Seasonal cacti live long, prosper when it counts
We are all very familiar with the poinsettia, the most widely used plant at Christmas. During and after the holidays we baby them along, hoping to keep them from dropping their leaves when they get hit with cold drafts, dry out because we’re busy or aren’t getting enough daylight. Whew, you know what? That’s way too much work for me.
Enter the Christmas cactus, a plant that has gorgeous brilliant pink flowers for up to six weeks around the holidays and then becomes a very well-mannered houseplant the rest of the year. It even has two cousins, the Thanksgiving and Easter cacti, which are just as colorful in their own seasons. I have three of these plants, two Christmas and one Thanksgiving cacti; all are family heirlooms with the youngest being 50 years old.
The Christmas cactus, Schlumbergera x buckleyi (bridgesii by some experts) and its cousins trace their lineage back to the jungles of southeast Brazil. They were one of the finds of the great plant hunters who combed the world for exotic and unusual plants in the mid-1800s. “Cactus” is a misnomer of sorts probably given to it because of its fleshy flattened stem/leaves that resemble the desert cacti.
These plants are referred to by botanists as epiphytes; plants that grow on other plants in a symbiotic relationship. In their native habitat, they grow in the branch forks and tree cavities where enough decaying leaves and other organic material collects to support a root system.
Like the poinsettia, the Christmas cactus needs a special regime to be ready to bloom for the holidays. Temperature, light and watering are the keys to triggering flower development. Starting about late October to early November, the plant should be kept in a cool room at about 50 to 60 degrees. This is a fairly normal house temperature especially if you put it near windows.
The windows help with the second requirement of bright, indirect light during the day. At night, the plant needs about 12 hours of nearly total darkness. The plant prefers to stay on the dry side during this period, as well as through the rest period that follows blooming. I water only when the leaves seem a little bit wilted and the top inch of the soil is dry. In my experience, the temperature factor is the most important element of this trio.
My plant lives outdoors in the summer on our patio where it gets filtered light and consistent watering from my sprinkler system. I feed it a balanced fertilizer when it goes outdoors and again mid-summer. By the end of the summer, it is lush and shiny green.
I wait until frost threatens to bring it in which can be anytime between mid-September and mid-October. This allows the plant to start getting its chilling as the days cool. When I bring it in, I put it close to the tall, north-facing windows of our living room away from heat sources. This gives the plant lots of bright, indirect daytime light and continuing cool temperatures.
The requirement for 12 hours of near total dark at night is not a hard and fast rule, as it is with poinsettias. We turn on lights in the living room as we need. What I do experience is that we often get bud set on the dark side of the plant that faces the window. So being the practical sort, as the buds set, I turn the plant to enjoy. In the mean time, buds set on the darker side of the plant. We get about six weeks of bloom this way.
The plant prefers to be fairly pot bound so it is not necessary to re-pot very often. I have repotted mine three times in the last 30 years. When I do re-pot it I wait until early April and use three parts of a high quality potting soil to one part sand. This gives the plant the organic matter it needs but allows it to drain quickly. I do use a pot about an inch bigger than the old one and don’t remove any of the original root mass.
Christmas cacti aren’t bothered by many pests or diseases. Over watering is probably the biggest problem especially during the winter when the plant is dormant. I find the biggest problem is the errant weed or pine seeds that find their ways into the pot during its time outdoors. This winter my plant is hosting a columbine seedling that got a nice start over the summer. Maybe I’ll get an early bloom from it.
One last note. Telling the difference between the three cousins is easy. The Thanksgiving cactus will have pronounced pointed tips on its leaves and bloom from mid November into late December. The Christmas cactus will have rounded points on its leaves and generally blooms from mid-December into January. The last one to bloom will be the Easter cactus at around mid-April into May. It has almost smooth leaf edges.
Rose photographer coming to town
Rich Baer, noted rose photographer is coming to Spokane. A nationally respected rose photographer from Portland, Baer will give a presentation and slideshow on roses at the Nov. 12 meeting of the Spokane Rose Society. Many of Mr. Baer’s 40,000 exceptional photos have been published in numerous publications. He is also an accredited horticultural rose judge, American Rose Society rose arrangement judge and a consulting Rosarian.
The presentation is next Friday at 7 p.m. in the Shilo Inn’s Pend Oreille Room, 923 E. Third Ave. It is open to the public and free.