8 December 2007
Selenicereus fruits – who’s the father?
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti .
Selenicereus spinulosus has been adorning (if you can call it that) the eaves of my greenhouse for years. Like all plants of the genus, it’s an untidy climber that makes up for its haphazard growth patterns by producing enormous nocturnal flowers.
My S. grandiflorus has flowered, without fail, every year since reaching a height of about 6ft. S. spinulosus took considerably longer before flowering, waiting until it had a main stem of about 8ft in length and plenty of side branches before it obliged this summer. The flowers aren’t as good as S. grandiflorus, but then few things are.
The two species seemed to successfully stagger their flowering; grandiflorus was finished by the time spinulosus got going. I can only presume therefore, from the fruits it has produced,that S. spinulosus must be self-fertile. Either that or someone nearby has one as well!
Part of me thinks I ought to harvest the seed once the fruits ripen, but these plants are so easy to root from cuttings that it does seem to be a bit of a waste of time.
Photo of the fruit taken today, 8th December 2007.