How to Grow Christmas Cactus: A Long Lasting Succulent Houseplant Christmas Cactus (aka Holiday & Thanksgiving Cactus) is a very popular blooming plant for the holidays. It's a long lasting, easy care houseplant you can have for years. Here's how to grow Christmas Cactus during it's blooming period & after.
How to Prune a Christmas Cactus. Named after the time of year that they bloom in the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas cactus plants are beautiful and easy to maintain in the right conditions. The simple process of pruning can help grow a.
Plus, find out how to get yours to flower again.Do you want a really cool blooming plant for the holiday season? Well look no further. Christmas Cactus, aka Holiday Cactus, is the one for you. Here’s how to grow Christmas Cactus during it’s blooming period and after.
It’s a long lasting houseplant which I happen to find very attractive.First off, let’s get a bit technical for those of you who geek out on all things plant like me. My scarlet Christmas Cactus that you see here and in the video is actually a Thanksgiving (or Crab) Cactus. It was labeled as a CC when I bought it and that’s how it’s commonly sold in the trade. Now days you may see them labeled as Holiday Cactus. Regardless of which one you have, you care for these epiphytic cacti in the same manner.You can see the notches on the leaves of this white Thanksgiving Cactus. Regardless, it’s being sold as a Christmas Cactus – it’s all about the marketing!Both the Thanksgiving and the Christmas Cactus fall under the genus Schlumbergera which I learned as Schlumbergia years ago.
The Thanksgiving Cactus has little spine-like notches coming off it’s leaves (just like a crab claw hence that common name) whereas the leaves of the Christmas Cactus are smoother. The Thanksgiving Cactus is timed to flower in November/December whereas it’s December/January for the Christmas Cactus.
How to care for & grow a Christmas Cactus. How to grow Christmas or Thanksgiving (aka Holiday) Cactus: SizeChristmas Cacti are most commonly sold in 4″ or 6″ pots. I’ve also seen them in 6″, 8″ & 10″ hanging baskets. Quite a few years ago I saw one in a greenhouse that was really big – over 6′ wide. Yes, they can be a long lasting houseplant!Hanging pots in grower’s greenhouse.
LightThey like & do best in bright, natural light; a medium to high light exposure. Keep them out of direct sun because their fleshy leaves will burn. Although they don’t do well in full sun, they do need bright light to bloom & stay looking good throughout the year. WaterThese are & differ from the desert cacti that I’m surrounded by here in. In their natural rainforest habits, they grow on other plants & rocks; not in soil. Their roots need to breathe.Give yours a good drink of water, let it all thoroughly drain out of the pot, & let it go dry before you water it again. You don’t want to keep the roots constantly moist or they’ll eventually rot out.How often you water depends on your temps, the exposure it’s in & the pot size.
Gives you a general idea. I watered my Christmas Cactus growing outdoors in Santa Barbara every week (yes, they do grow outdoors year round in temperate climates) in the warmer weather & sometimes not at all in the winter, depending on if we had rain or not. Indoors I watered every 2-4 weeks.When your Holiday Cactus is blooming, water it a bit more often.
After flowering back off on the watering in winter. You can pick it back up a bit more often in spring & summer if need be.Oh, these violets blooms are pretty.
TemperatureIn our homes, they prefer warmer daytime temps (65 – 75) & cooler at night. They actually need cooler temps when setting their buds.Santa Barbara winter temps could dip into the low 40’s or high 30’s & mine were fine. If yours has been growing outdoors for the summer, bring it in before the temps dip. They can’t take a freeze & definitely not snow.It’s Nov 21 as I’m writing this & my Holiday Cactus is already half bloomed out. The temps are currently in the low to mid-80’s so I’m putting mine out at night (currently around 55F) to try & prolong the bloom a bit. Just know that the warmer your house is, the quicker the blooming period will go.
![What What](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125438184/264556629.jpg)
Keep them away from any heaters, & conversely, any cold drafts. HumidityThese are tropical cacti so they prefer some humidity. Our homes tend to be on the dry side so you may have to up the ante a bit with the humidity.If mine starts to look not as robust & a bit on the dry side, I’ll put it on a saucer filled with pebbles & water.
