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Species library › Selenicereus › Selenicereus grandiflorus
Succulents Well documented

Selenicereus grandiflorus

Queen of the night is a fast-growing climbing cactus from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It scrambles over trees and rocks with aerial roots and opens huge scented white flowers for a single night. It needs warmth, bright light, a rich but fast-draining mix, something to climb, and a cooler, drier winter to set buds.

Selenicereus grandiflorus
Photo: Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restClimber

Where it grows wild

A hemiepiphytic and lithophytic climber of lowland dry to semi-deciduous forest, coastal thickets and limestone outcrops. Its stems root along trunks and rocks and often reach the sunny upper canopy.

Mostly lowland: records run from sea level to 2,604 m with a median of 61 m (260 records). The higher records are few and may include escapes from cultivation.

BahamasBelizeCayman Is.CubaDominican RepublicGuatemalaHaitiHondurasJamaicaMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestNicaragua

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Selenicereus grandiflorus? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

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More Selenicereus

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.