If Your Christmas Cactus Isn't Blooming, Try These Tips

Christmas cactuses are an elegant holiday flower. They add a beautiful, traditional touch during the holidays, and can be passed down for generations. If yours aren't blooming, this blog post will help you know what to do to get them to bloom next year. And if you don't yet have one of these beauties or want another, we have many that are blooming in several different colors at the nursery now!

Sometimes, getting your Christmas cactus to bloom can be a little tricky. If yours isn't blooming this year, try these tips to get it to bloom:

• From spring to early fall, your Christmas cactus should be fertilized once every month with a balanced (such as a 10-10-10), liquid houseplant fertilizer. Keep your Christmas cactus in bright, indirect light indoors.

  
  

• Be sure to continue to water well into fall, or your buds may drop. However, it's important not to overwater. If the soil is damp, wait a few more days before watering, and let it dry out again.

  
  

• The Christmas cactus is encouraged to bloom once we have longer and cooler evenings.

  
  

• Starting in mid-October, nights need to be at least 12 hours long, so if you're keeping your Christmas cactus in a room that has a lamp on until late in the evening, it may cause your cactus not to bloom that year. Move it to a room or closet that stays dark at night. It can have light during the day, as long as it has 12-14 hours of darkness per day.

  
  

• Additionally, if you have a dark basement or garage (temperatures should be consistently around 55 degrees and not drop below 45 degrees), the cooler environment (along with at least 12-14 hours of dark each day) usually prompts Christmas cactuses to set buds.

To recap:

April-September: fertilize with a liquid fertilizer approximately once a month

Early/Mid-October: place your Christmas cactus in a dark, cool environment in the evenings

Mid-October: make sure your Christmas cactus is drying out some between waterings

Early/Mid-November: buds should start to appear

Late November/December: Enjoy your blooms!

As we mentioned above, we have several varieties of Christmas cactus available and budding/ blooming at the nursery! Stop by soon; we'd love to see you!

Merry Christmas from all of us!