By Staff
There are three holiday cacti – the Thanksgiving cactus, which blooms somewhere around the holiday, a Christmas and an Easter. Sometimes I have to get a closer look to see which one is which.
The Thanksgiving cactus can easily be identified by looking at its leaves. They resemble a crab claw. They also have leaf edges that look like sawteeth, and the leaves are twice as wide as that of the Christmas cactus.
This cactus has the same needs as the poinsettia. To get flowers we must give them total darkness during the evening and nighttime hours (6 to 8 p.m.).
Starting from September and ending around Thanksgiving, or when you see flowerbuds starting to form, you can stop the no light at night treatment.
A Christmas cactus can be identified by its rounded, scalloped edges.
It blooms in late December or January and, if you're lucky, into February and sometimes March.
There are two species of Easter cacti (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri and Rhipsalidopsis rosea).
They start making their buds and flowering from January to March.
Does your cactus have bristly hairs, or what I would call "cat's whiskers" at stem joins or leaf tips? Then you have the Easter cactus.
All have the same care needs – bright, filtered or dappled light. No direct sun, as they will get burned. All like to be slightly, or somewhat, pot bound. Grow them in any heavy flowerpot, as they can get very top-heavy (with all those joined, flattened "pads" and flowers) and tend to fall over in a light plastic pot.
All three like short days and long, cool nights to form flower buds.
Let's get right to the crux of the matter. Count on me to pare it down to the hard gardening truth. I simply stick mine outside in the summertime under a tree where they get dappled sunlight. They get watered when it rains, and I don't bring mine indoors until temps hit the low 40s (another hint: make sure they will get some water under a tree, as sometimes it can be very dry under there, depending on how massive or dense a tree is).
Because of their fleshy, jointed, flattened "pads," none will survive freezing, so bring them in way before this happens.
Take cuttings (about four inches long) anytime. It doesn't matter when. They can even be rooted in a babyfood jar filled with plain water or planted in a potting soil or medium of your choice (like perlite, vermiculite or even sand, kept moist.)
The more time one devotes to growing plants, the more plants invade the home.
– H. Peter Loewer,
botanical author, artist