Date: 24 Jun 2018
Mysterious Night Blooming Cactus - Epiphyllum. How to grow it?
Q: My friend has a huge Queen of the Night Cactus, and the blooms are so gorgeeous! She gave me a cutting but I am not sure how do I plant it? How long will it take till it starts blooming? Is it true that it has only one flower once a year and only at night?
A:
Queen of the Night is a very popular and yet mysterious
plant. The flowers open once a year after sunset for one
night. However the flowering period can last a month or
two during the warm season. So each flower lasts only one
night, but there will be more flowers to come! In the
Nature, Epiphyllum oxypetalum - Queen of
the Night - grows on trees in the jungles of Central
and South America. It is actually very easy to grow as an
indoor plant in colder climates. Here is South Florida we
grow them outside in hanging baskets. This is how to start
Queen of the Night from a cutting:
1) Put the cutting in a dim, dry place for three days,
with no soil and its base exposed to the air, so it will
form a callus.
2) Fill a 4-6-inch pot with slightly damp potting soil or succulent mix. Insert the
cutting 1 or 2 inches into the soil and tamp the soil
around its base.
3) Place the pot where the cutting will get bright light,
but no direct sun. Spritz it occasionally with a spray
bottle of water to keep the soil only slightly moist. It
should root in couple weeks.
4) Keep the plant on an east- or west-facing windowsill
where it will receive direct sunlight only in early
morning or late afternoon. Water the cactus until water
runs out of the pot's drainage holes. Dump the excess out
of the pot's saucer immediately, and wait until the
surface of the soil is dry to the touch before watering
your cactus again.
5) Fertilize once a month from March through October with
a balanced plant food, and
apply micro-elements once a month
for a healthy vigorous growth. Refrain from feeding the
plant in December and January.
6) Position the cactus in partial shade under a porch roof
or tree, if you decide to move it outdoors during the
summer. This plant likes summer humidity!
7) Repot the cactus only once every two years or so, to
keep it slightly root bound. Wait until after it flowers
in summer, and repot it after it blooms. Prune off any
damaged growth at that time as well.
8) Move the plant to a cooler room over the winter months,
one that remains dark during the evening hours with
temperatures above 45 degrees. Reduce the frequency of
watering, waiting until its soil is dry. Resume regular
watering in March.
If grown from cutting, it may take 2-3 years until the plant starts blooming, so if you don't want to wait that long - just get a blooming size plant from our store!
We only have a few plants... if sold out, add to wish list and we will have more soon!
Date: 20 Sep 2025
How to make lots of Insulin Ginger plants quickly and get more health benefits
Costus igneus (Chamaecostus cuspidatus) - Fiery Costus or Spiral Flag
💚 How to make lots of Insulin Ginger plants quickly and get more health benefits
- Costus igneus (Chamaecostus cuspidatus) - Fiery Costus or Spiral Flag is believed to help lower blood glucose levels naturally and managing diabetes.
- Have you heard of Insulin Ginger? Everyone wants to have it in the garden!
- Gardeners in India grow it not just for its pretty spiral leaves, but for what those leaves do. People with diabetes often chew them fresh or brew them into tea, saying it helps keep their blood sugar under control.
- Researchers have found something interesting: the leaves contain an insulin-like compound, along with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. In animal studies, extracts from the plant lowered blood sugar, protected the liver and kidneys, and even made the body more sensitive to insulin.
- The way folks use it is simple. You can chew a leaf right off the plant, steep dried leaves for tea, or find it in powders and capsules. It's one of those plants that shows how tradition and science sometimes meet in the garden.
- Its lush, turmeric-like leaves spiral around upright stems, with a glossy dark green top and a striking light purple underside. In warm months, it produces bright orange, cone-like flowers that stand out beautifully in the garden.
- Beyond its beauty and natural insulin effects, the insulin plant is credited with aiding digestion, reducing cholesterol, boosting energy, improving skin health, supporting weight loss, relieving stress, and promoting heart wellness. A real botanical multitasker!
🎥 In this video, we’ll show you how to multiply Insulin Ginger fast, so you’ll have plenty of plants for yourself and even extras to share with friends and family.
✅ Don’t forget to use Green Magic fertilizer for the best results. Gingers absolutely love this plant food - they thrive on it and respond better than any other plant, with vigorous growth, lush foliage and loads of leaves you’ll need for all the benefits.
🛒 Grow your own sugar-fighter - the Insulin Ginger
📚 Learn more:
#Food_Forest #Remedies #Shade_Garden #Discover
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Date: 30 May 2024
Tired of an ugly hedge? Replace it with Aglaia - Chinese Rice Flower, and enjoy Lemony Fragrance year around!
Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant flowers
Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant
Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant
Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant hedge
🍋 Tired of an ugly hedge? Replace it with Aglaia - Chinese Rice Flower, and enjoy Lemony Fragrance year around!
- 🟡 Aglaia odorata is also known as Chinese Perfume Plant, Chinese Rice Flower, or Mock Lemon.
- 🟡 The plant has an outstanding fragrance from tiny, rice-sized yellow flowers.
- 🟡 Aglaia grows into a dense bush without pruning. It is relatively slow-growing; so large plants are rare and hard to find.
- 🟡 Easy to grow bush, it is perfect for a cold tolerant tropical hedge.
- 🟡 Aglaia has many medicinal uses; contains odorine and odorinol, which have cancer chemopreventive activity.
🛒 Get a few bushes of Aglaia for lemony-fragrant hedge
#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits #Remedies
🏵 TopTropicals
Date: 23 May 2024
Index of TopTropicals Telegram Channel
🗂 Index of TopTropicals Telegram Channel
Follow these tags to find your interests:
#Butterfly_Plants - Butterfly attracting plants.
#Container_Garden - Plants suitable for container garden and indoor culture.
#Fertilizers - All the truth about fertilizers, plant food supplements, and our recommendations for different types of plants.
🥭 #Food_Forest - Fruit trees, Spice plants, and Edibles.
Including: #Avocado, #Mango, #Papaya, #Guava, #Jackfruit, #Loquat
📖 #Fun_Facts - interesting plant facts and legends.
🌳 #Hedges_with_benefits - Practical approach to your landscape and how to properly select showy and useful plants for your yard.
♍️ #Horoscope - Plant Horoscopes and Cat Horoscopes. Did you know that cats also have their Zodiac signs?
🛠 #How_to - Q&A about growing plants, tropical garden lifehacks.
👀 #Nature_Wonders - Unusual, amusing, outrageous, bizarre plants...
🐈 #PeopleCats - our Favorite PeopleCats (and some PeopleDogs, too).
🌸 #Perfume_Plants - Fragrant plants and perfume trees.
✍️ #Quotes - Interesting quotes.
#Recipes - Exotic recipes for tropical fruit and edibles.
💊 #Remedies - Medicinal plants.
☁️ #Shade_Garden - Plants suitable for low light conditions.
🌼 #Trees - Spectacular flowering tropical trees.
🏆 #Win - Contests, Sweepstakes, and other specials.
Join an
Date: 8 Apr 2025
What makes Lolita so special and different from regular Surinam Cherry?
Black Surinam Cherry cv. Lolita (Eugenia uniflora)
Black Surinam Cherry cv. Lolita (Eugenia uniflora) fruit
Black Surinam Cherry cv. Lolita (Eugenia uniflora) fruit
Black Surinam Cherry cv. Lolita (Eugenia uniflora) fruit
- ❣️ Black Surinam Cherry cv. Lolita (Eugenia uniflora) is Sweet, Juicy, and Cold-Hardy!
- ❣️ Lolita Cherry is the cultivar you've been waiting for - also known as Black Star or Pitanga var. Black. This rare variety starts red and ripens to a rich black color, with a flavor tha'’s incredibly sweet, juicy, and free of the typical aftertaste found in regular Surinam cherries.
- ❣️ The fruit is large (1-1.2 inches), packed with juice, and produced by a vigorous, upright, freely branching plant that often fruits in its first year. A reliable and heavy producer, this cherry tree is both ornamental and productive.
❣️ Why grow Lolita?
💋 Delicious, black-colored cherries with exceptional sweetness
- 💋 Fast to fruit, even in the first year. Seedlings grow true to type - a rare trait!
- 💋 Cold hardy to the upper 20s F once established. Thrives in USDA zones 9–11 or in containers with winter protection
- 💋 Upright, bushy habit makes it perfect for edible hedge or small garden spaces
- 💋 Hard to find and easy to love, Lolita Black Surinam Cherry is a must-have for tropical fruit collectors.
🛒 Plant a Lolita Cherry and have lots of delicious fruit and juice
📚 More about Lolita Cherry from previous posts:
- 💋Top 10 fruit you'll ever need for your health benefits: #8 Lolita Cherry
- 💋 Who is that Sweet Black Lolita from Surinam?
- 💋Top 10 fast-fruiting trees: #3. Eugenias - Tropical Cherries
- 💋How to make a jam with Surinam Cherry
#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover
🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals