How to get your exotic hybrid cacti to bloom

disclaimer: it is absolutely not possible to guarantee blooms on plants/xerophytes even after chemical and artificial inducements. We are merely sharing the best practices and our experiences of conditions that lead to blooms in xerophytes.

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So you own exotic hybrids of Echinopsis, Chaemaecereus, Lobivia, Trichocereus or Hildewinteria/Cleistocactus for their awesome and exotic blooms? And they are just not blooming for you? Frustrating, isn’t it? More so, when you see others sharing their blooms and being swarmed with appreciation for them? We bring you some insights on why or why not they are blooming and what is it that they need to bloom proliferously.

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Before we get into other details, it is a good idea to quickly recap on what cacti are. Broadly put, cacti are succulent plants (plants with fleshy and thick parts that retain water and are mostly found in arid climates) laden with spines to enable them to survive in harsh environment.

All living things reproduce. Reproduction is a way of ensuring their lineage continues. Likewise, cacti reproduce sexually by producing flowers and ensuring their genetic diversity grows or improves further through pollination and they also reproduce asexually by producing offsets which are genetically identical to parent plant. Producing flowers for a cactus involves a lot of energy build-up and spend since they grow in poor nutrient soils and in harsh conditions. Some cacti can go for years without flowering, conserving energy till such time the conditions are right when they can spend the conserved energy to flower and further their lineage.

Coming back to your exotic hybrids of Echinopsis, Chaemaecereus, Lobivia, Trichocereus or Hildewinteria/Cleistocactus that you spent your hard-earned money to enjoy their exotic blooms. Do you know where all of these originate? These xerophytes that make us ooh and ahh are native to central and southern areas of South America (so for ease of usage lets call all these as South American cacti) where typical winter temperatures in their habitat can be in the range of 5 to 15 degrees Celsius and extremely dry. At the same time, one must also keep in mind that some of these are also bordering areas where rainfall typically is about 6-8 inches in a month. And that areas near the northern part of Andes mountain range have frosty winters while the southern part of Andes mountain range are typical drought prone areas. Andes mountain range encompass Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Summer months in South America are typically ranging from November to April and winter months are typically May to September/October which alludes to the fact that most regions specially towards to the south of South America witness primarily only two seasons a year.

Now, in their native arid environment, these cacti go through months of very limited water availability, and the arrival of growth season is their trigger to flower and reproduce before the next cycle of harsh conditions set in. Look at it this way – it is their moment of truth to ensure their lineage lives on which is genetically wired in all living things on this planet – survive and increase their lineage.

So what are the factors that determine that they flower and give you the joy of having these pretty blooms in your garden? Lets take a look at these…

Age. The analogy of maturity in living things or reaching a certain age in their life-cycle before they are able to reproduce, holds true for these South American cacti as well. Extremely rare for juvenile South American cacti to flower and reproduce but anything can happen when they are artificially induced through chemicals or grafting, etc. Some of these fast growing South American cacti, specially fast growing Lobivia, flower in their second or third year.

Sunlight (unless you grow your xerophytes under artificial grow lights). For ease of understanding, we will refer to both sunlight and artificial light as just light. Cacti should always be placed in a location where they can get plenty of light. Light requirements of cacti in their growth season can be understood in four broad aspects – duration (photo-period), quality, quantity and thermoperiod.

Duration (photo-period): This is the period of time that the plants get light. Photo-period is essential to trigger flowering. The period of time that the plants are exposed to light along with uninterrupted darkness is a key trigger for flowering in plants.

Quality: The red and blue wavelength of light impacts the growth of plants the most. Light consists of all wavelengths of colors in the light spectrum, but it is the red and blue wavelength colors of light that are critical for inducing flowering in plants.

Quantity (photo-intensity): Simply put the intensity of natural light on a clear sky at the same time of the day, say 2 PM in winters will not be the same as the one in summers. Plants respond to ideal photo-intensity in their growth season by growing vegetatively (producing offsets) and by flowering.

Thermoperiod: The ambient temperature induced by light has the most telling impact on the various plant growth stages as it controls photosynthesis, transpiration, respiration, seed germination, flowering etc. Thermoperiod refers to the fluctuations in daily temperatures. The best growth in plants is often observed when the day temperatures are about 10-14 degrees more than the night temperatures.

Media. We have had these South American beauties flower in all kind of media ranging from garden soil to cinder to cocopeat, etc. However, imitating their habitat media by keeping it porous, is critical to ensure they are happy with respect to one of their healthy growing requirements.

