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Christmas Cactus

Posted by nancylee_321 WV z7 (My Page) on
Mon, Dec 10, 07 at 22:25

How do you properly take care of a Christmas Cactus, and make sure it blooms for Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Christmas Cactus

Hi Nancy,

Since no one else is going to tackle your question I'll give it a whirl.

Christmas Cactus love to spend the summer outdoors. They love the humidity and prefer to have adequate moisture. Mine stay outdoors until just before frost. Then they need to be brought indoors and placed in a sunny window.

The key to getting them to bloom is that they need a place where you can regulate the length of daylight. If you have a spare room that you don't go into in the evenings put your plant there. That way it's in an area that doesn't have it's light cycle broken. If you leave it out in a window in a room that has lights on in the evening chances are buds will set on the window side of the plant and not on the interior of the room side. I've got one blooming like that right now. I had to turn the buds around so I could see them.

If the plant's inside the room where it gets light all the way around chances are you'll never see it bloom.

Janet


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RE: Christmas Cactus

I think Christmas cacti need *either* light regulation *or* cool temps, not both. Both my own plant, and those of friends, have bloomed faithfully each year (more than once, even) and we do not regulate light. However, I keep my house pretty cool and that seems to do the trick.
Monica


 
 

 

 


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