Growing Christmas Cactus

How To Care For Christmas Cacti, Thanksgiving Cacti, and Easter Cacti

Blooming again since Christmas

Patricia Mosey

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Christmas cacti are a very popular houseplant—and for good reason! When they bloom, they produce colorful, tubular flowers in pink or lilac colors. These beautiful flowers, their long bloom time, and easy care requirements make them a wonderful plant. We’ll bet someone in your family has a Christmas cactus!

Unlike many other cacti, Christmas cacti and their relatives don’t live in arid environments. Their natural habit is one of an epiphyte living in tree branches in the rain forests of Brazil! In other words, they prefer a humid climate, not a dry one, so it’s important to water these cacti more regularly than most succulents. (See more details below.)

Note that there are several types of holiday cacti: Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. They typically bloom closest to the holiday of their name. Christmas cacti have flattened leaves with rounded teeth on the margins of the leaves, as opposed to the Thanksgiving cacti, which have pointed teeth. Easter cacti also have rounded leaves, but their flowers are broader and almost daisy-like, whereas the flowers of the other cacti are tubular.

To confuse matters further, most of the Christmas cacti sold are actually Thanksgiving cactus. If you find your Christmas cactus blooming near Thanksgiving, guess what?

Planting

Christmas cacti grow in most container soils. Make sure the soil drains well and that your pots have drainage holes.
Plants should be kept in bright, indirect light.
A daytime temperature of 70 degrees F and an evening temperature of 60 to 65 degrees F is preferred.
In the summer, Christmas cacti can be placed in a shady spot in the garden or in an unheated porch until temperatures get below 50 degrees F.

Care

As soon as the top inch of soil in the container feels dry to the touch, soak the soil until water runs through the pot’s drainage holes; discard water in the tray so the plant doesn’t sit in water. It’s especially important to water well while the plant is flowering.
From spring through early fall, feed every 2 weeks with a complete houseplant fertilizer. During the fall and winter, feed the cactus monthly.
Prune plants in June to encourage branching and more flowers. Simply cut off a few sections of each stem. If you wish, place the cut pieces in moist vermiculite to make more plants—they root easily.
If your cactus is not blooming, it may be due to the amount of daylight they’re getting or the temperature.
- To trigger blooming, nights need to be at least 14 hours long and days between 8 to 10 hours for six weeks. If you have strong indoor lighting at night, you may need to cover your cacti.
- Flowers will only form when the temperature is between a cool 50 to 55 degrees F.
If the cacti sheds its buds one winter, don’t worry: it should bloom the following year.

Pests/Diseases

If your Christmas cactus is exposed to any type of stress, the plant will drop its blossoms. This could be related to the amount of light, or a sudden change in temperature, as discussed in above plant care section. Also, ensure that your soil doesn’t get too dry.

The plant may be susceptible to mealy bugs and, if over-watered, root rot. If you have problems, cut out infected areas and repot in clean soil.

Recommended Varieties

There are three main types of “holiday cacti” available:

Thanksgiving cacti, which bloom in late fall, are often mislabeled as Christmas cacti.
Christmas cacti bloom in early winter.
Easter cacti bloom in mid-spring.

Wit & Wisdom

When the buds of a Christmas cactus look as if they’re about to open, make sure you water the plant regularly and keep it cool.
Late spring is the best time to propagate cuttings because most holiday cacti emerge from their winter rest and initiate new growth.

A giant Thankgiving cactus in bloom. Photo by Catherine Boeckmann.

Reader Comments

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Mixing Christmas Cactus

Can you mix Holiday, Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter Cactus plant in same pot?

Christmas cactus

I have a Christmas cactus that is about 20 years old. The fronds have started falling off at the soils top level. The fronds are 10-12 inches long. There are new shoots forming in the old wood of the remaining fronds. It seems the fronds mostly fell of half of the plant. It sits between my kitchen and dining room, getting indirect light.

Christmas Cactus

I live in southwest Florida. Can my Christmas cactus be planted outside? They do fine out on my front screened porch, but I wondered about planting them in a fairly shaded area outside.

Planting Christmas Cacti Outside

In theory this could work; the only thing that might be an issue is water. Christmas cacti like warm, humid, shady environments, but will not tolerate being over- or underwatered. So if you do plant them outside, make sure you place them in an area where the soil doesn’t completely dry out nor stay wet for too long. Good luck!

broken Christmas cactus

Can it be saved? It was large and now I have seven different sections, what do I need to do?

