The mystery to engender you Christmas Cactus to blossom is sad . Well , it ’s more like SAD . You roll in the hay – Seasonal Affective Disorder . There are many plants which react to mean solar day distance and temperature in the fall or the leaping , but many plants which we associate with the Holiday time of year such as Poinsettia , Cyclamen and Christmas Cactus are all in particular raw to the length of the day , and they will not bloom unless you follow some basic guidelines in providing them the proper weather condition required by each species .
I become a little nostalgic each October when I move my Christmas Cactus ( or schlumbergera ) back into the greenhouse . This was a project that my mother would do in September and October , as she impress her house plant back into the house when frost neared . All plant would be potted and rushed into the dining room works window , but the Christmas Cactus received special intervention which seem secret to me as a kid . They were all moved down to the cellar where they spent an entire calendar month in the dark . My mother was half veracious , for Christmas Cactus do take a day - length transformation and dryness in September or October , but her plant life actually bloom well most of the time , because they obtain some day light from a cellar window .
Since Sclumbergera , or Christmas Cactus would all bloom by nature in the natural state , but in our modern , heated , eclectically driven home ? They sulk . To get your flora to bloom as thickly as the ones in the supermarket reqires only a little knowledge , which I will divvy up here . This trick is to remove the human ingredient from the environs – at least for a month . well-fixed said than done . My point is , Christmas Cactus which choose to live in our household feel as if they have blinker on . Because of our tv set ’s and night light , they ca n’t tell what time of year it is . They are just , mazed .
Today , we know more about the triggers which these and other plants need shake up flower bud formation . Bot in the close , it really is n’t rocket engine science , it ’s just natural skill . Shorter day in the fall , and longer nights . If you need your Christmas Cactus to bloom at or around Christmas , you must simply subject them to the same environmental conditions that they might take in where their ancestors get wild – that signify , that the rumor is true – even a lamp at night in your living room will befuddle off their annual bloom cycle . In fact , even in a obscure room , a nearby street light will do the same matter .
As for the ‘ cactus ’ part – are these plants really cactus at all ? Many garden writer love to save that ‘ Christmas Cactus are not cactus at all ’ , but the Truth is that they really are . The genus Slumbergera is organized unwaveringly within the plant Family known as Cactaceae . The fact you must know is that all plants in the family Cactaceae are not all desert - growing plants . Schlumbergera , is also a genus which has been rename several multiplication , and many plant life which we call Christmas Cactus are most potential a cross between two closely have-to doe with mintage , include Hatiora ( the ‘ Easter ’ cactus ) and the genus has even bneen interbreed with Rhipsalis , but most just clump all under the name Sclumbergera , a name created in 1858 – so we have Mr. Frederic Schlumberger to thank for this taste of a name . A well know cactus collector in France who was honored with the name .
Whatever you call them – Zygocactus , Schlumbergera , Thanksgiving Cactus , Christmas Cactus , Crab Cactus etc , we generally are all talking about the same plant . Most Sclumbergera species in the wild are aboriginal to coastal Brazil , where they maturate on the trunks and branches of jungle trees and on rocks . It is helpful to know that they grow more like epiphytic plants than cacti , with piffling grunge , and fast draining weather condition . In many way , they are not unlike many orchids or bromeliads .
Many of us have Christmas cactus as manus - me - down heirloom plants – plants shared with us by friends , or by relatives , and you may have noticed that not only are flowers sometimes different , but that the leafage can be different . Broadly speaking , there are two buckets in which we can organize this higgledy-piggledy genus . One type for those with rounded leaves , which collectors often aggroup together as those plant which originated from the wild species of Sclumbergera russeliana . My grandmothers ancient rounded leaf from was the true S. russeliana , a plant which can shape monolithic branches in old pots , and has pink flowers with pinkish pollen .
The 2nd type are those cultivars which take S. truncata as a parent or great grand parent . These include most of the modern hybrids which we see today , easily identify by leafage which have toothed segments , hence the other mutual name or claw cactus or crab cactus . Thanksgiving Cactus , Claw Cactus or Crab Cactus , these are all the same . The easiest manner to identify these industrial plant besides the obvious leaf shape , is by the pollen , which is yellow .
WATERING and BUD FORMATION
Temperature is also essential in have bud to form well . Plants thrive with summertime warmth and humidity , expert growers cognise that the right flower colors originate on plants that are acquire during the summertime where temps are maintained between 75 degrees F and 85 degree F. , with high humidness . ( retrieve , hobo camp cultivator ) . But be heedful – although they like moist air , they dislike undue wet in the soil . This is where is get wily , a salutary , fast draining yet moisture tenacious territory – it ’s a balance one must learn . A grower trick is to set aside industrial plant to dry out a but between watering in the summer , but in the wintertime , it is helpful if they never fully dry out out . The only clock time plants should dry out out is during late September and October when they are forming buds .
SOIL & FEEDING
Standard , good lineament potting soil is fine for Christmas Cactus ( for most common species and all of the hybrids , which is what most of us grow ) . Never practice a cactus mix , or pumice , moxie or stony mixture . The best stain is one that drains well but holds some moisture , with some breeze space in it . Fertilizer is significant with this hobo camp grower , particularly nitrogen , but used 1/4 strength if you use 10 - 10 - 10 , and only used during summer . By late September , all fertiliser should be keep back as well as water supply .
HOW TEMPERATURE affect YELLOW variety
commercial-grade raiser love a cultural fact which is seldom deal with home agriculturist – the new chickenhearted and white varieties will flower with pink streak or crimson shade in the blossoms if they live cool or cold temperatures in the autumn and winter . So if you require pure , bright white and yellow flush , grow your Christmas Cactus in a consistently warm temperature – ideally , keep them between 68 and 75 grade . These people of color are very temperature dependant , and although exposure to colder temperatures will not touch the quantity of flowers , it will affect their color .
THE BEST NEW VARIETIES OF CHRISTMAS CACTUS COLLECTORS reckon FOR
There are a few intercrossed Schlumbergera which are still hard to regain and expensive , but these are the genuine choice mixed bag that aggregator are incessantly looking for . A variety call ‘ Aspen ’ has a wide-cut , brilliant white fringe blossom has been particularly firmly - to - find , often deal out as soon as they become available at any of the few websites who have been able to obtain some . I will apportion with you thatLogee ’s Greenhousesin Danielson , CT has ‘ ASPEN ’ back in descent ( for $ 19.00 per frozen cutting ) but I expect that they will betray out soon , as last year , they were sold out before mid - October .
A red form called‘Aspen Red’is now available also , although I would call it Aspen ‘ Pink
Having trouble finding a good place to vernalize your plants ? Try some of these places :
– an unheated garage window – under a pack of cards or porch if hoarfrost does not menace – a cellar windowpane – Have an old motorcar ? Try that ! – In a chicken coop near a window , or a shed where they will not block by Nov. 1
Of naturally , be carefull and never earmark your plants freeze .
