Proper Cacti Care Ensures a Long-Term Houseplant by Jeff Rugg on Creators.com

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Proper Cacti Care Ensures a Long-Term Houseplant

Q: We were given a Christmas cactus, and just a week after we got it, all the flowers and flower buds fell off. What did we do wrong?

A: A Christmas cactus can be sensitive to too-warm temperatures and too-dry conditions. They are not true cacti and should not be allowed to dry out like a typical desert cactus. In nature, they're like many bromeliads because they're epiphytic plants that grow on trees and other plants in South America. Epiphytes grow along branches without taking any nutrition from their host plant.

The Thanksgiving cactus is actually the most commonly sold one, even for Christmas. To tell all of them apart, look at the flattened stem. It's not a leaf, but that's what it looks like. These cacti do not have any leaves. The Thanksgiving cactus has several, long, saw-tooth projections on the edge of the "leaf." The true Christmas cactus usually has four rounded bumps on each stem segment. The Easter cactus has four to six wavy scallops on the edge. On all the species, the ends of the stems can have some small cactus spines.

They make great houseplants because they have a long life span and are very disease- and insect-resistant. They do well with minimal care and even seem to bloom better if left to become root-bound in the pot.

Cool fall temperatures and shortening day lengths will induce the Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti into bloom. The Thanksgiving cactus will bloom in late November until the New Year. Christmas cacti bloom from late December through March.

If these cacti are grown in a warm room (above 65 degrees) with plenty of evening lighting, though, they may not bloom. Give them about six weeks of being moved to a cool, dark room or closet each evening, and they'll set buds. If kept in a room that's always around 55 degrees, they may bloom without a short day length.

If your plant was moved to a warm location after setting its buds, it may have decided it was spring and dropped all its buds. If you put it back into cool temperatures for a few weeks and keep it in a room in which the lights aren't on too much in the evening, you may be able to get it to re-bloom again this winter.

In the wild, the tree-branch soil on which these cacti grow is made up of loose organic matter.

In a flowerpot, the cacti can grow in African violet mix, which is sold in bags, or in a mixture of bark pieces, peat moss and a little potting soil. Even though they're cacti, don't use a cactus-planting mix. Keep the soil moist, except when forcing them to bloom and fertilize monthly during the summer, using a blossom promoting fertilizer.

During the summer, they can be moved to a shady outdoor location. The best time to repot them is any time they're not setting buds or blooming. Let them get really pot-bound before moving them up one pot size. They can be potted in clay or plastic, and the best pot for them may be a hanging basket.

Keep the soil a bit on the dry side while the flower buds are forming. After you can see the tiny buds, you can go back to the normal lighting and watering.

The fact that these cacti are from South America and grow on trees may lead you to think they need to be in full sun. While they do need bright light all year long, they can get sunburned if they're moved to a full-sun location. An east window or a close-by south or west window will provide enough light.

Flowers are formed on the ends of the branches, where the main vein hits the end of the line. Sometimes there's only a single bud, and sometimes there's a cluster of several. The flowers have a series of petals that form a tube about 3 inches long. They can be red, pink, purple, orange or white. Easter cacti have a more limited selection of colors in the red and pink range.

These cacti are among the easiest plants to propagate. In May or June, cut off a piece of stem with at least three sections. Leave it out overnight so that the end can develop a callous. Insert the cut-off section about an inch deep in moist perlite or sand. Keep the container covered so that there's enough humidity, and place it in a shaded location. They'll take root in about two months.

When the roots are an inch or two long, repot the cutting into a new pot. Several cuttings can be planted into the same pot.

These cacti are easy-to-grow houseplants that are worth adding to your own home garden.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at info@greenerview.com. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.