My one huge plant is only one plant. I don't know if Mine is large because it has free reign in its domain, but I have found that my plants preform better with fewer in the pot.

are you letting those stems grow long?

Yes, My stems grow long as they want NOW. The first two years I cut them back in the late fall and that encouraged multiple branching at the base and got my plants to grow in full. I am unsure if that is what one is supposed to do. I just did it. Since they bloom on one year growth , it pushes back the blooming a year, but they will not bloom till there is a certain age and mass to the plant. Now, when a branch gets too ugly and old, I cut it off. I try to cut fairly low down because I don't want branching far out on those ungainly stems. .

Mine is an E oxipetalum which is known for getting gargantuan.

This post was edited by wantonamara on Sat, Jun 1, 13 at 12:00

hi thank you to both for answering.are you saying that i need to cut each stem back to stimulate more stems?how far down to cut them?or should i leave them alone since they are at least 10 years old.but i don't reallly like the way they are and i will need to bring them into the house this winter.(used to keep them in a converted shed with large slider ,but now hubby is taking it over.)

I am unsure what I am saying. This is what I did early in the plants life. If you cut everything back , it will be another year before it blooms. It will be all new growth. If your growth is old , maybe it is tired. I don't know what kind of Epi you have . Different epis act differernt. The Oxipetalum is very robust. Others are not, so what works for an Oxipetalum might not work for another one. I have a disocactus ackermani that is incredibly slow about blooming.

My oxy has been loosing vigor the last few years, and I am wondering if epis get OLD and if I should start a new plant off a cutting. Having 2 of these plants will drive me out of house and home.

If you have 5 baskets with multiple plants in each, why don't you take one plant out of one Hanging planter and give it its own basket and this winter experiment by cutting that one plant back to see if the growth you get is worth it.

thank you wantamamara,for your quick response.i will try your suggestion and see what happens.how far down would i cut that one plant down to rejuvenate it?

Do you have a photo. What type of epi is this? is it a hybrid? I hate telling people how to cut into their plants. If anything goes wrong,I fear I will get the blame. If you decide to do this

hi again,i don't know what they are but pretty sure they're hybrids.i have a fuschia,white ,red and a yellow.the original cuttings were given to me many years ago.i have a ric rac one that is doing fine,i have one basket with full plant in it,the rest i put 3 cuttings into each to save on space.these plants have all bloomed for me each year,just not full looking.i've never done anything different with them about light,they just bloom.i don't have any pix,sorry.thanks again for your help.

They need at least 6 hours of hot sun year round in order to avoid the long drawn out growth.

Mike

Not in Texas they don't. They will fry in a day or two. They look good in in a bright part shade.

easy there mm, mine would fry in full L.A. sun for that long.

Yes in this big country of ours, Big Daddy, the center of our communal orbit, favors some of us more than others with his unerring attention. There is a good side and a bad side to that, said the rednecked lady with the permanently sweat stained pits.

LOL Love the jokes...

By the way, in my sun which is much different than yours. I forgot that you guys get much more bright light than I ever could and I have seen your beautiful plants..

Mike:-)