This is a holiday cactus, also known as the Christmas cactus, Thanksgiving cactus, and Easter cactus. Are they all the same? They look very similar. They’re succulents and you can care for them all the same way, but there are subtle differences you’re going to want to know. I want to share with you how to care for all three of them throughout the year, and probably most importantly, how to get them to bloom. And as a bonus tip, stick around to the end. I’ll share with you a simple, creative way you can propagate them and have more for next year.
Okay, so the first thing I want to make sure you get right is watering. To do this, you’re going to want to let your holiday cactus dry out almost completely before watering it again. And to check for this, the easiest way is to use a water meter and look for it to read 2 to 3 before watering it again. Or another way that’s cheaper and just as easy once you get used to it is to get a wooden skewer, poke it in the soil all the way down, and if when you pull it out of the soil there’s just a little soil stuck to the bottom of the skewer, then you can water it thoroughly. Also, one indicator you’ve gone too far in letting it dry out is if you see the leaves start to shrivel.
Now, you can either top water or bottom water them. I find that bottom watering them allows me to soak the soil, prevents dry areas in the soil, and keeps the stems dry. But if you don’t or can’t do it, then a good top watering will do. During the winter months while they’re in bloom, all three holiday cacti can be kept in diffused light for about 4 to 6 hours a day, just to avoid direct sunlight. And once they’ve lost their blooms and the outside temperature starts to warm up as you move into spring or summer, you can leave them inside in a well-lit area in your home that again doesn’t receive direct light, trying to keep the temperatures ranging from 60 to 75°F. Or if you prefer, you can move them outside so that they can get the best growth and stay the healthiest until next blooming season.
If you do decide to place them outside, place them in an area where they receive indirect light, maybe in a north-facing porch or under a canopy of some shady trees. While they’ll stay out of direct sunlight, if you start to notice them becoming pale and yellow when they’re outside, you might want to reassess the amount of light they’re receiving. It may be too much. While they’re outside, water them as you did before, waiting till the soil dries out to about 90%. And during this growing phase, you’ll want to fertilize them at least once a month at half rate with a balanced water-soluble or liquid fertilizer.
As your plant grows and the outdoor temperatures start to cool down again, there are three things that you’re going to want to do to provide your plant with the help to get the buds to set and ultimately bloom. The first thing you want to do is to keep the soil slightly drier than you had been during the summer. So instead of your water meter reading 2 to 3, it should be at 0 to 1 or your skewer should be completely dry before watering again. Second thing you want to happen is that you want your plant to experience cooler temperatures, preferably from 40 to 45°F. So if you’re in a climate that come middle of September, beginning of October, the outside lows are in the 40s or 50s, then Nature’s on your side and this will happen automatically. If you’re not in this type of climate, do the best you can and maybe even move them indoors to the coolest room in your home for a few weeks. Once you’ve done that, the last thing you need to do to set your buds is to maintain 12 to 14 hours of darkness for 6 to 8 weeks. If you’re in the north, then you’ll have these shorter days and longer nights. But if you’re not, then you can try placing them in a dark room and setting them up under grow lights with a timer so they get 12 to 14 hours of darkness at night. Or you can place a box over them during the night so they’re in complete darkness for 12 to 14 hours and then remove the box in the morning.
The closer you can follow these three guidelines, the higher the likelihood that your plant will set buds. And when they do, to avoid bud drop, try not to move them around too much. They can be a little sensitive to these changes to light, temperature, and humidity. If you decide to cover them with a box, you might even try to do so in the spot that you’re planning on keeping them when they bloom. I know a box in the middle of the dining room is not ideal, but look at the bright side, the box will only be there at night. These steps will help your Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti to bloom right before Thanksgiving and Christmas. To do the same for the Easter Cactus, just start the process of giving them 12 to 14 hours of darkness 8 weeks before spring.
Okay, so now you know how to care for your Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter cacti. Whatever it is, I want to help you determine which one you actually have, which will tell us when it’s likely to bloom. And we can do this by looking closely at the stems. Yes, these flat-looking things on our holiday cacti are jointed stems made up of flattened segments. So to know which one you have, look at the stems. And if they’re pointed and claw-shaped around the edges, it’s a Thanksgiving cactus. And if the conditions are right, it’ll bloom close to the end of November. The Christmas cactus has flattened scallop edge segments that are rounded, and it blooms close to the end of December. And on the Easter cactus, you’ll find that it has rounded stem segments with tiny bristles on the edges, and it starts to reveal star-shaped flower buds in February and flowers from March through May.
So let me guess, if you just bought yours and it’s November, December, then I’m guessing you have a Thanksgiving cactus. But you’re disappointed because you wanted a Christmas cactus. Well, there’s a reason for that, and that’s because no one wants to buy a Christmas cactus when the holidays start and there’s no buds on it. So it’s a whole lot easier for commercial growers to produce Thanksgiving cacti that’ll be loaded with buds and ready to bloom when they hit the stores for the holidays in November.
Okay, so once your plant is done blooming and it warms up again, if you want to control your plant and give it some shape, you can easily shape it by pruning it between these segments. And if it’s really out of hand, you can cut back as much as one-third of the plant with clean pruners to give it some shape. And after you’ve pruned it, the best part is that we’re left with a bunch of cuttings that we can use to produce more plants for the next season. And to propagate them, it’s really easy. Start by taking the cuttings and setting them to the side for about 2 to 3 days to let them callus over. I’ve propagated them in the past without taking this step and been successful, but I’m in the warm south and maybe you’re not, so I want you to be covered. Then you have two options to propagate the stems, and that’s soil or water. Which one you choose is really up to you. I personally haven’t found one to be easier than the other. With soil propagation, as the name says, you go straight to soil and avoid having to make water changes and the risk of losing them when you transplant them. And with water propagation, you get to see the roots grow in the water, but you do have to eventually step them up to soil when the roots are long enough. It’s your choice. I’ll show you how to do both.
To propagate them in soil, mix a well-draining soil mix. I like to use a combination of coir and perlite at 70% coir and 30% perlite. The coir will help to retain the moisture the cuttings need, and the perlite will provide drainage and aeration. When you use the perlite, try to not inhale it and actually water it down so the particles don’t go in the air. Then I’ll take the cuttings and dig a small trench in the soil and plant each cutting about halfway in the soil. I’ll water them immediately just to moisten the soil, and then moving forward, I’ll water them when they’re almost completely dry.
To propagate them in water, what I do is get a piece of Styrofoam and shape the Styrofoam so that it fits inside the bowl I’m going to be propagating my cuttings in. I’ll then cut a few notches in the Styrofoam all the way around, slide the leaves in the Styrofoam, making sure that the bottom of the leaves will be submerged. Fill a bowl with water and drop the leaves in the water. In the coming weeks, I’ll make water changes about once a week. And when the first sign of roots starts to appear, I’ll add a little fertilizer at half rate just to make sure they have enough nutrition to keep them growing and give them some color. When the roots get to be about an inch and a half, I go ahead and pot them to soil.
