SEATTLE — Getting your Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus to bloom on time for the holidays.
If you want to look like a green thumb when it comes to growing colorful, blooming houseplants, try growing a Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus (Zygocactus truncates). Unlike desert cactus, these succulents feature a trailing habit. They grow as epiphytes among tree branches in South American rain forests and require different care than their spiny cousins. Highly popular as holiday plants, they are capable of producing long-lasting, colorful flowers ranging from red, rose, purple, lavender, orange, and white.
Generally all that's required for them to thrive is a brightly lit location out of direct sunshine such as an east facing windows, moderate water and a monthly application of a half-strength dilution of soluble house plant food during spring and summer. They’re more likely to bloom if they're a bit rootbound, so don't be in a big hurry to repot them into bigger containers.
Although forest cacti are prolific bloomers, they often flower at odd times and it can be difficult to persuade them to blossom on time for the holidays. There are two methods that can be used to help make that happen. The first is to take advantage of the natural tendency of these plants to set buds during periods when days are shorter. To make this happen, put your forest cactus in a dark closet for 14 hours a night, starting 6 to 8 weeks before you want it to bloom, making sure to bring it back out into a bright location during the daylight hours Once buds begin to form the closet treatment is no longer needed and the plant should bloom beautifully for the holidays. The problem with this method is that if you're a dim-dim like me and forget the plant is in there and open the door, if any light hits the plant it's back to square one. You’ll have to restart the entire process, and wait another 6 to 8 weeks for the buds to form.
The other method eliminates the need for the night time darkness technique. Starting in late September or early October, keep the plant in brightly lit back room where night time temperatures can be kept at between 45 and 55 degrees. Water very sparingly, until buds begin to form. Once buds appear water normally and keep night time temperatures above 55 degrees. Wait until the plant is in full-bloom before moving it to a different location for display purposes. If you move it before the flowers open, the buds may fall off, which definitely makes for a less than cheery holiday display.
If you find it difficult to maintain the required cool night-time temperatures, I recommend marrying a Canadian woman. I’ve learned from experience that Canadian women not only sleep with the windows wide open in the middle of winter, but have a fan blowing on you as well (which is scary because when I was a kid my grandma Maude O’Hara told me that if a person goes to sleep with a fan blowing on them, they’ll wake up dead in the morning!) Fortunately I’ve managed to survive, and I have to admit my Christmas cactus have bloomed right on schedule every year since we married 35 years ago.
For extra fun try growing fruit on your holiday cactus. All you need is at least 2 plants with different colored flowers in bloom at the same time. Pick a flower off one plant and use it to pollinate about 5 blossoms on another plant by wiping the pollen-covered stamens against the pistil (the flower part that sticks out the furthest). If all goes well, a colorful inch long berry will develop at the base of the pollinated flower. The fruit usually remain decorative for a year or two. When the fruit begin to soften, harvest the berries and squish the pulp within onto a paper towel and allow it to dry. Gather up the tiny black seeds and germinate them in a seeding mix under a grow light. It's always a fun surprise to see what color flowers the seedlings will produce.
Segment Producer Suzie Wiley. Watch New Day Northwest at 11 a.m. weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.