Hi I have done this many times and have gotten pods...it takes a long time to rippen...they have to get soft...and I planted mine put they never grew...:( I keep trying....good luck hope you get them to grow...linda

so do I hope they grow. I love starting things from seed. farmerann

Some years ago I read that modern Christmas Cactus could not be selfed, so naturally I tried it. Well, it took but it was into the l4th (fourteenth) month before the pod looked mature and ripe. However, the seeds were good, but all I tried all came out the same color (red like the parent), so in retrospect it now seems somewhat of a waste of time.

Hoe convinent. I just did the same thing and got one fruit(wanted more)

Hoe convinent. I just did the same thing and got one fruit(wanted more)

Did it end up working?

Hey, my XMAS cactus flowered from November to June.....non stop.....so do I call that a "spring" cactus....or maybe my Valentine Cactus......or how about my Birthday Cactus....
or do I just call it what it is......Shlumbergera.....and
let it go at that.

Please don't confuse the name of a plant just because it happens to bloom in mid November....
I mean....
you Americans cant even decide when your Thanksgiving is.......
many say it falls on the last Thursday of November......
and that is wrong......
it falls on the 4th Thursday.......
and that that just happens to fall on the last Thursday because of a calendar.
So it can be as early as the 22nd....or as late as the 28th......

and......leap years do not happen every 4 years!

I thought I'd just throw that in.

Goren,
we tend to go by botanical names...S. truncata, S. x buckleyi, Rhispalidopsis (in the case of the "Easter" Cactus). Saves the confusion for plants that don't know when they should bloom ;-)

Josh

Juliana, I think it might have worked, the pod is still on the plant. I actually have three pods on three different cacti (one S. x buckleyi, two S. truncata). I think they might be mature. They are bright pink. They have been on the plants for almost a year now. But I am a not sure what to do now.

Touch'em. When the fruit is ripe it falls off easily. The next step is to squeeze the fruit from the blossom end to see if the insides come out like they do for some Rhipsalis. The gel from the insides will have all the seeds. If you separate the seeds from the gel (gentle water washing), they are easier to handle after they dry. Plant them as soon as you can, fresh seeds grew better the one time I planted jungle cacti from seed. Plants were small for a couple of years, but then they took off. I still have a Hatioria horrida grown from seed.

Dzitmoidonc, I will try that next weekend when I have time to mess with seeds, if I get any. Thanks for the information. I just watched a video on starting them from seed too.

Oh, how exciting Val! I'd just follow Dzitmoidonc's advice.

So what did you end up crossing? I just got a hold of an Apricot S. x buckleyi, and I was thinking if they overlap, I'd love to cross it with a yellow S. truncata!

Julianna,

Do you have a yellow S. truncata? I found one that is light yellow last year. If you do not have one, I can send cuttings in the spring (if you remind me). I am still trying to find a bright yellow.

Oh, thanks Val! I don't have one yet. I plan to try to hit up the clearance racks in a few weeks, and if it doesn't work out I'd love some cuttings. Or actually, probably would love some anyway! One never knows. They could be different! Maybe at that point we could talk trade! Schlumbergeras are so much fun!

Have you looked on eBay or at some of the places that sell Schlums? I don't know if there really is a truly bright yellow. Every picture of the same variety seems different.

I have looked on eBay before. I just purchased three new ones from a grower in Florida. I got Christmas Flame, Outono Brazil and Samba Brazil. I have always just purchased them from the stores around here, so I am excited. They will be very small plants, but they grow fast. I wish I had more room for them. I would love to trade sometime.

Sorry. Posted twice.

This post was edited by val1 on Sun, Nov 3, 13 at 22:39

They had one up called Hirt's yellow from Hirt's Greenhouses. It looked pretty dark/deep yellow. I'd love to know what you think of those.

What I am hoping is that if we crossed either the S x buckleyi "Apricot" with a yellow S. truncata *or* if we could do a yellow truncata with a S. russeliana, that eventually we could make a yellow S. x buckleyi-type plant. I love the form of S. x buckleyi so much more than the others :)

Is April a good time to bring up a trade? Or do you defrost earlier?

April or May is a good time. We can still have freezing nights until June.

OK! I'll do my best to remember. I may be moving out of the country then, but hopefully we will have enough time!

I've crossed my coral red TC and my CC and gotten viable seed. Most of the babies will be reddish, with varying vigor and bloominess. None of the babies were as nice as the parents. One was kind of interesting in that it was mostly red with some pink overtones, but it did bloom later like the CC.

I just squeezed out the seeds gel and all onto an expanded jiffy pellet in fall under lights with a heat mat to keep the temps at 70 degrees. They were very easy to germinate. This was not such a good method later because it was hard to separate the babies when there were six or so on each pellet. Don't do this if you are one of those people who can't toss a plant. You end up with hundreds of them, they take two or three years to get to bloom, and the best ones were just about as nice as the parents. I gained a lot of respect for the work of breeders and their ability to winnow out the chaff and present us with a Limelight and a Thor Alice.

