What is a Christmas Cactus?
Holiday time has come!! And it’s time to give this spectacular and colorful plant to your friends and relatives. Christmas Cactus is a great indoor holiday plant and you can see this in all the stores during Christmas time. Growing this beautiful plant will be a cup of tea if moderate care is given.
So, why buy it from stores when even a beginner gardener can grow this plant indoors and can add elegance to their homes.
Christmas Cactus is basically a succulent houseplant and has originated from Brazil’s tropical i.e. humid and shady forests. These are epiphytes and are otherwise called Holiday Cactus. As the name suggests, you must be confusing this plant with normal cactus, but this is different from the one that grows in the desert. Christmas cactus blooms in the cool season.
Among various cultivars, the two main cultivars of Christmas Cactus i.e. the Truncata group containing yellow pollen and the Buckleyi group containing pink pollen blooms in November and December respectively.
The truncata group is categorized as Thanksgiving Cactus and the Buckleyi group is categorized as Christmas Cactus.
The best thing about this plant is that they don’t require much care and they best grow in pots. So, you can grow these plants in your home and it will enhance the beauty of your house. Also you can grow these outdoors as well if you are staying in USDA Hardiness zone of 9-11.
Types of Christmas Cactus
Christmas Cacti come in three types- Holiday Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus and Easter Cactus depending on their shape of leaves and blooming time.
Holiday Cactus
Otherwise known as Christmas Cactus, belongs to the genus Schlumbergera. Scientifically known as Schlumbergera bridgesii. They have smaller leaves and flat-round stems. The stem possesses minor serrations on both sides with smooth edges from where the flower comes.
They have a tube-shaped flower that appears like a double flower and being a cool-season plant requires dark nights for around 12-14 hours in the fall season. They have beautiful pink stamens with purple anthers. The flowers bloom in red, white, or yellow that grow beautifully in a hanging basket.
They usually bloom from late November to February.
Thanksgiving Cactus
Scientifically known as Schlumbergera truncata, it belongs to the genus Schlumbergera. These are also called Crab Cactus or Lobster Cactus due to the appearance of their claw-like leaves. The leaves are not symmetric in shape and have horizontal growth from stems.
They have flat and segmented stems with weak spines. The flower blooms in yellow, pink, red and white with yellow anthers. They usually bloom from November to January.
Easter Cactus
Easter Cactus belongs to the genus Rhipsalidopsis. Unlike Christmas and Thanksgiving Cactus, these are grown in natural forests of Brazil. These are a bit different from the above cacti. They usually bloom in spring and again during Halloween month.
Apart from these, growing Easter Cactus is a bit tricky work as you require to closely monitor your soil moisture conditions.
They have trumpet, star shaped flowers with rounded leaves and have beautiful pink and red pointed petals.
Color of Christmas Cactus
However, Christmas Cactus flowers come in a wide range of colors such as red, white, yellow, orange, pink, and purple.
Red color
Dark Marie plant has beautiful buds with purple coloration and red flowers.
Orange color
“Malindi” cactus blooms with bright orange blossoms from purple buds. A hint of purple is visible in the “Xmas Fantasy” color bloom.
The “Madslome” plant has dark petals with creamy white centre. Another is ‘Peach Parfait’ that has peachy orange petals with purple stamens.
Pink and Purple
This color is most common among Christmas Cacti. A late bloomer ‘ NIcole” has lavender flowers and a creamy white center.
A best hanging basket variety of Christmas Cactus is ‘Thor Rit’ having dark pink petals. The ‘Dark Eva’ plant – an early bloomer with dark purple and white petals having lavender tips.
White and Yellow color
Thor Britt flowers are white with pink stamens and center. ‘White Christmas’ flowers have small soft cream petals.
When blooming, “Christmas Gold” grows golden petals with purple stamens and blush centers. A yellow variety with large golden flowers is the “Gold Charm”.
How to plant and care for Christmas Cactus?
As already mentioned above, unlike desert Cacti, Christmas Cactus are from Brazil’s tropical forests, where they are adapted to moist and shady areas. These plants require more water for blooming but less Sunlight.
Let’s have a look on how to plant these beautiful succulents.
Soil
As I have already said, these are epiphytic plants. So being an epiphyte they usually grow in rocky areas, on big tree trunks or in moss covered small trees.
So obviously they don’t get enough moisture from soil and hence require moist weather. They are best grown in small pots at first and can be transferred to bigger pots later.
They prefer organic rich soils. Hence, pot soils which are a mix of peat and leaf mould that can retain the moisture are best to grow these succulents.
Basically a Christmas cactus needs:compost, perlite,milled peat and potting soil. Getting an ideal soil to grow these succulents is the basic step to grow this Holiday Cacti.
