Do you have a Christmas Cactus growing in your house?

image from Marianne Folkerts 

Like the poinsettia, the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) is tropical in origin. If you live in the northerly USDA planting zones and receive one of these as a holiday present during the cold-weather months, you will have to keep it indoors and grow it as a houseplant for a while. Once summer returns, you can bring it outside. You could treat it as a patio plant, for example.
While it is growing indoors during the winter, locate it in a spot with bright, filtered light, not direct light. As with most houseplants, over-watering can be a killer, so be sure to water it only when its soil has completely dried out. If you want your Christmas cactus to bloom at a specific time (such as around the holidays), you will have to plan ahead and take certain steps. This will cause you extra work. But if you are content simply to have blooms at any time, a Christmas cactus is not that much bother to grow.
 Each flower of this cactus plant appears at the tip of a leaf. The shape is quite unusual. It looks like a flower coming out of another flower.
Taken from https://www.thespruce.com/traditional-christmas-plants-
Advice For Christmas Cactus Care
Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) is a popular, winter-flowering houseplant that makes a great addition to nearly any indoor setting. It is not only easy to care for but propagates easily, too, making it an exceptional candidate for holiday gift giving. Let’s look at how to plant a Christmas cactus and care for it.
How to Plant Christmas Cactus
The very first step is understanding if you actually have a Christmas cactus. Easter and Thanksgiving cacti look deceptively similar. The Christmas cactus is easily propagated  by cutting a short Y-shaped segment from the stem tips. Make certain, however, that the cutting is taken from healthy plant foliage only. Plant the segment approximately a quarter of its length deep in slightly sandy soil. Moisten evenly and place the cutting in a well-lit area, staying away from any direct sunlight.
To root cuttings for new plants, cut back shoots from the tips, cut at the second joint of each tip. The cutting should show signs of growth within a few weeks, at which time the plant can be transferred to another container, if desired, with a looser potting soil mix of compost, loam and sand.
How to Care for Christmas Cactus
Advice for Christmas cactus care tells us that it performs well under average home conditions with moderate care. The Christmas cactus will adapt to low light conditions, but the plant will produce blooms more readily  if exposed to brighter light. That being said, too much direct sunlight can burn its leaves, so keep the Christmas cactus in an appropriate area to avoid this.
Christmas cactus moisture is important as well. The plant requires frequent and thorough watering, during its active growth in spring and summer, keeping the soil slightly moist. Allow Christmas cactus moisture levels to drop and dry out some between watering intervals, but never completely, and never let the plant sit in water, as this will lead to root and stem rot. Applying a mild houseplant fertilizer solution every other week is also acceptable.
When considering how to care for Christmas cactus, keep in mind it also prefers temperatures hovering between 60 and 70 degrees F. (15-21 C.) with average to high humidity levels. Placing a tray of pebbles filled with water beneath the Christmas cactus container is a good way to add more humidity to the home.
Once the Christmas cactus has ceased all flowering (usually by fall), or about six to eight weeks before you want the plant to rebloom, you should allow the plant to begin its dormancy cycle by cutting back on Christmas cactus moisture and reducing both light and temperature. Simply cut back the watering and make sure the plant receives 12-14 hours of darkness and average temperatures around 50-55 F. (10-12 C.). Also, keep the Christmas cactus away from drafty areas.
When you know how to care for Christmas cactus, this plant is not difficult to manage, and when given proper care and placed in a suitable location, the Christmas cactus may even surprise you with additional blooming cycles throughout the year.
Article printed from Gardening Know How: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com