The picture is a close up of an early Schlum cross. You can see how I marked the end cladode with a sharpie to keep track of the crosses. I crossed a lot of zygos, too.

Aseedisapromise,

Very cool! I was thinking by crossing the Apricot with the yellow, that would be the best chance of minimizing the pink color in some of the babies in order to make something more yellow.

It sounds like a fun project! I can imagine waiting those three years too, and wondering what has come out from it.

I have a yellow TC that I purchased at Lowe's and another one from Hirt's a few years ago...the first time it bloomed it was very light/pale yellow...after doing some research I found out that in order to get the TC to bloom a true yellow...bright yellow it has to do with the temps that they receive during "bud" development ...they need temps no colder than 68 degrees. So I experimented and brought them inside whenever our night time low's were going to be colder than 68 degrees (I live in FL)...I placed it inside the laundry room at night and brought it back outside during the day and it worked!!

Here's the blooms when I did this...

And below is a picture of the light yellow flower when it was exposed to temps below 68 degrees during bud development...it bloomed much lighter almost cream color, not yellow at all.

This post was edited by puglvr1 on Mon, Nov 4, 13 at 14:44

Your first yellow is how mine usually look since I leave them inside (the second picture isn't showing for me). Beautiful!

Thanks Julianna!! I had no idea at the time that warmer temps dictates the shade of yellow it will bloom till I read that article,lol...

I definitely learned something new :o)

I never knew that either until a year or two ago. It's interesting to see how much you can dictate the colors you want then!

Sorry about the second picture not showing up...I had to edit my post and I guess it removed the picture,lol...
I'll repost the picture...the one that is almost cream color.

I agree, its cool that I found out about this since I like my Yellow to be as bright yellow as possible...

Hmm, interesting -- the idea of crossing a TC with a true CC. If any of you have done so and been able to bloom the offspring, what is the flower form like? Curious to know one form dominates or if you get a blended flower form.

Last year I had a large CC/TC hybrid someone gave me. I ended up giving it away and taking cuttings. I took pics of the flowers last year. I'm attaching a pic of the cuttings this year. You can see that the segments are rounded on the sides but some have a points at the end of the segment. The flowers are unremarkable pink TC flowers.

Here's a pic of the cuttings this year. They're starting to bud. I noticed that the true TC I have already are blooming or have well-developed buds. My true CC hasn't started developing buds yet. This hybrid seems to be in the middle as far as timing of bud development.

Laura, that TC/CC you posted is very interesting, having both the pointy leaves and the rounded ones on the same plant, maybe its a cross? Very cool!

My True CC (thanks btw :o)... doesn't have the slightest hint of blooms yet either, but my TC's are finally starting to bud although they are barely pin head size right now...

paul, under my previous post I have a picture of one of the results. The offspring are in color and form a little in between the two cultivars.

Laura, you will be quite surprised at the offspring you will get if you cross your two yellow cultivars. If it works, most won't be yellow at all, and it won't have anything to do with the temperature while they are budding. Probably they are too close in their genetics to set seed, though. It is really interesting to see which ones are more closely related. I've crossed them and crossed them, and some of my ten zygocacti have never crossed with some of the others, but the Schlum crosses with everything. Good luck.

Pug, good to remind us of what we need to do to have yellow blooms. I never do it, and mine on my Limelight tend to be pinkish.

â¢Posted by aseedisapromise
paul, under my previous post I have a picture of one of the results. The offspring are in color and form a little in between the two cultivars.

Are you referring to this one?

{{gwi:70847}}

Since you referred to it as a Schlum cross involving cultivars, I thought it was a crossing of two Schlums. It actually looks more like a regular Schlum flower than a mix of the two species to me. But now I know.

That's the one, paul. Sorry, I used the wrong word and knew it could be confusing after I typed it, and I thought I should change it, but just was lazy. Actually, a couple of the cladodes will have points on them, and the flowers aren't erect like on a Zygocactus, but not as pendant as the Schlum"s. Also, the seed pods are ridged some, but not as ridged as the Schlum's. I have never seen a red Schlum, just pink ones, so the fact that there is red on my cross would indicate that it isn't a true CC. I think it is interesting to see Laura's photo as well, She got a blend of characteristics as well.

Aseedisapromise, I think you meant me not Laura? For crossing yellows? the "true" CC is Schlumbergera x buckleyi, which is a cross of Schlumbergera russeliana and Schlumbergera truncata. So my S. x buckleyi "Apricot" should cross fine with a yellow S. truncata. I do expect quite a few pink offspring though if I can make the cross! So I was kind of confused when you said the Schlums will cross with anything but these may not.. since they are both Schlums. :)

I know it wouldn't have to do with temps-- bloom color being yellow I mean. We were talking about the intensity of the bloom color, or the way that Schlums will alter color saturation based on temps when the buds are formed.

