Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Night-Blooming Cereus bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Night-Blooming Cereus, Queen of the Night, Large-Flowered Cactus (Selenicereus grandiflorus).

More about night-blooming cereus

About Night-Blooming Cereus

Selenicereus grandiflorus · also called Night-Blooming Cereus, Queen of the Night · flowering

Selenicereus grandiflorus, Queen of the Night, is a climbing, scrambling epiphytic cactus from Central America and the Caribbean with slender, ribbed, sometimes aerial-rooting stems. It is celebrated for enormous, intensely fragrant white flowers that open for a single night. It prefers bright indirect light, moderate watering, warmth, and support to climb, rewarding patience with a spectacular fleeting bloom.

Plant type: flowering

Watch for — No flowers: Plants must be mature and given enough light plus a cooler, drier winter rest to bloom. Be patient, brighten the position, and provide a winter rest period to trigger the night flowers.

The reasons night-blooming cereus isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming night-blooming cereus traces back to one of these, roughly in order of how common they are:

Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.
Too much nitrogen feed, driving lush foliage at the expense of flowers (very common with general or lawn feeds).
The plant has not been deadheaded, so it stops flowering once it sets seed.
Irregular watering — drought or waterlogging at the budding stage makes buds abort.
It is still too young or was checked by a transplant and is rebuilding before flowering.

Feeding night-blooming cereus a high-nitrogen general feed and growing it in too little sun — you get a big leafy plant and almost no flowers.

The fix — how to get night-blooming cereus to flower

Maximise sun. Give night-blooming cereus the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers.
Switch the feed. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.
Deadhead regularly. Remove spent flowers often to keep it producing more rather than stopping to set seed.
Water consistently. Keep moisture even through budding and flowering — drought-then-flood swings make buds drop.

Light and feeding do most of the heavy lifting here. Dial in the spot with the light guide for night-blooming cereus and get the feeding right with the night-blooming cereus fertilising schedule — the wrong feed (too much nitrogen) is one of the most common silent reasons a healthy plant makes leaves instead of flowers.

Bloom season and what to expect

Night-Blooming Cereus flowers across its growing season (mostly summer) and, kept fed and deadheaded, can bloom for many weeks or right up to frost.

Post-bloom care so it flowers again

Deadhead, keep feeding lightly, and many will rebloom; collect seed from the best plants at the end of the season if you want to grow them again.

For everything else this plant needs day to day, see the full night-blooming cereus care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Night-Blooming Cereus blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my night-blooming cereus flower?

Night-Blooming Cereus blooms on the season's growth given enough sun, warmth and the right feed — there is no cold or photoperiod trick, just good growing conditions and a bloom-leaning feed. The most common reason it is not happening: Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.

How do I make night-blooming cereus bloom?

Give night-blooming cereus the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.

When does night-blooming cereus normally bloom?