have hybrids of several of the different Schlumbergera species, you can have flowers for 4–5 months (September-January).

If you are really interested in Schlumbergera, you should have the book CHRISTMAS CACTI, The genus Schlumbergera and its hybrids by A. J. S. McMillan and J. F. Horobin. This book is filled with beautiful pictures and illustration and has the best information about this genus. It will soon be out of print so get it while you can.

From this book you can find out that Schlumbergera grow in a highly scenic part of Brazil where they inhabit the coastal states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janiero and Espirito Santo and adjacent parts of the land-locked state of Minas Gerais, in the hills and mountains. One of the most fertile collecting grounds for Schlumbergeras has in the Organ Mountains in state of Rio de Janeiro. The plants bloom in the cool month of May which is the beginning of Brazil's Winter season. They grow not only in the trees but also on the rocks and cliffs of the mountains.

The species within the genus Schlumbergera include:

Schlumbergera russelliana

Schlumbergera truncata

Schlumbergera orssichiana

Schlumbergera kautskyi

Schlumbergera opuntioides

Schlumbergera microsphaerica (S. obtusangula)

There are some names for interspecific hybrids which you should be aware of:

Schlumbergera x buckleyi—cross of S. russelliana and S. truncata.

Schlumbergera x reginae—cross of S. truncata and S. orssichiana

Schlulmbergera x exotica—cross of S. opuntioides and S. truncata.

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Some of these species are very difficult to grow. A true S. russelliana is seldom found in collections but Schlumbergera ¥ buckleyi is one of the best growers and very long lived. This is the original “Christmas'' cactus and plants have existed as family heirlooms for several generations.

I have had not had good luck growing S. kautskyi but have better luck with S. orssichiana and even better luck with the orssichiana crosses. Most of the material of S. orssichiana that was collected was thought to be virused and that may account for it not growing well.

I had never seen S. microsphaerica growing until I went to Germany and most of the plants there were grafted. I have been very frustrated with trying to grow S. opuntioides and have become convinced that I probably treat the plant too well and it doesn't like that. I like this plant because the joints (segments) look like small opuntia pads. But the large plants I have seen of S. opuntioides always look like they are grown very hard-in full sun and not much water.

I was always told that the ideal mix for Schlumbergera was a “Cornell'' mix which is 2 parts of peat moss and 1 part perlite. I would use the raw peat and mix it with the perlite and found that it was very hard to get the peat moss wet and once it was wet, it never dries out. Now I'm just using a commercial potting mix (Potting Mix) and the #2 perlite and this seems to work well. The potting mix is actually a composted peat.

Schlumbergera are easily propagated. You're better off to just use single segments. Twist off the segments, let them callous for a week and then either just lay them on your planting mix or insert them in the mix.

Like most epiphytic cacti, Schlumbergera like water but don't like to be soaked especially when it's cold. They can grow with very little light and that's why they make good house plants. It has long been thought that Schlumbergera plants bloom when there are fewer hours of light. One year, I put some of my plants in a closet for a month and they survived but still bloomed at about the same time they always did. Then I read that you should cut back on the watering of the plant and that would stimulate the plant to bloom. I didn't water for a month and the plant bloomed about the same time it usually did.