Garden Diary: January – sickly plant, flowers and a nice surprise!

Epiphyllum oxypetalum is not very demanding. It has potential to be epiphytic, like most other species of Epiphyllum, so knows how to make the best of limited resources. It lacks foliar scaring that would indicate that it had been damaged by frost or scald. I suspect that the medium (potting soil) is saturated or not draining adequately. It may have decomposed enough to become mucky at the bottom, and perhaps clog drainage holes. The iceplant that is in the pot with it can survive within the extreme upper layer of medium, so may not be too bothered by inadequate drainage below. Normally, I would recommend making a bunch of cuttings of the healthy parts, while pruning the rest back in an attempt to stimulate new growth. However, there does not seem to be enough healthy growth to make cuttings with, and if the rest of the plant is as distressed, severe pruning might be lethal. What I would recommend instead is repotting it into fresh and well draining medium. It does not need a larger pot, and you may find in the process that it has very minimal roots. In fact, if you pull it up lightly, you will likely find that it comes up with almost no roots at all, as if eaten from below by gopher. Do not be too alarmed. If it survives, it can replace roots rather efficiently. If there re only a few roots, and they are muddy, you might want to rinse them off, even if the little bit of attached soil gets rinsed away in the process, and leave them out to drain and dry for a few hours before repotting. You can either repair and drainage problem with the container it is in and rinse it out before repotting, or put it into a slightly smaller container until it recovers and fills it with roots. It is actually better for them to be slightly crowded than to be surrounded by unused but regularly watered medium during recovery. The medium that it is growing in now should be replaced, although, if it is not too mucky, other plants that are not susceptible to rot may not have a problem with it. Sadly, the damaged ‘foliage’ (which is actually stems) will not recover. New growth may develop from some of the older stems or from the base. It is best to leave the old foliage attached until it is obviously necrotic or rotting. Eventually, the old foliage will be replaced by new foliage. If your particular specimen blooms twice annually, it may try to bloom from old stems for the second phase, but will not likely bloom for the first phase. (Mine and most that I am acquainted with bloom only once annually. Please do not be too disappointed if yours does not bloom this year.) During recovery, watering should be monitored rather carefully. The new medium should not be allowed to get saturated. If it recovers, you might be impressed by how quickly it regenerates. I am sorry I do not have a better prognosis.

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