Sorry, Juliana. I did mean you and not Laura.

I guess I am also confused because I thought there was only three possible Sclum x buckleyii clones from that original cross made by Buckley in 1800's, and they are all magenta with varying amounts of white. I am betting that Apricot is a Schlum truncata. Or maybe x buckleyii x truncata. What I was trying to get at was that if a pair of truncatas that you want to breed are too close genetically, the crossing won't take. The Schlum x buckleyii with its russeliana parentage is far enough different from everything else that it has made viable seed with everything I have crossed it with. The plants don't pollinate themselves, you need that genetic difference to get viable seed. Crosses that have never made viable seed for me are Stephanie x Limelight, and the unnamed white one x Limelight and unnamed white one x Stephanie. I was just guessing that your two yellows wouldn't cross. It would be great and noteworthy to me if they did. I would be interested to know what happens when you do cross them, so I am hoping you will give a report. Thanks.

I will! I need to get a yellow truncata first :)

It's actually not a Schlumbergera truncata. Schlumbergera x buckleyii "Apricot" came up on eBay a bit ago as well, here is the old auction linked below with some info on it. There are several x buckleyii types, even named ones besides Le Vesuv, Mme Andrea, Wellington Cherry, etc. I've never heard of a white one, but I wonder if one exists.

My hope is that the pale orange of Apricot could cross with a yellow truncata and hopefully get the x buckleyii form with a more golden bloom at some point. I figured that pink would be the result of most of them, but I thought Apricot had the best shot at making a yellow since it's already removed a lot of the strong pink coloration. Obviously that doesn't speak to what it carries beyond that, but I have a feeling it may also have a chance at white or a very pale pink.

Here is a link that might be useful: Apricot

Holy cow! Did you see what some nut job PAID for that little thing, Julienna?!

The past auctions on that are awesome for the seller :) I wish someone would pay me for mine LOL! Then I could reinvest in more schlums!

I think I am getting it finally. Apricot and Le Vesuv and others are not from the original X buckleyi cross, but are like it in that they have S truncata X S russelliana parentage. So you might be okay and get viable seed. Hope you get a yellow truncata soon so I can find out what happens! It might be interesting to see even what a crossing with a white truncata would give you.

Aseedisapromise-- yes, sorry I was not more clear about that! They are all referred to as x buckleyi types, just because of the nature of the same S. russeliana+S. truncata cross.

I had also thought about a white! Since "Apricot" is already a salmony orange, it seems to me that it has a yellow capability that just needs to be intensified somehow. That could be also through removal of even more pink.

I just learned someone else is trying this too. That's exciting! I'm hoping that someone, somewhere succeeds. I just want one to appear, then subsequently appear in my house :P

Well, they don't just appear. You do have to do a bit of work to make it so.

Don't know if anyone is interested, but some of my crosses are starting to open their blooms. Here an NOID white crossed with the buckleyi. I don't know what is the parentage of the white, but truncata for at least part.

Aseedisapromise,

Sorry, it seems my "just appear" joke didn't make it.

That is a nice cross! I like the phyllocades of the x buckleyi types so much more than truncata and the form as well. I see a few spikes on them, but very few!

Email is notorious for not communicating the nuances. I try to talk a lot, and maybe if I'm not too confusing and people don't get tired of hearing from me, they get what what I am trying to say! :)

If you were willing to wait until spring, I could maybe send you a cutting of my Limelight for postage. Would that serve?

Aseedisapromise-- what an awesome offer! When is spring for you? I know mine comes much earlier than yours. We may be leaving the country in late May/early June, so that could affect things.

Aseedisapromise, that is a really pretty color!! The leaves are very cool as well...

Thanks, puglvr! It's maybe not as bloomy as the parents, but once I get it repotted and pruned next spring we'll see how it does then. If it doesn't shape up, out it goes.
juliana, maybe we would have to do it after you get back, or try to fit in a mailing before you go. I have to look at the weather before May 15, but sometimes it can work earlier than that. Just remind me about it in April and we'll go from there. I'm thinking of repotting all my cc's and giving them a prune job, so it wouldn't be hard to put a couple of the trimmings in an envelope. Anyway, earlier would fit better for me if the weather cooperates. Once it's nice out, I had better be done with the fussing with the house plants because the acre veg garden calls.

Aseedisapromise-- well if I move, there isn't a coming back :) I'll remind you around April then. Sounds like a plan! An acre vegetable garden sounds nice! I have a really huge soft spot for tomatoes amongst other things.

Can anyone please help me, my Christmas cactus is blooming one of the blooms is at least a week old and withering, the pollen sacs are closed, id like to have some help please. :/

I crossed my peach thanksgiving cactus with the true cc last year sometime in January. The seedpod is bright pink! I cannot wait to grow the seeds and see what the offspring looks like.
Grantgarden2