Rhipsalis or twig are small shrubs from the Cactus family. There are more than 15 species of this plant. In nature, such plants are most often found on a tree table, damp rock, or on the ground. Several types of Ripsalis are grown as indoor flowers. The article will tell you how to properly grow and care for Ripsalis at home.
Description of Ripsalis cactus
Rhipsalis is a highly branching epiphytic shrub. The peculiarity of this plant is that it has aerial roots. Unlike many other cacti, Ripsalis is covered in fluff, not thorns. Stems can be drooping, leaf-shaped, segmented, ribbed in cross-section, rounded or flat. Areoles are located on the surface of the stems. The flowers are small, located all over the stem or only at the tip. They have a white, yellow, orange or pale pink corolla. The fruits can be white, black and pink. Very juicy gooseberry-like fruits.
Ripsalis care at home
This type of cactus is quite unpretentious, but in order to grow a lush bush, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions for its cultivation. It is necessary to thoroughly moisten the soil, monitor the temperature in the room and create the necessary lighting, timely apply the fertilizers necessary for the proper growth and development of the plant. Below it will be described in detail how to properly care for ripaslis conditions.
Location and lighting
Since in nature, Ripsalis grows in tropical forests, then partial shade is necessary for good growth of a cactus. Direct sunlight can harm the plant. It is best to grow a cactus on the west or east side of the house. If you put the plants in the back of the room, then it will grow much slower, and flowering may not come at all.
Temperature
In the summer, the temperature in the room where the plants are grown should be 18-22 degrees. In winter, the temperature should be reduced to 15-17 degrees, the main thing is that the temperature should not be less than ten degrees. If it is not possible to reduce the temperature in winter, then the plants will overwinter perfectly at summer temperatures.
Watering
Watering the ripsalis is only necessary when the topsoil dries out. You can check the moisture level of the soil in the pot using an ordinary stick. Watering in winter should be slightly reduced. Insufficient watering of the plant can slow down its growth.
Air humidity
Since ripsalis grows in tropical forests, a room with high air humidity is needed for its comfortable cultivation. In order for the air humidity to be suitable for the plant, it is necessary to spray it with warm water from a pulivizer several times a month. The use of a special moisturizer is also acceptable, but this may affect the condition of other flowers that grow near the ripsalis.Therefore, it is best to use the first method.
The soil
As a soil for growing ripsalis, you can use a ready-made substrate for succulents, which can be purchased at absolutely any store for florists and gardeners. Before planting, a drainage layer must be placed on the bottom of the pot.
Top dressing and fertilizers
The period of active growth of ripsalis occurs at the beginning of March and lasts until the end of October. At this time, the plant needs additional feeding. It is best to use liquid mineral complexes that are designed specifically for cacti and succulents, they need to be applied once every 2 weeks. Care should be taken with fertilizers with a high nitrogen content, as it can harm the plant. In winter, ripsalis does not need fertilizers.
Transfer
For young plants, transplantation should be carried out annually. Mature plants can be replanted every two to three years. Mature plants are replanted even less often every 4-5 years. The root system of Ripsalis is very fragile and is located on the surface, so it is best to grow plants in a wide and shallow container. During transplantation, it is necessary to leave the earthen lump intact and together with it, transplant the plant into a new container.
Bloom
At home, Ripsalis blooms very rarely. Flowering usually begins in winter or early spring. Due to improper care, insufficient lighting and waterlogging of the soil, Ripsalis may not bloom at all. If, nevertheless, the plants are gaining buds, then it is best not to introduce it to a new place and not change the care. Or it can shed the buds before flowering.
Reproduction of ripsalis
Ripsalis can propagate by dividing the bush, cuttings or by seed.
Propagation by cuttings
In order to get a stalk, you need to break off a small part of a middle-aged but not old shoot. The resulting stalk needs to be dried a little. To put ripsalis cuttings in the water, they need to be immediately stuck into loose and moist soil. The optimum temperature for the rapid rooting of a cactus is considered twenty-three to twenty-five degrees. In order to create a greenhouse effect, the cuttings can be covered with plastic wrap. Every day, the film must be lifted and the plants must be allowed to air for ten minutes, and the accumulated condensate must also be removed from the polyethylene.