Be sure to keep the bottom of the pot out of the water because you don’t want any rotting.I used these bi-colored Holiday Cacti, along with the other plants, to make a make a festive mixed garden. FertilizingI’ve never fertilized any of mine. I would always amend them with & every spring. They always flowered fine. Here in the desert where it’s much hotter & drier, I’ll amend mine again in mid-summer.Yours may not need it but if you like to fertilize, you can use a balanced liquid houseplant fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) in early spring, early summer & mid-summer.My friend used an all-around orchid fertilizer (20-10-20) on his Christmas Cactus once in spring & then again in summer & they looked great. I have quite a few so I may try using that in summer if need be. SoilAs I said, Holiday Cacti grow on other plants, rocks & bark – they don’t grow in soil.
In nature they feed off leaf matter & debris. This means they like a very porous mix that also has some richness to it.I use mostly succulent & cactus mix (a very chunky local mix) along with compost & mixed in.
This environmentally friendly alternative to peat moss is pH neutral, increases nutrient holding capacity & improves aeration.A bench full of them – want one or two? PruningThe only reasons for pruning would be if yours needed taming due to spreading over time or if you want to propagate it. Just be sure to cut off whole leaf sections which are easy to identify. PropagationLike most succulents, a Christmas Cactus is. You can do it by leaf or stem cuttings as well as by division.As you’ll see in the video, mine is actually 3 plants growing in 1 pot. I could easily divide them by pulling the individual plants apart or by cutting the root ball carefully with a knife into 3 separate plants.
I’d plant them in the succulent/compost/coco coir mix.You can take individual leaf cuttings by pruning the terminal leaf sections off. I prefer to twist them off whether it’s a single leaf or a few sections which to me constitutes a stem. I then heal off the single leaves or stems for a week or so. Into straight succulent & cactus mix they go (with about 1/2″ of the end sticking in) & they start to root in a couple of weeks.
I repot them after about a month or so.I find propagation is best done 2 or 3 months after flowering.This peach is another lovely color, especially if you like your plant colors on the softer side. Pests/ProblemsMine have only gotten a touch of (they look like little specks of cotton) which simply I hosed off. They’re also prone toRoot rots can be a problem if you keep them too wet. The plant starts to whither, wilts & then eventually dies. A very good reason not to overwater this plant. FloweringHoliday Cacti, like, are.
![Cactus Cactus](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125438184/150218416.jpg)
They require equal or longer periods of darkness to bloom again.So, they need 12 – 14 hours of complete darkness per day. Start this reduction in light approximately 8 weeks before you want it to bloom.Keep them drier; this will help force them into dormancy. Water them anywhere from every 3-6 weeks depending on the temps, the mix it’s in & the size & type of pot it’s planted in.You want to keep the temps between 50 & 65 degrees F. 50-55 degrees is best at night.
If your temps are warmer, they’ll require a longer period of darkness.It can take a bit of effort to move yours into a closet or basement every night but perhaps you have a spare room which naturally has these conditions. After the buds start to appear, then you can move them back to a bright spot, resume the care you were previously giving it and enjoy the beautiful flowers.If the buds on your Christmas Cactus are falling off before they open, it could be because it’s too wet or it’s gone through some type of environmental stress (temperature fluctuations, too much sun, cold drafts, etc).I’ve seen the flowers in red, violet, white, peach, & gold. By the way, mine that I’ve grown outdoors bloom on their own. Mother Nature handles the darkness!These are very popular because of their flowers.
They get covered in masses of blooms like mine that you see here. Good To KnowDon’t rush to repot your Christmas Cactus. It’ll bloom better if slightly pot bound. Every 3-5 years is best, depending on how fast it’s growing.
Repotting it a couple of months after bloom time is best.If your Holiday Cactus is changing color, usually to a reddish hue, that means it’s stressed. Common causes are too much sun or too little water.Water yours a bit more often when it’s flowering.If you water one too often, plainly put, it’ll mush out.Conversely, to little water will cause it to shrivel & change color.You can get a Thanksgiving Cactus to bloom a bit later by keeping it cool – 50 to 55F. The flowers will open slower & last longer.Spent flower blossoms can be removed by holding on to the leaf section & gently twisting them off.Holiday Cactus are non-toxic to both cats & dogs. You & your pets can enjoy them with no worries.
