Growing Christmas Cactuses

Happy Monday to you blog land. Hope you all had a very productive restful weekend. I am so excited, because I got my Christmas shopping finished…That was a load off of my mind!

Today I want to stray away from the usual design talk, to tell you a little bit of what I have learned over the years about raising Christmas cactuses. They are such wonderful plants. You can ignore them during the summer, and then they will reward you with beautiful blooms in the winter.

My Christmas Cactus Collection

I have quite a few (even more than in the picture) Christmas catuses that I have had since I was in college. I have only killed one – a white one – that I think just kind of got tired after a few years and gave up his ghost.

The way I grow my Christmas cactuses is pretty easy. Once the blooming cycle is totally over, I prune my cactuses to get the spent blooms off and to reshape them. Then usually every other year, I repot my plants. This year is the year I will need to repot my cactuses, so I will take pics and share my process if you guys are interested.

During the spring, once it is warm enough to put them outside again, I place them in a very shady place. Remember that since they have been inside for the winter, they need to get reaquainted to the outside temps and conditions. I always keep them in at least partial shade. They are really not tolerant to Mississippi summers in full sun…That is pretty much a death sentence.

Once they have gotten used to the outside again, I give them the recommended amount of slow-release fertilizer. I use Osmote. I water them at least once a week, but up to three times a week once the temps really start to climb.

Once the chilly nights set in and the temperature dips into the low forties, I bring my plants inside. It is important that they are in a part of the house that gets true night and day cycles. This is because this is the time of year they start to set their buds for their beautiful holiday-time blooms. They need certain times of light and dark for this to happen correctly.