It’s value noting you can’t drive a Christmas cactus to flower at a unique time of the 12 months – you’ll be able to merely take these steps to encourage it to bloom.
Throughout this era, maintain your Christmas cactus in a room with shiny, oblique gentle throughout the daytime, with nighttime temperatures at a cold 55 to 60°F, and 13 to fifteen hours of uninterrupted darkness.
Additionally scale back watering, however don’t let the soil dry out utterly.
Some Christmas cactus house owners resolve the necessity for darkness by putting a brown paper bag over their crops, since even publicity to synthetic gentle can stop flowering.
Others transfer their crops out and in of a closet on daily basis, however this isn’t beneficial.
Christmas cacti don’t wish to be moved steadily, and the stress that this could trigger might stop them from blooming.
For its pre-bloom resting interval, I like to put my Christmas cactus in a room on the north facet of my home the place there’s shiny, subtle gentle, and the place the temperature stays cool.
That is additionally a room we don’t use within the night, so there are sufficient nighttime nighttimes.
When your plant begins to supply buds, the primary resting interval is full, and you’ll return it to its regular temperature, gentle, and watering situations.
Discover ways to encourage your Christmas cactus to bloom.
The second resting interval is after flowering. Scale back water once more and return your plant to a room with cooler temperatures till the rising season begins in April.
Repotting
Contemplating the situations they’ve tailored to within the wild, it is sensible that these houseplants desire to be barely pot certain.
A very good rule of thumb is to plan to repot about each three years in spring, in the beginning of the plant’s development season.
Replant in potting soil with good drainage and aeration – 60 p.c potting soil and 40 p.c sand or perlite is beneficial.
Heavy, waterlogged soils can result in illness. Learn extra about choosing the right potting combine for Christmas cactus right here.
When repotting, deal with with care – this plant doesn’t like having its roots disturbed.
And bear in mind, this plant doesn’t naturally develop in soil, so make certain to maneuver your plant as much as a pot dimension that’s solely barely bigger than the present one whenever you repot.
Get extra recommendations on repotting right here.
Propagation
Whereas Christmas cacti might be grown from seed, the best and quickest option to propagate them is from cuttings.
Propagation from cuttings needs to be carried out within the heat rising months, April by means of September. Wait till at the very least a month after flowering to take cuttings.
Reduce stems again on the joints between the fleshy segments, shaping your plant so that you don’t go away it lopsided as you are taking the cuttings.
Every chopping needs to be two to 5 segments lengthy. Be sure you all the time minimize on the joints and never by means of the middle of a section, utilizing a clear pair of scissors or a pointy knife.
You’ll be able to mud the ends of the cuttings with rooting hormone powder, however this isn’t required.
Place the minimize stem segments in a spot with shiny, oblique gentle and good air circulation to let the cuts heal over and dry out for 2 to 4 days earlier than planting.
Once you’re able to plant, place the basis ends of the cuttings right into a container with potting substrate that’s moist however not moist.
Plant the cuttings about half an inch to an inch deep, or simply deep sufficient in order that they’ll stay upright.
Place the container in a spot that receives shiny, oblique gentle – not direct solar.
After you see some new development beginning to develop, give them some water. It’ll take three to 12 weeks for the cuttings to turn into established.
You’ll want a little bit of endurance, as this new plant can take as much as two to a few years to mature and produce flowers.
Discover extra propagation ideas right here.