Here’s a post I did on in regards to our furry loved ones.My sweet rescue kitty Riley hanging out on my side patio with the Holiday Cactus. It’s a big plus that they’re safe for pets!The care for Thanksgiving Cactus and Christmas Cactus is the same. The Thanksgiving Cactus blooms about 3-4 weeks earlier than the Christmas Cactus and is popular because some people want to get a jump on their Christmas flowers.
I was also told by a grower that the Thanksgiving Cactus ships easier because it’s not as pendulous and the leaves tend not to break off. Hence, some just call them Holiday Cactus.Whichever one you have, it makes an easy, long lasting houseplant.
I think I need (want!) to get another one – how about you?Happy gardening, Happy holidays,PS: If you are looking for your own Christmas Cactus you canShare this!.
It is the time of year when store shelves are stocked with Christmas cactus plants so people can decorate their homes with them during the holidays. About the same time that they start appearing on store shelves questions on how to make your Christmas cactus bloom start appearing on gardening forums and in the Home & Garden section of newspapers. I've already seen a few Christmas cactus owners posing questions on gardening forums I frequent. What amazes me is the lengths people go through to get a Christmas cactus to bloom.Good horticulture or hortitorture?.The most common advice I come across regarding getting a Christmas cactus to bloom involves placing them in a closet from 6pm-6am for a period of 6-8 weeks. I'm not making this up. I did a search using to see what the.edu websites would recommend.
The advice to place it in a closet from 6pm-6am came from the 'Christmas Cactus FAQ' on the Purdue Extension website. On a gardening forum I participate at a member posted that she kept empty boxes around so she could cover the plants for the same period to simulate putting them in a closet. These practices make sense because what people are doing is faking longer nights to trigger a Christmas cactus to bloom in time for the holidays. While these methods work they seem more like torture than good plant husbandry-these are plants not enemy combatants or a red-headed stepchild.The picture of the Christmas cactus above was taken by me today on my back porch. Notice the flower buds forming on the Christmas cacti? Guess which method I used to get my plants to start forming flower buds.Did I:A) Place it in a closet next to Sen.
Larry Craig?B) Cover it with a box like a Guantanamo detainee?C) None of the above.If you choose 'C) None of the above' then you answered correctly. Two weeks ago my white Christmas cactus started forming buds and the others have started to follow. I didn't need to bring them into a closet or cover them with a box because I let nature do the work.
As the nights have gotten longer and the local temperatures have dipped into the 50s the plants have reacted by forming flower buds. My Christmas cacti will stay outdoors until we get our first frost in Chicago or all the buds have formed, whichever comes first.The box and closet trick work but there's nothing easier than just leaving your plant alone and letting nature do the work for you.
After you've gotten your plant to form buds or you've brought it home from the store consider where you place it very carefully. If the location your Christmas cactus is placed in is too warm or too dark the flower buds will shrivel and die.
Keep your Christmas cactus moist in a bright and cool location away from heating vents, fireplaces and drafts. If you are a Cacti & Succulent enthusiasts or have a keen eye you may already know that my Christmas cacti are frauds if not stay tuned. Yes, I know hortitorture is not a real word.
I'm just being funny. I just discovered your blogs and am happy that you are willing to share so much information and advice!My 'Christmas Cacti' (guess they're Thanksgiving ones) were both outdoors on our pretty shady, somewhat sunny front porch. They stayed there until about 2 weeks ago. It began to cool off, so I brought them indoors. They're both ready to bloom!!!I just learned from you that temperatures have a lot to do with their readying to bloom. And, yes, they're different colors. Bright pink and light pink/white.I'm also going to share your techniques for propagation of sansevieria with my mom.
Her large potful of Mother-in-Law tongue has grown quite tall and bloomed (for the first time) many times this past summer! Where do yo but the fast growing cactus fertilizer or is it a general purpose fertilzer? I also replanter 3 ball castus(i dont know the pootru;' I locater in eastern Oklahoma. The put of a pretty bloon this sumer. I anm concerened about the roots freezing this winter in pots instead of their native ground (i did incorapet the navive soil in the pots(with potting soil) I'm growing them in.
