Have you seen holiday cacti for sale in stores this season? This is the time of year when they are available.
One of the most popular indoor plants, the Christmas cactus is a great way to bring a pop of color indoors during the dreary winter months.
If poinsettias and amaryllis aren't your thing for holiday blooms, why not try holiday cactus?
Known for its colorful tubular flowers, this plant is easy to care for and readily available in our area. They make great summer house or garden plants and the perfect Christmas gift for people who are hard to buy for.
There are actually three types of Christmas cacti: Christmas cacti have flat leaves with rounded serrations around the edges; the thanksgiving cactus has sharp teeth and the easter cactus has sharp teeth with fibrous hairs at the nodes of the leaves.
Under normal conditions, the holiday cactus blooms right before the name day, but this plant can be made to bloom at a later date. and to make things a little more confusing, most Christmas cacti sold are actually Thanksgiving cacti and will bloom around Thanksgiving in subsequent years.
Holiday cacti are low maintenance and will thrive in most homes. When the plants are in bloom, they should be kept in bright, indirect light, as too much light can cause the flowers to die, or heat can cause the flower buds to drop. The ideal temperature is 70 degrees during the day and 60 to 65 degrees at night.
Water the cactus thoroughly and allow the plant to dry out a bit between waterings. Although they are called cacti, they are not as drought tolerant as the cactus name might suggest. If the soil is dry, the leaves shrivel, and if it is left too dry during flowering, the flower buds fall off.
After the flowers fade, you can continue growing the cactus as a houseplant.
The soil should be well-drained, and fertilizing should be done monthly between April and October with a complete houseplant fertilizer.
To encourage branching and more flowering, prune plants in June; Simply remove a few pieces from each stem with your fingers or a sharp knife. An added bonus is that removed cuttings can be easily rooted in wet vermiculite to produce more plants.
Holiday cacti do best when placed in a shady spot in the garden during the summer until temperatures drop below 45 degrees. Naturally, longer nights and cooler temperatures in late summer also encourage flower development.
However, their flowering requires an understanding of the plant itself. The party cactus is a short-day plant, meaning it blooms at night for at least 15 hours.
They also thrive when exposed to consistently cool temperatures of 50 to 55 degrees. Flowers do not form at nighttime temperatures above 70 degrees.
Christmas cactus grows and blooms best when its roots are fairly dense, so it doesn't need to be repotted every year. Transplantation is necessary only when the soil is compacted or when the plant has grown too much. The best time to propagate dormant cactus is spring or early summer (when the plant has stopped blooming).
Here's how to care for your cactus regularly. Christmas cactus likes to be in a pot, and you should repot it every two years at the latest.
However, you may need to change the soil more often than watering.
The only other routine maintenance you need to do is trimming. The plant may become a bit spindly and the branches will begin to droop because they cannot support their weight. So you can trim or cut out the part for reproduction.
Especially after flowering, simply pinch the stem ends of the plant to encourage branching.
Holiday cacti are available at most local garden centers; They are a great alternative to add color to your home on gray winter days.