Light and Temperature
Light and temperature are the two most important parts for the Christmas Cactus to thrive and bloom. This can be a little tricky. First you need to know that Christmas Cactus is a cool season plant and requires less Sunlight.
So, basically they are dark lovers. For the blooming of the flower they need at least 16 hours of complete darkness when the temperature should be between 50°F to 55°F(10°C – 13°C) and 8 hours of light where temperature should be between 60°F to 70°F (16°C – 21°C).
The most important thing is that you need to be very careful while placing these in a dark room i.e. you cannot switch on lights in that room even for 5 minutes where you have placed your cactus.
The suitable thing for your cactus to bloom is to place them in an east or north facing window where they wont get any direct Sunlight.
Growing these amazing Christmas Cactus is relatively easy if their light and temperature requirements are met perfectly.
Water
These Christmas cacti need more hydration as compared to other succulents. The flower usually starts to bloom in colder months.
Misting the leaves of the cactus is as important as watering the cactus, so remember to do that everytime you water the plants. Believe me, you will be amazed to see the flower blooming out of your cactus.
Humidity
50% to 60% humidity works well for the growth of Christmas Cactus.
Fertilizer
Like every other plant, Christmas Cacti too need proper nutrients for their growth. So applying the right amount of fertilizer at the right time is beneficial otherwise the joints may break down due to a lack of nutrients.
Fertilizer grades such as 20-20-20 along with bloom fertilizer can be used. So basically equal amounts of NPK is required.
But remember, you shouldn’t fertilize the plant when the flower starts to bloom as it will cause the plant.
They require more magnesium so adding a teaspoon of epsom salt mixed with one gallon of water and applying that to the cactus every time you water will meet the magnesium requirement.
How to propagate your Christmas Cactus?
The best thing about Christmas Cactus apart from being the best holiday plants is that they are easy to propagate and hence are easy to grow. For every enthusiastic gardener, propagating these Holiday cacti could be their fun DIY project. These are mainly propagated using stem cuttings.
Before starting the process of propagation, one thing you need to remember is that you should propagate Christmas Cacti during late Spring time i.e. at the beginning of the growing season.
These are mainly propagated using stem cuttings.
Choose a parent Cactus plant and then with the help of a pruning shears clip the top Y-shaped cutting down to two or three segments from stem-tip.
It’s always better to collect multiple stem cuttings that enhance the chance of successful propagation.
After that keep your cuttings aside in a cold room for 2-3 days and allow them to heal and dry out properly. It helps in preventing stem rot.
Rooting of Christmas Cactus
Now that the cuttings are ready, it’s time to root them in a pot. For that you need to make your soil ready at first.
To make the soil you need to add a soil mix that contains potting soil, compost, perlite and milled peat that helps in retaining moisture.
Now place the cutting segment in the soil about a quarter inch below and then water the plant. Place the pot in a shady area where direct Sunlight doesn’t fall on the plant. Don’t forget to make drainage holes at the bottom of the pot.
When the tip of leaves starts to grow red after 2 weeks, then this is the sign of the beginning of rooting and at this stage you need to start taking care of your Cactus.
Now if you wish, you can transfer your cactus to another big pot having potting soil and compost along with some sand.
Potting of Christmas Cactus
Repotting a Christmas Cactus is not a hectic task unlike other houseplants. It can be done every 3 years. It can grow well even in expanded roots, only its difficult to manage crowded roots in smaller pots, so you need to transfer it to a larger pot.
But remember to re-pot it after blooming otherwise disturbing it will hamper your cactus blooming process and definitely you don’t want that.
Pruning of Christmas Cactus
Christmas Cactus grow in their own way. There is no definite way how the Christmas Cactus grows. They don’t grow much in height, rather they spread in branches that are usually hanging.
The branches grow up to 3 ft long and width can grow between 6 and 10 inches wide. As they grow more, it becomes difficult for a home gardener to handle its branches especially with small space.
So it’s best to prune them after blooming, which helps them to grow more healthier. In order to prune it, all you need to do is to twist the stem between the segments or you can use a sharp knife to cut the segment.
This not only helps in healthy growth of the plant but also helps in rooting the cuttings for next growth as well.
Conclusion
So what do you think? Isn’t it so easy to grow these amazing Christmas Cactus? Now that you have read so far, you must have got a clear idea on how to handle these plants. These plants are not even poisonous to cats and dogs. So if you have pets no need to worry for them.
Instead of buying these plants from stores, think of growing this Holiday Cactus in your home itself and gift them to your beloved ones. I am sure you will be amazed to see the results.
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