Crazy poinsettia.......
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 374
Family emergencies killed off my Christmas cactus collection. Sniff. Blow. Wipe. I am trying again.
But to get them to bloom during the holidays requires just a tad of playing around. It is light that signals to the plant that it is time to set buds. In early October I move mine around so it does not get any light other than natural sunlight. No artificial light of any kind. Not even a street lamp. That means mine wander through the house: I feed the cats and move my Christmas cacti - am and pm.
The poor baby I rescued at the hardware store decided to cover itself with buds. It turned a dark green after being a yellowish green when it came home. I have my fingers crossed. Oh, and one last thing. My African violets also died during the debacle and I had lots of AV food left. The abused Christmas cactus seems to like it. Now I am going to have to try potting the surviving bits and pieces of my original collection. AV potting soil is left over so I am going to try that out.
Merry Christmas cactus!
But to get them to bloom during the holidays requires just a tad of playing around. It is light that signals to the plant that it is time to set buds. In early October I move mine around so it does not get any light other than natural sunlight. No artificial light of any kind. Not even a street lamp. That means mine wander through the house: I feed the cats and move my Christmas cacti - am and pm.
The poor baby I rescued at the hardware store decided to cover itself with buds. It turned a dark green after being a yellowish green when it came home. I have my fingers crossed. Oh, and one last thing. My African violets also died during the debacle and I had lots of AV food left. The abused Christmas cactus seems to like it. Now I am going to have to try potting the surviving bits and pieces of my original collection. AV potting soil is left over so I am going to try that out.
Merry Christmas cactus!
#30
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: SE Iowa
Posts: 1,583
Back in Sept, I carried mine to the laundry rm to water them, and left them sitting there until late Oct. No, I didn't water them and the laundry rm is dark. The 1st of Nov, I found them all shriveled up, watered them and set them back in the window. Within a week, they had perked up and were loaded w buds. They are small plants -1 pink, 1 coral- but are loaded w blooms.
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