Not an expert but it looks like a Thanksgiving cactus that was grown in very bright light (even though no direct sun). I've seen different shades from pink to red to purple...

Maybe someone that knows more will comment...

Good luck with your cutting, the purple on yours is lovely, I too am trying to root some TC's right now, I don't usually have the best luck rooting them,lol...

I'm not an expert either but someone made a comment on another post that the new growth is usually the color of the flower; not sure as I have not seen a white flower with white new growth.

Thanks guys. I am anxious for them to root for sure. I have them in about 50/50 peat moss perlite. I am feeling its too wet, the containers have drainage holes and are setting on a tray of rocks to prevent settings in water. I think i may pull them out and add 1 part of 1/4ish inch pine bark fines to make it 33%/33%/33% pine bark, peat, perlite for more aeration.

I vote Thanksgiving cactus. Xmas have scalloped edges.

Schlumbergera truncata (Thanksgiving Cactus, Crab Cactus)~ I have found they turn this color when stressed or with temperature changes. By what you describe, it could be either one of these or both causing the color.

Indeed, S. truncata.
This color is certainly normal, and most likely intensified by the fact that this is a cutting - which means that it isn't receiving as much moisture via root pathways. One can achieve similar intense colors in certain other succulents by growing them "hard" with limited water.

I also agree that a bark-based mix would be perfect for rooting and for an overall vital specimen.

Josh

I grow mine in orchid bark. Works great.

Thanks again for the ID's and advise from everyone. I have moved them to a bark heavy mix and added an "adjustable" humidity dome. :) I can remove the cap for a while if things get too humid.

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Total i have 5 cuttings, i have at least 2 or 3 make it!

Pls, take that top off (your humidity dome), it's unnecessary & likely to rot the plants.

I would not have changed the mix while it was setting blooms, that MAY blast the blooms, hopefully not.

Perhaps you're not realizing it, but the fact that these little bits (yippeee, very cool) have sprouted buds means they have ALREADY rooted. So I'd suggest just leaving them be to continue developing. That's all they need.

I agree w/ comment above that the purple tone is from the very bright light, even if indirect. In nature, these plants grow in the crotches of tree branches, so they get dappled light through the trees' canopy, not such high intensity bright light to cause that purple.

FYI: while it may seem counter-intuitive, the less done to these the better (especially while rooting).

I just stick 'em in a pot, leave 'em near the west window & water once, maybe twice a week & then I forget them altogether. Then when I look a wk or 2 later, they have new growth.

Lately, I've been putting these cuttings in w/ other things to root & it's working well so far. I rooted a white blooming TC in a pot w/ a Begonia & they seem awfully happy together, so who can say really.

You think the dome is not needed? I will take them off. The plants were already purple and already had buds before i took the cuttings. They were placed in the soil just before i took the picture in the first post. I know it was bad timing, but I didn't know if i would never see the mother plant again, so i wanted to take the cuttings while i was there.

I am sure they are not rooted just yet. :)

I agree...no need for the humidity dome.
It'll root just fine without it. Enjoy!

Josh

Just an update, i had 1 cutting rot, and had 0 root action from the ones that didn't. Seemed strange as the soil has been kept very dry, and the small containers have drainage holes. I have been very very lightly misting every morning, and misting heavier every 3-4 days. I put them on a heating pad. I left 3 of them in their 5-1-1(ish) mix, and put one in water(the one that looked the healthiest but very dehydrated.) I started to see a root response finally with the heat, but it was too slow, and another of the ones in the 5-1-1 started dying. I didn't rot, it just "broke" in the middle, between 2 segments. So i got ambition and setup a little grow light(just a CFL) about 3-4 inches away from them and WOW. After 36 hours they have all had a huge root response. 3-7 roots on all, each root 2-4mm long!! Looks like they are going to make it.

Its amazing what extra light and heat will do. I guess this is a side affect of it being getting closer to winter here. I have much less light in our windows, and lots of cool(but not cold) coming in from around the windows.

Will update with pic when i transplant them into a full size pot in gritty mix. Will be a month or so i would say. I am going to wait until i am getting solid new growth.

For the past 6 weeks or so, a covered south-facing porch isn't completely shady, unless this plant was hanging toward the back (north) of it. The sun reaches all the way in twice a day at this time of year. I think this plant was getting more sun than you think from that, and from what I see on my own plants that get hours of direct sun.

Like PG said, I'm also a fan of sticking cuttings in with other plants. I figure the established plant already there will prevent the soil from staying too moist/too long. Space is part of the motivation too, as well as hover-avoidance. I can forget cuttings in some already-pot, but am compelled to check them constantly if on their own. Really, messing with them isn't helping while your cuttings are trying to produce 'vital organs' from nothing.

"Seemed strange as the soil has been kept very dry..."
It sounds like your cuttings might need a drink. The last time I had a pot of lone TC cuttings, I kept the pot moist and they didn't rot. Not in peat though, much more aerated/chunky 'stuff.'

PG also informed me when I first got one of these, the handle 'cactus' is misleading. These are epiphytic jungle plants from moist rainforests. They do not come from dry sandy places, and are as thirsty as most average house plants. I don't water TC's any differently than Philodendron, Plectranthus, Cordyline, parlor palm, etc...

Yes, the mix should have been kept evenly moist.
That's essential with a bark-based mix and the main reason to use a bark-based mix.

Josh

Hey thanks for the help guys. I just can't seem to get a happy medium going here. :-) My inexperience and at times over zealous shows. I will not touch these again for at least a month and will keep the soil evenly moist, but not too much.

