Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Identifying holiday cacti
Let’s just clear it up! Identifying Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter cacti!
Every year there’s a lot of social media chatter about those holiday cacti. Is it a Thanksgiving cactus, a Christmas cactus, an Easter flowering cactus? Their common names suggest their bloom time!
The main thing we can all agree on is how lovely they are and it gets even better. Some of these plants have lived over 100 years! Can you imagine how many flowers they’ve shown off during that time!
Although true cacti, these plants are native to rainforests. 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.
People often complain about the lack of flower blooms. It is important to understand how light, temperature, and overall plant health affects blooming.
In comes the University of Minnesota Extension, although I will note that they have identified one of the holiday cacti incorrectly on their website! Shhh, don’t tell anyone, we all make mistakes!
Anyway… Holiday cacti are called “short day plants.” To produce flower buds, they require shorter days (fewer hours of light) and cool night temperatures. As for watering, place plants in a sink to drain when watering. Excess water may result in dropping flower buds, wilting and root rot. Allow soil to dry out between watering.
Once flower buds have started to develop, holiday cacti don’t like to be disturbed. Plants may drop buds due to drafts or sudden changes in temperature or humidity levels.