Would you reccomend taking them into a cooler location for the winter? I got them very seldom go below 0 degree for a short time.
The lagest one (or seems to be the mother plant) is about the size of a tennis ball,the other 2 that produced on the sides of the mother are now about the size of ping pong balls.(like chick and hens) They are really eazy to handle as the spines are reaally close together. I just hate to see them die because of my taking them from there navive soil. Can some one help me on this and the fertilizer needed? AnonymousI've read a lot on this subject lately, on several sites, because I have one that has never bloomed, so this year I thought I'd better try to find out why. Consequently, I put the cactus in a spare bedroom next to an uncurtained northwest facing window a month ago. The room gets down to 45-50F in the eve and maybe 60 during the day because it is an unheated room.
And lo and behold, a saw several small buds on the leaf tips this morning! So my question is. How long do I keep it in these cooler conditions? How large should the buds be before I bring it into the living room? Also I am concerned because my living room is small, and heated by a wood stove so the temp in here can be over 70'F+ with the front door wide open for some much needed air circulation and cooling.(Weird, I know!!
Oh, and I live in PNW Wa State) So.Will this drastic change in temperature cause my flower buds to fall off? This would be devastating since I have been waiting for over 5 years for this thing to bloom! I know I could probably move the plant to the other bedroom but the window is small and high so it doesn't get a huge amount of light and theres not a lot of wriggle room in there to set up a growing station. Please help.!! Hi JD you can use sharp sand or grit instead of vermiulite or perlite.
Getting rid of gnats depends on exactly what they are - you may have a type we don't get in the UK. Compost gnats can be tricky to get rid of, but reducing watering and using a free-draining soil should help. Neem can also be a good spray for many insect-types pests.
Detergent spray can help too. Both of these are contact sprays, and don't stop the pests from coming back.
Here we have ladybirds and hoverflies which will eat aphids, but I don't know of a biological control for gnats. Hope that helps. I received a cactus from a neighbor years ago and it continued to grow and is now very large. It is next to the window, so it gets light. I did notice that I need a new pot because the cactus is so big now; maybe it is about 4-5 feet tall and has stems that branch out in different directions. I noticed that one of stems of the cactus started turning brown a few months back and it seems to be spreading up the stem. It is also starting to feel a little mushy.
I do not want it to spread anywhere else on the cactus. Is there anything I can do? Maybe cut off the dead stem?
Did I water it to much? Any insight would be very helpful.
JD,Sorry for the late reply (very late) but you can ust water when it is dry. I don't know about neem for AVs because I haven't tried it and especially around the baby, I couldn't say.Anonymous,They can bloom more than once if they like the conditions.Sunstream,Cut off the rotting part until you get to solid plant growth. Could be that you watered it too much or the plant is 'sick' causing it to be prone to things like rot. If you've had it for years it may be time to repot it or at least make sure it isn't pot bound.
That's a nice concept.to just let nature take its course. But lets remember where 'nature' is for these plants. You said yourself its in the tropics.Lets not forget that some of us are proud to call ourselves Canadians. We've already had our first frost a long time ago! If I put it out for the last part of our growing season here.well, I would have brought it in a long time ago, and it would be blooming now.As a horticulturalist, I can assure you that the cornerstone of ornamental horticulture is replicating nature under artificial conditions.So, for me, I like to treat my cactus well for 10-12 hours a day-grow lights in a cool room help a lot. Then, its the evil 'gitmo' box (or dark room you take your pick).Best of luck with your blooms!
AnonymousI have a christmas cactus that I planted from a cutting, it's growing very well but it's been over 1 year now and it's never bloom. I gave my Mom a christmas cactus about 5 years ago, it was in full bloom when I gave it to her and it never bloomed after that. I would like to know what kind of fertilizer is good and is Miracle Grow good for a cactus.
Does it need good light but no direct sunlight and then a dark or (dormant) period like I heard from other people? Also I live in Canada if that's any help. AnonymousMy mom always had a christmas cactus. Hers not only bloomed for Christmas but again at Easter as well. She would put it down in the basement in the dark cool place, covered it with a grocery sack and not water it for two months. Then when she brought it back upstairs it burst into bloom for the holidays.