Reproduction by dividing the bush
It is necessary to divide the ripsalis bush during transplantation. This should be done with extreme caution, since the roots of the cactus are very delicate and fragile. It is necessary to plant the delenki in pre-prepared pots, at the bottom of which there should be a drainage layer covered with a special substrate. Then water abundantly and place in a place out of direct sunlight.
Seed propagation
Rhipsalis is rarely propagated generatively, but if there is a great desire to grow the plant this way, then the cactus seeds should be placed in a special substrate and the soil should always be kept moist until the shoots appear. Ripsalis seeds germinate quite well. When the seedlings become strong and grow well, they need to be transplanted into separate pots and grown at a temperature of 23-25 degrees.
Diseases and pests
Rhipsalis can affect a disease such as chlorosis. With such a disease, the leaves become yellow in color, decrease in size and soon fall off. Flowers also deform and fall off. As for the root system, in a diseased plant, it also suffers greatly and sometimes this leads to the death of the entire plant. In order for the plant not to get sick with chlorosis, it is necessary to follow the rules of caring for it and water it only with settled water. Also, timely apply the necessary fertilizers and occasionally water the ripsalis with water with the addition of a small amount of citric acid.
Of the pests of Ripsalis, the scabbards, the red spider mite, can most actively attack. It is quite difficult to deal with scabbards.It is first necessary to collect adult pests from the ripsalis with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol. After the adults are removed, the cactus must be rinsed under running water and allowed to dry. Only after that, carefully treat the plant with special insecticides. For example, Aktellik, Fitoverm and other means.
Spider mites appear only on those plants that suffer from insufficient watering. If you follow all the rules of care, then such a pest will not appear. But if, nevertheless, mites are found, then it is necessary to immediately establish an irrigation regime and treat the plant with special insecticides.
Types and varieties of ripsalis
Cereuscula Rhipsalis (Rhipsalis cereuscula) or Cereus Ripsalis, or Candle Ripsalis - this species is most often grown at home. The shoots of the plant are long and arched. The flowers are white and up to 2 cm in diameter. At home, this type of ripsalis is extremely rare in color, and the flowering is not as abundant as in natural conditions.
Rhipsalis pilocarpa - this species differs from the higher office ripsalis in that it has more rigid and branching shoots, lowered yellowish hairs. If the care of the plant is correct, then once a year fluffy flowers of a yellow-white color may appear, a little more than 2 cm in diameter. If the transfer occurs, then beautiful bright red fruits may appear.
Rhipsalis pachyptera or thick-winged ripsalis - shoots of this species are leaf-shaped with a scalloped edge, wide, glossy and dark green with a red tint. The flowers bloom at the edges of the leaves and have a yellow tint.
Rhipsalis hairy (Rhipsalis capilliformis) - stems are thin, soft and branching, light green. Form a lush flowing bush. In length, the stems can grow up to one hundred and twenty centimeters. The flowers of this species are white and small.
Rhipsalis cassutha or empty ripsalis - stems are thin and drooping, can grow up to 3 m in length. Flowers are small. The fruits are somewhat reminiscent of gooseberries.
Rhipsalis Barchela (Rhipsalis burchellii) - the primary stems of this succulent grow up to 60 cm, and the terminal ones up to 6 cm.
Rhipsalis lindbergiana - shoots grow up to 1 m in length. The flowers of this species are pale pink.
Curly Rhipsalis (Rhipsalis crispata) - the stems are drooping and densely growing. The flowers are creamy. During flowering, this succulent resembles schlumberger.
Rhipsalis elliptica (Rhipsalis elliptica) - stems are long, consist of several sections. Stems lie to grow up to 1.5 m in length. The flowers are small, yellow-orange in color.
Rhipsalis fluffy (Rhipsalis floccosa) - shoots lignify with age. The sections are round. Flowers are located along the entire length of the stem, small and white. If the plant is pollinated, then the fruit will appear in the form of white balls.
