One of the fun things about this time of year is the seasonal foliage that you might find in homes and businesses. One of those is the Christmas cactus, which M.S.U. Extension has a fact sheet about that is free and available to the public.
You might be surprised to find out that the Christmas
cactus actually performs better and blooms longer in cooler areas of the house,
with the plant liking an optimum temperature between 55 and 68°F. This doesn’t mean though you should put the
plant right by the front door. They
don’t like drafts any more than the rest of us.
The Christmas cactus is what is called a short-day,
long-night plant. For them to bloom they
need at least 14 hours of uninterrupted darkness per day for about 6
weeks. They most often bloom closer to
Thanksgiving it seems in our area rather than Christmas due to diurnal cycles. This is just a fancy way of saying any pattern
that recurs every 24 hours as a result of one full rotation of the Earth. Even though they need a certain amount of
darkness to bloom, once they start they can be put in a bright location out of
direct sunlight. This will increase the
amount of time they bloom.  |
| Photo courtesy of University of Delaware Extension |
As far as water needs go, they do not require a lot of water. The soil should only be watered when it is dry to the touch. When they are forming flower buds and are flowering they might need a bit more water to prolong bloom time. The biggest thing is to never over-water.
After they are done flowering, pruning the last one or
two segments at or just above the node will encourage branching, and thus more
flowers once it blooms again. You can
also fertilize the plant with a complete fertilizer once a month from spring
until October. Only fertilize during
these times though and not while the plant is flowering.
As you continue to treat your Christmas cactus with
love, watering and fertilizing as necessary, the plant can live for 20-30 years
or more. Enjoy it and the once a year
blooms it sends out!
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