Tamera's Christmas cactus blooms!
Today Tamera put up a
photo: her Christmas cactus is ready to bloom.
What are the best conditions for blooming for the Christmas cactus and its cousins, the Thanksgiving and Easter cactus? Here is some information on the plants.
"Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii), and Easter cactus (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri syn. Hatiora gaertneri) are popular houseplants and often given as gifts during the holiday season.
They can also be very long-lived. It's common to hear of these plants being passed on from generation to generation and sometimes living over 100 years!
Although true cacti, these plants are native to rain forests and epiphytic meaning they grow on other plants and derive moisture and nutrients from air and rain. The need for high humidity, bright but filtered light, and soil kept relatively moist most of the year sets these plants apart from the majority of cacti and succulents.
What are the best conditions for blooming for the Christmas cactus and its cousins, the Thanksgiving and Easter cactus? Here is some information on the plants.
"Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii), and Easter cactus (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri syn. Hatiora gaertneri) are popular houseplants and often given as gifts during the holiday season.
They can also be very long-lived. It's common to hear of these plants being passed on from generation to generation and sometimes living over 100 years!
Although true cacti, these plants are native to rain forests and epiphytic meaning they grow on other plants and derive moisture and nutrients from air and rain. The need for high humidity, bright but filtered light, and soil kept relatively moist most of the year sets these plants apart from the majority of cacti and succulents.
As houseplants, holiday cacti are grown for their beautiful, exotic flowers. However, people often complain about lack of flowers. Therefore, it's important to understand how light, temperature, and overall plant health affects blooming. Though called Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter cactus, these common names are primarily for marketing purposes and provide only a general reference for the time of year these plants may bloom.
Holiday cacti are called "short day plants" meaning in order to produce flower buds; they require shorter days (fewer hours of light) and/or cool night temperatures. One way to initiate buds is by leaving plants outdoors in a protected location until just before frost danger. The shorter days and cooler nights signal the plant to produce buds resulting in abundant blooms.
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