I started my plant from just a small clipping of a Christmas cactus about 1 1/2 year ago and it never bloomed. Now it's getting big and I am wondering if I should put it in a bigger pot and what can I do for it to bloom? The clipping I took it from was a big Christmas cactus from a friend of mine and it bloomed I think twice a year if I'm not mistaken.
By Madeleine from Gatineau, Qc.
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I've heard that if you put it in a closet or someplace dark for a couple of weeks, the plant would have the "cycle of the seasons" and this is suppose to "force the plant to bloom! I've never had a Christmas Cactus, but read it on a plant/gardening website!
i did try the closet and still no blooms! Help would be appreciated.
Deniaka is right. You should put it in the dark and barely water it. I would say it might take longer than 2 weeks though. Then when you bring it out to the light, water it good and put it in some really good light.
My Christmas cactus blooms every year. I just put Jobe fertilizer sticks in around the 1st of Nov. I keep the soil moist. Feed it every couple of week with another 1 or 2 sticks. place it in bright defused sunlight area. There's blooms already starting by Thanksgiving. By Christmas it just blooming like crazy and will continue to bloom through January. :)
This cactus also likes to be slightly root-bound before it will bloom, so don't pot it up into a bigger pot until the roots are literally waving at you from the bottom of the pot.
Personally, I would recommend not doing this unless absolutely necessary. Holiday cactus really like bring pot bound with their roots fairly crowded because they're epipytic (meaning they grow in trees).
These are all very helpful articles/answers to the problems of growing Christmas cactus. I bought 2 small ones at Christmas from Home Depot. A white one & a fuschia one. They had buds; but a few days later they all fell off!
Well, I was very disappointed & I had just given them Cactus plant food, (the liquid kind) with some water! They haven't done anything but sit there plain looking. Unfortunately, I've been over watering them (I just read to let them get dry & just give a little water)!
I just put them in the closet in a paper bag & covered it with a small piece of cardboard-loosely (they'll get air). I marked 8 weeks from today on the calendar to take them out (on May14th) & water with plant food.
I had previously put a plant stick in about a week ago, so I didn't do that before resting them. Hopefully I'll have blooms around Mothers Day or so & remember to only moisten them & (not drown them) again.
Wish me luck. I think these particular ones are supposed to bloom two times a year. I hope so. But whether they bloom or not; do I have to put them away to rest again 6-8 weeks before Nov. 1st for blooms again? Thanks for helping in advance.
I leave my cactus outside in the shade all spring and summer. When it starts getting cold at night around 40-45 degrees it will shock the plant and start the blooms after a couple weeks I bring the plants inside and in about a week all the blooms are open.
I inherited a rather larger Christmas cactus, recently. I've kept it outside in an alcove, which is where it was originally kept. Light is indirect and north facing. Since its so large I'd like to keep it outside. So I was wondering if they can survive well in temperatures that dip down to 48 degrees F?
I know this is a very old thread, but you can't just leave them in a closet for 6 weeks. They need anywhere from 13-15 hours of darkness. That leaves anywhere from 9-11 hours of LIGHT, whether it be ambient light in your house, sunlight, etc. These plants are great at storing photosynthesis but they do need some light, even when blooming.
A MUCH easier, natural course of action for these plants would be exposing them to cool temperatures around 50-55°F for at least 4 weeks, not even every day, and they will naturally produce buds/blooms and won't even need a closet to be stuffed into. ;)
They certainly can. As long as temperatures are not below freezing and/or they're exposed to frost, they can handle cool temperatures quite well. In fact, when exposed to cool temperatures of around 50-55°F they will eventually set buds/bloom as a natural response.
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