THE ORCHID CACTUS - Disocactus ackermannii

The Orchid cactus - Disocactus ackermannii

The Orchid cactus - Disocactus ackermannii is an species of epiphytic cactus that occurs in the cloud forests of Veracruz and Oaxaca, in Mexico. It was originally named Epiphyllum ackermannii by English botanist Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1829.

It is a gorgeous, evergreen plant with an arching trailing habit. It produces dark green, long, flattened leaves which are only 2-3 inches wide but up to 36 inches long! Each leaf has a slightly wavy edge with fine 3-4 mm spines on the nodes. The spines disappears at the leaf matures.

 Disocactus ackermannii - botanical illustration

The most notable feature of the orchid cactus are is surprisingly large and absolutely gorgeous scarlet, funnel shaped flowers. The  flowers can be as large as 6 inches in diameter and are produced in late spring to early summer. The plant will need to be a couple of years old before it is mature enough to bloom and each flower will only last a couple of days, closing up each evening only to re-open again come the morning. If fertilized, the flowers are followed by green to brownish red fruits, 1 1/2 inches long and up to an inch wide.

It will do best in dappled shade but can become scorched when grown in full sun. While the orchid cactus is by no stretch of the imagination hardy it will benefit greatly from being kept outside once the threat of late frosts have passed. It is believed that being subjected to the changing light levels and seasons will help to encourage it to flower far earlier in its life compared to when being grown indoors as a houseplant.

Just make sure that it is hardened off for a couple of weeks before leaving outside permanently. Once nighttime temperatures start to drop to 7 degrees Celsius it will need to be brought back in under protection.

The orchid cactus can be grown in any good quality compost, and while it will require more watering
than traditional cactuses, allow the top third of the soil to dry out between watering and never allow the root system to become waterlogged. Feed monthly with a liquid soluble fertilizer over the growing season.

In cultivation, Disocactus ackermannii has been confused with Disocactus × hybridus (a hybrid of Disocactus phyllanthoides and Disocactus speciosus).

Main image credit - By Andreas Maisch - kaktus Uploaded by Epibase, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8740062

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