Standard cactus treatment: water when dry in the growing season, keep dry in the winter. Practice benign neglect. Fertilize with any balanced fertilizer 3-4 times during the growing season at 1/4 recommended dose. They need a long, cool (overnight temps from 35-45F), dry winter to induce dormancy needed to set flower buds which will bloom every year in spring. Some can continue blooming all through the summer. Plant in gritty mix, particle sizes from 1/8 to 3/8 inches. Pumice, perlite, gravel, etc. are ideal. Do not use sand. It tends to compact in cement. Organic material in the mix should not be more than 10-25% of the total. Peat retains too much water, and should be avoided. Give liberal access to sunlight, but a little shade during the hottest time of day will be appreciated. And,

Oh yeah, don't overwater!

Don't ask how often to water, it depends entirely on your local conditions. Only you can determine when to water. Follow no regular schedule. Things change with the seasons. If in doubt about any action, don't do it!

OK, thats about it. Now order your plants, and start neglecting them :)

I have grown that species since l994, I don't know if that counts for enough experience. I have been trained to raise them. If you are experienced there is no need to read any further. You already know everything.
Water in the summer April 1-Oct1 regularally once a week, and fertilize with Liquid Nox fertilizer right after, the reason we water on a regular schedule, because we don't want the roots to die out from lack of water. We don't want to provide root mealies with food. (dried out roots we want the plants to grow a proper formation with no growth rings. We fertilize weekly because we want flowrs monthly and big ones. Our mix is gritty 60% pumice 30% coarse washed construction sand, + 10% organic matter ( wood bark, or oak leaves) I feed my plants a tables spoon of osmocote each month. These plants flower at the end of each month. for 6-8 mo of the year depending on where you live. The dead flowers must be cut off after each flowring close to the side of the plant allowing no seeds to form, this helps the production of new flowers. They flower freely in sm. 4" pots once they nearly reach the size of the pot. They are not shy to flower. If they aren't named by Bob Schick or John Trager, they are not Schick hybrids, They should have documention as to parents. They have been carefully bred by Bob Schick, which has documention going back for 50 years or more as to the parents and heritage. Names included

One more thing I live in
So. Calif. and our size pots with that mix dries out in one week. they flower at night starting in at 7:00 in the evaning,cloting from 10:00 to 5:00 or 6:00 in the evening if left in the sun and will may not open again. I have had them last four days in cool weather (May) I have had up to 67 flowers on one plant fighting to open.
Watch for mealies on the spines, put rocks on top of the soil line to stop grundge. The above poster gave excellant information for the weather of San Francisco.

Thanks so much. That really is very helpful.

I would be ordering from Huntington, so I don't think I need to worry about authenticity. :)

67 would be absolutely incredible to see.

Also you may want to call the HBG for suggestions on growing them in your climate, an unheated green house would be great, or even a open lathhouse covered, or an open garage would do fine. They can handle the cold, down to at least 20F if not watered. Just remember that they are a mixture of species. That you will need to ask John Trager what is the mixture. Your Spring may start in May so also take that into consideration when you start to water and fertilize. Don't be afraid to ask more questions, especially if I didn't make my self clear. Norma

A cold dormancy is very important. South American species, like Echinopsis, flower better after a cold winter. In fact, some members of the "Lobivia" and Rebutia groups flower best after a hard freeze!

x

You hit it right on the nose, stating what is the mix 'Lobivia, and Rebutia are part of their heritage. Bob can just tell who they are by reading the spines. I meant to say above, the normal non-Schick Echevierias open at 7:00 at night and close the next morning by 10:00 in the morning that flower will not open again. Bob Schick's opens 7:00 at night and may open the next day and perhaps three more days if kept cool and in part shade, the
flower when dead should be cut off all the way back to the body of the plant. This will help for more flowering. It will continue to produce flowers
each month up to Dec. 7 was the latest we have recorded.
We use a ratio of 1.5 tbs - 2tbs per gal. of water. if using the Liquid Nox. John uses a cython that mixes the proper ratio for us. We start out with 1.5 cupes per 5 gal of water and then use the cyphenex to further mix it. the second month
going to to 2 cups. That was what we were doing when I was his helper, it may have changed.

