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garden_kitten

What's on my Christmas cactus?

garden_kitten
17 years ago

Can anyone tell me what these white spots are on my Christmas Cactus? I'm really hoping it's not some disease. Thank you so much.

Jennifer

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Comments (13)

  • julie_m
    17 years ago

    Hi Jennifer, has someone sprayed something on it? It looks like its just liquid spots to me, give it a wipe over and see what happens...

  • Bergit
    17 years ago

    I agree with Julie , there's nothing wrong with your plant !

    They sometimes look like this when they come from the shop / nursery. Just give it a gentle wash / wipe.
    But it may be wise to wait untill it has finished blooming before you do anything about this , that is if you "can live with" the plant being "dirty" for a little while.

  • Bergit
    17 years ago

    And by the way ,
    I love the narrow segments ( leaves ) of that plant !

  • pirate_girl
    17 years ago

    I agree, just some kind of water spots; I'd just ignore it, unlikely to be a problem. If you absolutely must do something just wipe the stems w/ a sponge or moist paper towel. If it were mine I'd simply ignore them, wouldn't want to interfere w/ the blooms. You can always wipe it down or give it a quick shower after the blooms are done. Pretty color, enjoy!

  • garden_kitten
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thanks everyone! It was like that when I bought it (about a week or 2 ago). I'm glad to know that it's something that will come off. The thing that worried me was that I tried getting it off with water (just while watering, no rubbing) and it didn't work. I'll wait til it's done blooming and use something to rub it off with. Thanks again!

  • whim
    17 years ago

    Looks like a light case of mealy bugs.Use some soapy water(dishwashing liguid works well)when you clean it.

  • rjm710
    17 years ago

    They are water spots, not mealies. Mealies would be smaller and fuzzy. The plant may have been misted before it left the greenhouse with a chemical (fertilizer, pesticide?) in solution. I often see this on newly store bought plants. Gently wash it off after the blooms are done, or let it disappear on its own.

  • whim
    17 years ago

    It's a bit hard to tell from a photograph.I work in a greenhouse and mealies can look like this(before they get fuzzy)when they first get started.Water spots or mealies,I'd stay on the safe side and clean it with lukewarm soapy water.

  • tommyr_gw Zone 6
    17 years ago

    I vote for Water spots. your water is kind of hard. Caused by minerals.
    No worries!

    Tom

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    17 years ago

    BTW, what you have there is NOT a Christmas cactus. A Christamas cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) doesn't have the "toothed" segments. A Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera x truncata) does. A true Christamas cactus looks similar but with scalloped segments. If you look Christmas cactus up on the web, you may also find it refered to as Schlumbergera bridgesii, an older and an incorrect nomenclature.

  • fred_grow
    17 years ago

    Brandon this issue is further convoluted by the fact that stores sell ALL Schlumbergeras as Christmas cactus. It is a marketing ploy. People don't want to wait until Christmas to buy a colorful plant, therefore only truncata is offered. But they are called Christmas Cactus because the name sells much better than Schlumbergera x truncata would. Therefore it is almost impossible to buy true Christmas cactus any longer, and people are running around calling their truncatas by the wrong name! My buckleyi is doing fabulous BTW and putting on lots of new growth.

  • GrowHappy
    17 years ago

    They are water spots, not mealy bugs. I have those on some of mine from HD. You have nothing to worry about.

    GH

  • julie_m
    17 years ago

    Trust me...I know exactly what mealies look like, they invaded my shadehouse for months, I couldn't work out how I kept on getting them. I killed parents, eggs over and over until I found the ants were bring them in and depositing them on the plants. I killed the ants and new generation and haven't had problems since. I surround the shadehouse with ant granules and redo it every week. So I sure do know what mealies look like...and that ain't them!