Queen of the Night, also known as Epiphyllum oxypetalum, is a stunning cactus that produces beautiful and fragrant blooms. However, like all plants, it requires proper care to thrive. One important aspect of caring for your Queen of the Night plant is pruning. Pruning helps maintain its shape and size while promoting healthy growth and flowering. In this blog post, we will guide you on how to prune your Queen of the Night plant effectively.
When should you prune?
You should prune your Queen of the Night plant after it has finished blooming in summer or early fall. This timing allows enough time for new growth to emerge before winter sets in.
Tools needed
Before you begin pruning your Queen Of The Night Plant, you need some essential tools:
1) Pruning shears: Your first tool needs to be sharp pruning shears or scissors that can cut through thicker branches without damaging them.
2) Disinfectant: You must disinfect your cutting tools before use to prevent any diseases from spreading between cuts.
3) Gloves: It would help if you always wore gloves when handling any kind of cactus-like plants such as epiphyllums because their spines are tiny but present on various parts like stems leaves flowers etc., which could cause injury or harm if they puncture skin upon contact due to their microscopic nature(such spines get embedded deep into flesh).
Steps for pruning
Step 1: Identify damaged or diseased stems
The first step is identifying any damaged or diseased stems that need removal; these include dead sections where there’s no new growth coming out after blooming season ends (typically late summer).
Step 2: Cut-off unhealthy part
Once identified unhealthy parts cut them off with clean pruners/scissors; make sure not only remove dead areas but also clip-back where there isn’t fresh greenery actively growing too(avoid snipping healthy tissue).
Step 3: Trim back any overgrown stems
Trim back any overgrown stems to the desired length to maintain your plant’s shape and size. Ensure you don’t cut too much length as it could stress out the plant, which may take a while for recovery.
Step 4: Prune off lateral branches
Epiphyllums have a tendency of producing numerous lateral branches that can make them look unruly or lose their form. You’ve to prune off these side-shoots/branches to keep your Queen Of The Night Plant in good shape(select strategically).
Step 5: Allow time for new growth
After you’re done pruning, allow some time for new growth before applying fertilizers that encourage blooming because this will help prevent shock after trimming procedures.
In conclusion
Pruning is an essential part of caring for your Queen Of The Night Plant. It helps maintain its size, shape, and promotes healthy flowering by removing unhealthy tissue and promoting new growth. Remember always disinfect tools before use, wear gloves when handling cacti-like plants such as Epiphyllum oxypetalum (Queen of night), be selective with what needs weeding out without overdoing it!