Thanks for the info on this. I have a hard time getting my Echinopsis and Trichocereus hybrids to rebloom. I guess I am not fertilizing/repotting enough. The Lobivia hybrids don't seem to be as fussy. Most of my plants are Notocactus and they bloom pretty freely for me.

I put my plants out in late May or early June and they stay out until October. They are under shade cloth so the first freezes don't bother them. I have a sunroom that gets nights temps of 40 to 50 so I think that should be cold enough. But maybe I need to start watering them weekly sooner.

And I never knew about taking the old flowers off--thanks Norma.

Also, how do I order the hybrids from Huntington? When I do a search, all I find is the old list. Is that what I use? There are a lot of hybrids on Ebay, but it's hard to know exactly what you're getting.

Thank you so much for the detailed info, everyone.

DZ

Use the old list. The last one that was hybridized by Bob Schick was 'My Norma' it perhaps will be intoduced next year in the shade it will open four days. Go to the web site. Bob Schick has retired. If given cool light after noons, they will stay open longer and reopen 3 more days. If cared for proplerly they will flower every month around the 27th. We have recorded a Dec 7 flowering. I feed mine osmocote 1tbs each month after flowering, about one inch away from the base. The will flower when they fill a small 4" pot. How many do you have at this time? There is only one list, Norma

X you are very accurate. All cacti need the cold winter to flower in the spring, In Canada they take them out of the soil and wrap them in newspaper so they go dormant. Take them out in the Spring,/ Summer when it warms up repot them and let them flower, I don't believe they need to take them out of their containers, but the newspaper wrap may be of help, they are kept in the garage. I am so glad that you helped I left that out, just took it for granted that all new that if they grow cacti. Norma

Hi Norma,

I love Notocactus, but since most of the flowers are yellow I'm ready to branch out.

My Grandma had a Echinopsis that flowered every summer. The flower was just white, but it still amazed me. So now that I can keep my plants alive and healthy, I'm ready to get more hybrids so I can enjoy the variety of colors.

I only have a few Echinopsis hybrids now (I don't know what they are, they haven't bloomed for me and all the tag has is the flower color). I have ordered 4 from Ebay--they are on the way. I wanted to know what to do from the start in order for them to bloom. I also want to kick start the ones I have (including the Trichocereus).

When you think about how big the flowers are it makes sense that they need a lot of food. The information in this thread helps a lot! Most of the information I read in the past was more about keeping them cool for a rest period.

I'm really happy to find out that I can still order some of the gorgeous Schick hybrids. I've admired the pictures, but when I saw the date on the catalog I thought they weren't available anymore. I'm going on vacation in a few weeks so I'll place my order when I get back.

And I'm guessing that the latest hybrid was named after you. What color is the flower?

Thanks for your quick answer; I really appreciate it!

I love these plants. Some can be spectacular. Basically, easy as a group, and don't look bad when not blooming,..if kept in partial shade. But, doggone it,..this year, I am seeing a lot of mealies on the spines of most of my plants. Any ideas, for killing off the little beasties? I likely imported these from an area nursery that uses a lot of Imidacloprid. So the nasties may have become resistant to the chemical..? Any other choices?

To randit:

I recently got a plant and they recommended the spray bottle (not concentrate) of Ortho's Bug-B-Gon. I looked it up and the active ingredient is Bifenthrin (that is a pyrethoid). The nursery said it is good for mealies & root mealies and they use it for spot treatments with good results.

I switch off using the Bayer Tree systemic and malathion so the little darlings don't get immune. I guess I will add Bug-B-Gon to my list.