Christmas Cactus Cuttings

If the sections have roots already, they can be replanted. If not, their stem ends should be placed in slightly moistened soil, sunk about an inch or so into the soil. After about six weeks, they should have roots and can be transplanted to larger pots.

Christmas Cactus

I purchased 2 baby size Christmas Cacti 4 years ago. I planted them in the enclosed pots and fed and watered the way my mom did hers years ago. Mine have not grown at all in 4 years. A couple of the end leaves will shrivel and fall off then a couple of new ones will emerge. I remember my mom saying they are one of the few plants that have to get rootbound before growing. Is this true? Should I replant both of them in the same small pot?

Christmas Cacti Conundrum

Christmas cacti don’t need to be pot bound to grow, though they do prefer it. Your cacti’s lack of growth probably boils down to an issue with either light or water, however.

Christmas cacti like bright, indirect light, so an eastern window is ideal. Keep them out of direct, intense sunlight, as this can burn their leaves.

As for water, these cacti are a tropical species, so they require more water than the usual cacti. That said, they don’t like to sit in water, so use a well-draining potting mix (such as a succulent mix) and a pot with drainage holes. Water when the top inch or so of soil is dry.

Your best course of action would be to repot both cacti in a well-draining potting mix in separate pots with drainage holes, then see if they do any better than they are now!

Christmas cactus

are they poisonous to cats? the Amaryliss? What plants are poisonous? What are safe...indoor plants...indoor cats

Cacti Toxicity

Christmas cacti are not toxic to dogs or cats, but Amaryllis are. Here are some common plants that are unsafe for pets: https://www.almanac.com/content/plants-are-poisonous-pets

Cactus

We have two supposedly Christmas cactus but the labels that came in the pots say spring cactus. They have never bloomed. What are they.

Propagating Thanksgiving and Christmas Cactus

I think mine have little flying bugs in the dirt...how do I treat this?

thanksgiving cactus plant

My plant I keep it outside during the summer on my open porch & bring it inside in Oct. About 1-1/2 mos. ago I repotted it as existing pot was to small. I use all new soil special for this type of plant, had drainage matter in bottom of pot along with drainage hole.

thanksgiving cactus plant

to finish my story above..during summer months the leaves do get a redish color. I brought the plant indoors and noticed the branches were coming off. I have fertilized the plant and watered it as needed. I just noticed some little flying bugs (like fruit flies) around the plant. I took it outside and used a plant spray on the leaves and directly in the spoil. What can I do to save this plant. It use to bloom beautifully each year. Help!!

Christmas in July

What are the 4th of July cacti called? My plant consists of several years of plants of different colors potted together and is larger than the one pictured. It had several blooms this past summer.

holiday cactus

July? We’d just say consider yourself lucky! We’re only familiar with Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter varieties of cactus. See more about these holiday cacti in Robin’s article here: www.almanac.com/blog/gardening/garden-journal/christmas-cactus-thanksgiv...

July christmas cacti

You are not alone. I have had several of mine bloom during the summer months. Then come back and bloom again at the time they are supposed to. I have had one that has bloomed three times in one year.

colors

I love my Cactus, got seven (7) different colors. White, Pink, Yellow, Orange, Peach/Coral, Fushia/ Purple , Red. Plus one "Spring Cactus",red
Looks like Daisy blooms. Always keeping a eye out for different ones.

cactus.

I have Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter cactus per your description, Today is Dec. 7, 2017. All of them are blooming and have been all blooming once per month since 2010. :)

Cactus

I also have RED & YELLOW blooms on my cactuses.

christmas cactus

Why are the leaves turning red.

Root rot

My aunt gave me a Christmas cactus and I can't seem to keep it happy. I think I've watered it too much because the roots are rotting and it's breaking off. Any way to save it?

health of Christmas cactus

My cactus seems to be dying, fronds are breaking off; I've watered consistently and it gets full sun late in the afternoon. When should I throw in the towel or is there any hope of salvaging it.

Take out all of the weakened

Take out all of the weakened branches. Let the plant dry out a bit. Water only when the soil is dry an inch down. Let the water run through the pot, then empty the saucer of standing water. Take the plant out of full sun...it needs indirect sun. Hopefully once the dead branches are removed it will come back stronger than ever!

christmas cactus

you recommend feeding more often than most writers but I am inclined to agree with you they need plenty of nutrients I have recently blogged about this
RogerBrook (no dig gardener)