Also she never watered it from the top.she always had a pot with holes in the bottom and it sat in a saucer or pie plate where she put the water. The plant drew it up from the bottom. She also watered her african violets the same way. They would not get leaf rot this way. I have had a Christmas cactus for at least 10 years and it has bloomed every year with no special treatment. It was always kept indoors, but this summer I had a screen room built on my house and the cactus spent the summer out there. It exploded with new growth and looks fantastic!
The nights are now getting cold (late Sept/early Oct) here in Central IL, so I am going to do what you suggested and leave it out until frost and see if the buds do form. This cactus also gets a few buds around Easter but not nearly like it does at Xmas. I guess I lucked out with a regular bloomer! Thanks for your entertaining article! Carol MotteI have two Christmas Cactuses.during the summer I left them on back deck where they got natural light and fertilized them twice with miracle grow.
Watering only once every other week. Now they are very healthy and full of small tight buds.I think they will be beautiful at Thanksgiving. I will bring them indoors as soon as the temps get in the high 30's. They don't need a lot of attention.break off any unhealthy branches.keep away from heat vents indoors.they should be beautiful this year. Good luck carol motte.
AnonymousMy bestfriend brought me a Christmas Cactus after I had my daughter a little over a year ago. I'm not really good with house plants and only have about 4 that have survived over the years. I have to say that my Christmas Cactus is one of the easiest plants I have ever cared for. All I did was repot it sit it on my kitchen counter and water it once a week sometimes every 2 weeks, I also turn it when I water it.
Everyone that has posted so far keeps saying theirs blooms once a year, mine blooms every couple months. Is that weird? AnonymousI have just a few too many of these.according to my husband!I have plants that originally came (as far as we know) from hisgrandmother.given to his mother.about 1940. I got the slipfrom his mother about 1990.and now I have started 3 for each of my three daughter-in-laws.and they are about 14'high.so I guess Iknow how to grow them.but many have no blooms!The ones that do bloom.bloom three times each year and I amfine with that, doesn't have to be Christmas.But I want more blooms.Is it blooming fertilizer.Is it not being outdoors.Perhaps they just don't like me.what do you think? AnonymousI have numerous Christmas Cacti.several different species/colors. I have no problem getting any of them to bloom twice a year.
They spend the coldest months of the year in a basement plant room under artificial light (late October thru March). In April, I open my West facing shady screened in porch and move them out there, where they love it!
I have found the secret to setting buds is at least two weeks of night-time temps of 55 degrees F. It is now the middle of May, and they're all budded and blooming again. I repot as needed, fertilize a couple of times a year and water only when dry. Every couple of years, I give them a 'haircut' and start new plants from the sections I break off. I've already potted up 22 new plants (5 branch sections each pot) from two mother plants.
I'll go through the remainder of the mother plants after they finish blooming. I estimate I'll end up with 80 new pots this summer. I have 3 christmas cacti and have been keeping them inside. I hear you saying to keep them moist but I have also heard to keep them dry and then only water them when they are completely dry and then soak them, then dry them out again. So on and so forth.
If I want them to bloom for christmas what can I do now to help them to bloom. We are already having cold weather here with frosts at night. We have been having some mild days so I am going to put them outside for the day time and then bring them inside at night. What do you suggest? I have 3 christmas cacti and have been keeping them inside. I hear you saying to keep them moist but I have also heard to keep them dry and then only water them when they are completely dry and then soak them, then dry them out again.
So on and so forth. If I want them to bloom for christmas what can I do now to help them to bloom. We are already having cold weather here with frosts at night.
We have been having some mild days so I am going to put them outside for the day time and then bring them inside at night. What do you suggest? AnonymousMy Christmas cactus (or is it a Thanksgiving cactus?) blooms from now (11-14-15) until the blooms fall off. Usually 2 weeks or so.
I wish it would bloom all year long. I would love that! I keep it outside in a mostly shaded patio during the spring and summer months and then bring it in when the temps start to fall. Usually around 45 degrees or so at night. It`s in my kitchen now - north facing window and seems to love it there. Full of buds and huge blooms.
I water when the soil seems dry to the touch.