I have a Christmas cactus that I've had for over 25 years. At first I did the closet thing then found that you don't have to do anything to make them bloom. They root very easily. Just stick a leaf in the soil. That's what I started with. Don't over water. For the first time, I put mine under a tree this summer instead of leaving it on my porch. The drain holes had become plugged and before I noticed, most had rotted. It really had gotten so huge, it's not that big a deal to start small again.

Likewise. My mom had one on the porch. Dumped too much water on it when she thought about it, and it lasted and bloomed for years. The 14 hrs thing is to make sure they bloom on the right dates for commercial sale.

Mine are blooming, don't do a thing, they are out on the porch, have taken cuttings and they bloom after a certain size....maybe that 14 hour dark thing means bloom in the winter when days are shorter and more darkness than light...I water only when completely dry and use a jug w/MG as I do w/all my potted plants...1 teaspoom to a gallon....good luck..sally

If by chance you ever go over to the cacti forum they will have your head for calling the holiday cactus a Christmas cactus, ;) Most of what we commonly call 'christmas' cacti are their lookalike cousins the holiday cacti. That being said in FL if you leave them in a bright area outside they will generally be in the mood to do something between thanksgiving and Christmas! Here is a quick reference if you are interested:

Here is a link that might be useful: RECOGNITION and CULTURE

Here are two of mine. The pink always blooms a week before the peach one. Light has never affected mine. I grow them very dry (usually forget to water them). They are on my lanai. Prior to the move to Florida, they lived in my living room in NY exposed to tons of lights. Always flowered.

I have no idea if they are Christmas or Thanksgiving Cactus, but they always bloom around Christmas. Just wish they would bloom at the same time!

Jane

Quite lovely Jane. Given the separate bloom times, personally I would be inclined to split them into multiple pots, so at least when their blooms are separated, they will seem to fill in for each other. But I think I am fairly convinced that I will be getting cuttings of my mother-in-law's Christmas Cactus. Hers is what I would describe as a 'Vanilla White'.

Some bloom around Easter and are called Easter cactus.

Jane yours are just lovely. :o)

Jane, they are so lovely. What type of pots are you using? Clay or plastic. I have to start mine over and need a new pot.

The trigger for flowering is the change in the light cycle. My MIL has had one on her kitchen counter that gets no natural light at all and has not flowered in 10 years.

I bought one last year from HD that was just beginning to flower. It was in a tiny plastic pot and kept tipping over, so I (foolishly) repotted it. All the flower buds fell off :-(

So I've been waiting a year for it to flower again. I keep it in a ceramic self-watering pot on my screened/covered lanai (SW exposure) and it seems to be loving it as it has quadrupled in size and even has double flower buds on some of the paddles!

This post was edited by alys_esmond on Wed, Dec 19, 12 at 20:49

'Leekle' you are right. I never put them together this way, just happened. We recently moved here and it was just a convenient spot. Sort of forgot them and now they are too difficult to move. The branches break off easily when full of buds. Next year...

Judy, they are in plastic pots. They are potted in a mix of MG potting soil and Cactus/Palm soil.

'Alys' I'm not sure I can agree about the light. I think it is temps. Mine have grown both outside and inside, exposed to bright lights. They have always bloomed reliably. What I noticed, when I lived in NY, if I left them outside until a light frost I got the best blooming. Frost didn't seem to hurt them but increased the blooms. I always left them out until October. Changing their environment cause bud drop, not light. Any change, while in full bud can cause them to fall off.

This is a pic of them in front of a condo we rented this past summer. They are on the bottom shelf of the stand. You can see the plastic pots, what you can't see are the flood lights which went on every evening and stayed lit until morning. This was a walkway for the entire floor of the condo building. It was the only place I could put my plants. These are the same plants in bloom now.

Jane

Sorry, forgot the photo

Should I be brining my Christmas cactus inside if the temps are going to be in the low 40s/high 30s? My impression was that I should, but I think it was mentioned that they tolerate light frost.

I don't know for sure, but my mother-in-law says she leaves hers out in her lanai, but she moves it to be against one of the exterior walls of the house. Only once has she brought it 'inside' and that was during the bad winter two-three years ago. And even then, her 'inside' was a smaller, glassed-in lanai, so sort of like a make-shift unheated greenhouse. Personally, I will be bringing mine in once I get cuttings started.

That said, she will probably forget to protect hers tomorrow night when it gets even colder and end up killing hers and I will have missed out on my chance at cuttings... Uh... I guess I should call her and remind her to protect it. Toodles!

They do take light frosts, but not hard freezes. We have had a few light frosts already, and Mom's outdoor cacti look great. However, I would bet she is going to bring it in before the freeze tomorrow night. (She will get temps around 30 tomorrow night.)

She was hoping the first freeze would be after they finish blooming...going in to her warm house usually makes them drop their bloom buds.

To be safe, I brought mine in. We're usually a good 5 degrees or more below what Naples gets, according to the news reports. Better safe than sorry and we'll be gone this weekend.

Once I moved it to a table on the lanai, it seemed happier. I had it tucked under other plants where it got filtered light. Seems the consensus is lanai with some sun.