I just leave mine outside. I think it's the cool, but heck, it is dark out there too!

Just brought mine inside.

You don't need cold to bring on the flowers..

Many keep them in their warm houses, some are found in greenhouses, and other naturally in warm climates like the tropics and yet they still flower...

Usually they can sense the difference of length of day and less light will promote buds....If you let them follow nature, they will flower, but provided a false light source beyond the length of natural day light, you will have a problem most of the time..

Mike

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Sun, Nov 10, 13 at 9:34

Moonlight won't stop the bud formation. Bud formation can be achieved through either shortening of days or cool, but the light seems to be as good as anything in doing it-- because like meyermike says, many of us keep our plants inside and they bud fine.

I imagine (just a guess here but since they lack eyes or a nervous system lol) it just has to be dark enough for the plant to go into Krebs cycle-- which would be how I would guess it "knows" it's dark. That doesn't mean complete darkness. So if you have a corner of a room which is really dim/dark or a window that is in a room not used after dark. you'll be fine. Mine are budding up despite being by a lit courtyard window. It's dark enough that that doesn't even affect it.

For the first time, my TG cactus is not budding/blooming. I inadvertently left it outside in hot sun for a couple of days and wonder if that could have affected it?

Can anyone help me? My other TG ones are just beautiful, covered in blooms and new buds. Thanks...

Julianna, your point is well taken. The reason I asked is that there is much conflicting info out there. I've read things that said that passing car lights can inhibit blooming. Something else I read said that it would take 2 hours of light at night to prevent blooming.

On a related topic, I've noticed that one of my plants is forming buds asymmetrically (i.e. they are not forming on one side of the plant. I wonder if that side could have had some more exposure to light at night? If so, would covering the whole plant with a black garbage bag at night be likely to induce that section to bloom, too, or has that part of the plant missed its chance to form buds?

tillygrower - Last year my Thanksgiving Cactus formed buds asymmetrically as well. The buds were forming on the side next to the window (where it was darker at the right times and cooler). When the buds were big enough so that the plant didn't abort them, I turned it around so I could enjoy the blooms. Then I found it started to bud on the other side (now against the window). I turned it four times (two on each side) and enjoyed blooms for months. The same thing is happening again this year.

Anniemt, I would think that wouldn't be enough to stop the bloom, but maybe it just got really stressed out. The test will be next year to see if it returns to normal. You still have some time for buds, but it may be cutting it close for a TG cactus.

Tillygrower-- yeah, I have read similar things. I even remember seeing someone once say they thought moonlight would affect the budding, and I thought to myself that if that were the case, then you couldn't
t ever have one growing in the open in the wild-- it would always have to be under dense canopy. Since I've seen wild shots of them not under dense canopy... :)

Mine always form asymmetrical buds. I think in my case it is related to the lack of light on the one side compared with whatever side is by the window since mine are in a room I never go in at night. Or so that's my thought. I don't know if you could trigger some to form with either supplemental light or bagging (depending on what is the issue).I am sure it would work if it was done at the right time.