Partial Sun
ORFull Shade
Medium
To ensure good blooming Christmas Cactus need 12 plus hours of darkness and/or cooler temperatures to trigger budding. If your plant is inside and doesn’t seem to be budding up in the fall move it outside and expose it to 55 to 60 degree night temps and it will bud up. Once flowering do not move them or they will drop their flowers. Place them in a nice viewing area that provides good filtered sunlight. These plants grow for a very long time and can become monstrous. They make great plants for pedestal flower stands or on tables. They will cascade to the floor as they age. They can live well over 100 years if properly cared for.
Trim back in spring to keep size in check and encourage new growth and use the cuttings to make more plants. They are beautiful showy addition to yard, patio and house.
Repot every few years to prevent them from becoming root bound.
These are best started from leaf cuttings. Cut 2 segment lengths and stick in peat based potting mix and keep moist. They should root within a month. For variety of bloom times and colors you can place a mix of species in a pot just be sure to do it uniformly so you do not have one side or the other blooming by itself creating a lopsided look. Alternate color and variety about the pot.
Transplant outside in warmer areas or keep in containers/hanging baskets and summer them outside and winter them inside for colder climates. Do not expose them to freezing temperatures.
Transplant outside in warmer areas or keep in containers/hanging baskets and summer them outside and winter them inside for colder climates. Do not expose them to freezing temperatures. Plant them or place containers in partial sun to shade areas and limit rain exposure. They do nicely under trees and on covered patios and porches.
Ensure that temperatures are mild and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Christmas cactus is a tender plant.These estimates for how long Christmas cactus takes to sprout, grow and harvest are from real observations from real gardeners, right around the world.
Average days | Min days | Max days (0)
Average days | Min days | Max days (0)
Average 900 days | Min 900 days | Max 900 days (1)
The holiday cactus group is a phenomenal favorite, and LOTS of people have at least one plant, at least in the USA. The most common holiday cactus is commonly called “Christmas Cactus” but this plant is actually the “Thanksgiving Cactus” or “Holiday Cactus.” These are actually two different species of Schlumbergera. The Thanksgiving Schlumbergera truncata has pointed soft spikes on the segments, and is the more common plant. The S. truncata is also called Holiday Cactus. The true Christmas Cactus (more rare) is Schlumbergera buckleyi, and has rounded scallops on the segments.
It grows naturally as an epiphyte and is endangered in the wild due to habitat destruction.
Zygocactus
Misspellings: Schulumbergera buckleyi