Fertiliser. Just have a long look at your cactus. Does it look as if it is in active growth and radiating good vibes? If yes, that is the best time to fertilise your cactus. But, remember in their habitat these grow in really poor soil with hardly much nutrient content available to them and have accordingly got genetically wired over centuries to thrive in such poor nutrient media and harsh climate. So, in your enthusiasm to see your South American cacti grow quickly and reach blooming stage quickly, you might be doing them more harm than good by fertilising them either too much or when it is not required. In our opinion, these South American cacti should be fed only once in a year with low-nitrogen feed. We have had personally great results with slow-release fertilisers which are low in nitrogen as far as macronutrients are concerned and also have other micronutrients for an overall good health of the plants.

Plants normally need 17 elements to their optimal growth and flowering.

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Watering. Always remember that cacti have grown through centuries and centuries in harsh climate where water is scarce. So, they can survive in waterless climates for long times by storing a lot of it in their fleshy bodies, not losing as rapidly as otherwise, by having spines instead of leaves. And, always remember that all plants absorb water instead of gulping it like humans and animals. That being said, you yourself are the best judge of water quantity and frequency your cacti need depending on your climate, season, porosity of media, growth stage of your cacti.

Pro tip: When in doubt, do not water! 😊

Winter Rest. To get South American cacti (specially Echinopsis and its hybrids) to flower it needs to be made sure they get a winter rest period. The winter rest period is to mimic their habitat where this is usually a period of 2-4 months of temperatures under 15 degrees Celsius with very little water and night time equal to or more than the day time. As soon as the temperatures start to rise, these cacti go into a growth period and are likely to bloom.

One way of cheating the winter rest part is to graft them on fast growing root stocks which ensures they grow quickly from juvenile stage to flowering stage and also remain in active growth throughout the year. Acanthocereus as root stock for them works best except for areas which experiences temperatures lower than 10-12 degrees Celsius. Grafting on fast growing root stocks is how a lot of growers in Western and Southern part of India are able to get these to bloom even in the absence of winter rest.

Pest and Disease Free. Only a pest and disease plant will be happy and will bloom. Pest or disease infected plants generally are under a lot of stress and in some cases the flowering tips themselves are a home for mealy bugs, aphids or scale causing either the abortion of buds that form or not letting the bud formation to happen. In case of any whitish residue specially at the crevices of the plant, isolate them on priority and subject them to a good spray of water to clean them of these mealy bugs. aphids or scale. We recommend use of organic pesticide control and thrice a week spray of diluted neem extract should help in controlling these pests.

Neem Extract link

Other points to note:

Unlike humans, cacti have no access to Google or are able to use climate forecasting to understand changes in their habitat. 😂😁 The weather/climate cues that cacti respond to initiate growth and flowering are increase in daylength and photoperiod, higher temperatures and no significant variations in humidity.

From the formation of the flower bud to actual flowering, it can take anywhere from 4-10 weeks. Fertilising the plant once the budding has started, is not recommended.

Potassium dominant/rich fertilisers during the growth season, specially at the start of the growing season, often help in good multiple flowers. However, please note that cacti are used to nutrient poor soil so any overdose of nutrients that don’t really are needed will only cause more harm than benefit and will result in a monetary loss for you – first in procuring the nutrient, then in effort of its application, then is deformation or mortality of the plant that you paid for when procuring it.

Once the flower bud starts to form, one needs to ensure that there are no drastic changes in light, ambient temperature, humidity, watering etc. else, the buds will drop. This needs to be ensured till the flower has wilted. In case the flower has been pollinated, same needs to be ensured till the time the seeds are harvested.

If you experience buds dropping frequently on your cacti, it’s a good idea to uproot them, remove the fibrous roots with sharp scissors and let them rest in shade for 24-36 hours before they are re-planted in a good porous mix. At the time of uprooting, inspect the plant crevices carefully and also the roots to ensure there is no pest infestation. Re-potting the cacti ensures the issue of salt buildup is taken care of and any root pest infestation, which normally occurs only on fibrous roots, is taken care of. Also, remember, they do not get re-potted or relocated in their habitat. So, it is best to choose a bigger pot that can house them comfortably for the next 4-5 years. When they are stable in their pot and media for long periods of time, then they are more likely to bloom.

Do not keep changing the location of the cacti or rotating the pots to give more sun to other parts of the plant. They will on their own adjust and focus their energies to develop buds where the optimal light and temperature is available. Remember, they are never moved to different locations or rotated in their habitat and they become used to light always from the same direction throughout their life.

If you have started watering after a gap of more than 6-8 weeks, increase the watering quantity over a few weeks. Do not think that they were devoid of water all this while, so you need to really give them a lot of water. Also, fertilise in minute quantity once you resume watering and you can increase fertilisation over the next few weeks.

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We hope these pointers will help you to understand your exotic hybrid Echinopsis, Chaemaecereus, Lobivia, Trichocereus or Hildewinteria/Cleistocactus better and you will benefit in seeing their flowers.

Support: If you still have any questions or observations to share with us or get more insights, do reach out to us and we would be happy to share our experiences to help you.

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