Jess-

Happy medium is a good pun. It's the 'dirt' (medium,) not you!

..."and will keep the soil evenly moist, but not too much." Though most think it's a good idea to leave your cutting alone for a bit, including me, for future reference - doing what you said in regular peat/potting soil is like trying to balance on a log over a stream. Hard to do, so easy to fail. If the "soil" you use has little air holes in it, spaces between the particles, and air spaces within at least some of the particles, with no small particles to clog these up, you don't have this tightrope to walk, and it's actually necessary to water fairly often because so little moisture stays in the pot. What moisture remains tends to leave the pot more evenly than from peat.

For people struggling with overwatering/root or stem rot/yellow leaves/brown tips, switching 'dirt' can make a huge difference, even if the person is still as attached to that watering can as ever (with the exception of dry-ster plants, true cactus and the like, that do appreciate being dry most of the time. It's much safer to let those dry out in any soil/medium/dirt.)

When it is time for your cutting or other plants to move or be repotted back to a same pot, I hope the stuff in this discussion helps you find/mix something easier to deal with.

I wanted to thank everyone for their help. All in all, i got 2 survivors from all the cuttings. If i could do it again, i think I would have gotten maybe 4 or 6, but hey, that's what its all about, learning.

I have come upon a problem though. I am just not seeing any new growth. Back when i took the cuttings they had flower buds. I removed the buds so they could focus on rooting. Once they were rooted well, and things started to get going, i moved the two cuttings that did well into one pot containing gritty mix. A few months back, they tried to set buds again. I removed all but one, i should have taken it off too, but it got huge fast, and bloomed with a single beautiful bloom. It did this on the anniversary of the death of the person to whom it belong, so there was as feeling of symbolic significance to the bloom. Looking back, this probably drained the one plant of energy it really needed to channel into making pads.

The long of the short of this post is, i wonder what I could be doing wrong to keep them from producing new pads? They are in a southern window, in the dappled shade of weeping figs and elephant bush. This area has constant air movement from a ceiling fan on low. I user FP and PT, 1/4 tsp every watering of each, though recently i moved up to 1.5 tsp on the FP. I lightly flush with every watering.

My only idea is that i used DA instead of turface in this mix, which could have my PH a bit high, but i don't think these a fussy about that. Please let me know what you think!

Photo taken today
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Photo of the single bloom from april
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PS: The plant on the right in the first picture is actually the really red one from my original post. It greened up as soon as i started feeding with FP. Must have been a nutrient deficiency. The plants had been in the same soil for probably a decade without re-potting and most likely without any fertilization.

Sorry, I don't know what to say except I think you are overnurturing these plants. They rather tend to thrive on neglect. I think you're doing too much to them, repotting, moving, using lights, etc. I don't know what FP & PT are (unless Foliage Pro & what, maybe Potassium, tho' doubt that's its symbol).

I remind you of my earlier comments that these naturally grow in the crotches of tree branches, shed sections here & there, fall in dirt, stay half buried or not, get trod on by animals, etc.

There, there's no one to right them, turn them one way or another & make sure they never dry out or give them extra lights.

I do recall this plant is special to you & I get that. That red blossom is particularly nice.

To paraphrase a regular grower here, these plants are on plant time, not people time.

I also think you may be overfertilizing them. Perhaps if you just stop doing stuff to them they'll take off.

Also, I can't tell size at all in the last pic, pls, tell me the size of that pot, am hoping it's not more than 3-4" in diameter. Otherwise, that too, may be delaying new VISIBLE growth.

PG,

Thanks for the reply. These were repotted(moved from the tiny cups they were rooted in into an actual pot) maybe in January. and lights haven't been used since then. They have been in a window since then. The light was used because all of the cuttings were in a dark and cold north window. Which admittedly is my fault for taking cuttings near the start of winter. :-)

FP is foliage pro and PT is Pro-Tekt. Its a silicon/potassium supplement from dyna-gro. I water these will the rest of the house plants, mostly succulents and ficus. The fertilizer isn't being used specifically for these, i just happen to use the same water can to water everything. I will try plain water for a while and see what happens with these 2. I would say doing that and more time and all will be well.

Yes the pot is small, i think 3 inches in diameter and 4 inches high.

This post was edited by smishgibson on Fri, Jul 11, 14 at 16:31

Thanks Smish for responding.

Glad to know it's a 3" pot, that's what I was hoping for, otherwise it'd be too big for those 2 cuttings.

I don't use gritty mix, BUT, I use humidity trays & wonder if you might try that. Just put small pebbles or rocks in a saucer & set the pot on top of that. When you water, water to overflow so it flows into the saucer such that the pot is sitting ON TOP of the rocks w/ water, not in the water. Mine seem to like this, maybe it'll kick start yours. It helps w/ humidity but without saturating the soil.

I'd eliminate the 2nd fertilizer, it's just too much IMO. (Oh, I see you've said, yes, you'll try using plain water.)

Am in office, will try to post pix from home later, sharing some of mine for you to see.

Been a while since I was on gardenweb, things have really changed around here! New forum theme. A bit odd to get used to, but I think I like it.

I wanted to post an update on there 2 cuttings. So strange, I got 0 growth out of them for these past 2 years. Somehow, they also didn't die. All other plants I have, including a third cutting from the same "mother" cactus in 2015 has been growing like crazy. All of a sudden though, about 2 weeks ago these 2 "dormant" cuttings just took off. One has doubled in size, the other has put out 2 pads and is picking up speed.

I have never seen anything like it. I will get pictures later today and post them in this thread. Nothing has changed that I am aware of. Sleeping beauties I guess. :-)