WHY RHIPSALIS MAKE PHENOMENAL HOUSE PLANTS
- Shade succulent;
- low maintenance, drought tolerant, little watering;
- takes partial to full shade,
- exponentially increases the number of places in your home Rhipsalis will thrive
- 50+ varieties; great for collecting;
- each have drastically different growth habits
- trailing patterns
- flower color & shape
- seed pod color
- Unique
- until recently, not a popular house plant
RHIPSALIS MAINTENANCE IS EASY!
- Plant in a pot with a drainage hole & well drained soil.
- Water thoroughly once every 1.5 - 2 weeks (or when top soil is dry 1-2" down). Water until you can see liquid fall through your pot’s drainage hole.
- Place in area with partial shade to full shade.
BREAK IT DOWN NOW! --
PLANTING YOUR RHIPSALIS
In order for your Rhipsalis to thrive, you will need to plant in a pot with a drainage hole & well drained soil. Here at Horticult, we start our containers with approximately 1” of PermaTill (a small, expanded slate gravel; depending on size of container). If you don’t have PermaTill, any type of small, light weight pebble will work! Fill the rest of the pot or hanging basket with regular potting soil. Once you’ve planted your succulent, you may then use the same gravel you used at the bottom of the pot to spread around the top of the pot for a decorative element. This top gravel will also weigh down the soil, so when you water your plants the soil will not spill over the top. With that being said, the PermaTill is not terribly necessary & if you plant your Rhipsalis solely in a well drained potting mix it should do well.
Rhipsalis works best in a hanging basket or in a pot on a plant stand. In their natural state you can find them in tropical regions growing out of trees where they pour from branch nooks or located on rock faces falling down crevasses. The stems grow & look their best when hanging. If the stem touches any organic matter (soil, etc.) it will emit roots at that spot. These roots are healthy for the plant, but if you already have an established root system & find them more of an eye sore than beneficial you can clip them off with sharp scissors. If you are interested in propagation you can use this method before you clip the stems for cuttings to ensure root stimulation & growth.
WATERING
Rhipsalis is a succulent. By definition, succulents are plants that store water in their leaves. The water gets to the leaves through the roots. This is why it’s important to saturate your plant when watering. The water must get to the roots, so the roots can suck up the water to the leaves! With that being said, it is extremely important your soil be allowed to dry. If a succulent’s roots are sitting in standing water it will first bring too much water to the leaves, which will cause them to become soggy & fall off, & then cause root rot, eventually leading to your plant’s demise! While this sounds awful & is ultimately detrimental, it is easily avoided! Wait until your soil is bone dry before watering again :) Easy peezy!
LIGHT
Unlike most succulents, Rhipsalis thrives in partial to full shade. As previously stated, in it's natural state they can be found hanging from trees; pouring out of branch nooks & tree crotches. In these areas Rhipsalis are shaded by the tree tops for most of the day. As a house plant, Rhipsalis enjoys a simulation of it's natural habitat, thus partial to full shade for most of the day is crucial. All things considered, light morning sun will not hurt your Rhipsalis. Some of the larger, more broad stemmed varieties (R. pachyptera or R. elliptica) can take an increased amount of sunlight because of their shape.
Plants that flourish in shade are easier to place inside your home. You can hang your Rhipsalis deep inside a room with a bright window, in east or west facing windows that don't receive daily full sun, or rooms that receive little to no sunlight at all. Until you have to bring your sun succulents inside for the winter, the shade aspect of Rhipsalis is a drastically understated benefit.
TEMPERATURE
If kept outside, due to the fact Rhipsalis are tropical plants they will need to be brought inside when the temperature drops.
**ALL RHIPSALIS VARIETIES LISTED IN HORTICULT'S SHOP ARE LABELED WITH TITLES GIVEN BY THE ORIGINAL DISTRIBUTOR TO THE PARENT PLANT ORIGINALLY USED FOR PROPAGATION.
We have named our Rhipsalis varieties according to the tags or names classified by the distributors we purchased the parent plant(s) from. In light of the fact that Rhipsalis has over 50 varieties that are sometimes extremely similar, the variety names are commonly misused & unfortunately extremely difficult for us to verify. Please rely on the pictures posted in the listing, as well as the name, if looking for specific varieties.
