Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: What holiday is your cactus blooming in?
I hate to disappoint you but your “Christmas” cactus is not an overachiever…
I changed my cover photo on my personal Facebook page and got a lot of comments so I thought it was time to revisit this subject.
Every year people are mixed up on what kind of flowering cactus they have. If yours is blooming now, like mine is, it’s a Thanksgiving cactus.
It’s not just because that’s the holiday coming up but there is a difference in the lobes, or leaves, if you will.
As you can see, the lobes of a Christmas cactus are rounded. Another way to tell is by looking at their anthers.
And, of course, the Thanksgiving cactus starts flowering about 4 to 6 weeks earlier than the Christmas Cactus.
If you’re planning on buying a holiday cactus for yourself or as a gift, I have a few care tips. Despite the name, these guys are not quite as drought tolerant as desert cacti. Because it’s a succulent, the leaves can hold a lot of water. Water till it drains out the bottom of it’s pot, empty the saucer and then don’t water again until the top HALF of the pot becomes dry. Then repeat!
For both Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti, day lengths between 8 and 11 hours are considered best to start them flowering. While flowering, feed them a weak all purpose fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks. They like it cool, so don’t worry about setting these guys out in a drafty area. Once they’ve finished blooming, let them dry out for several weeks, then repeat the watering schedule of letting the top half of the plant soil dry. Check out your local nursery for a great selection.
And just for reference, the photo below is an Easter Cactus! The lobes are much more rounded and, hard to believe, it blooms around Easter! 😉
