Christmas Catus

i would make sure that the soil is good. Needs to have some sand in it. Doesn't need to be watered very often. Will like alot of sun. Glad you are enjoying your children being home. Hope to get my Mylotting done today. Had afew left over yesterday. I got tired too soon.

I have several as you can make baby plants if one of the leaves come off. They need little water (once a week), light but not direct sun and a soil with good drainage as all cacti. The only thing you have to take care of is to put it where noone will hurt it as leaves and flowers do not like misshandling.

Oh my seriously they are so easy to care for. I am horrible with plants I never can keep them alive. I have tons of zygot cactuses thriving as well as a few other kinds. I found that the zygot cactus (christmas cactus) needs more water then the other cactuses. You probably only have to water them though once a week or less. I keep mine in my window and they bloom twice a year and are very pretty.

I have heard of them, but never looked into them. I would like to know to as I like catus and would like to have some kind of arrangement of catus in my house or front yard. I am in the high desert and get a hot summer, but a cold winter! Share what you learn! Thanks!

Do not water it often. wait until it is quite dry before giving it a SMALL drink. Would appreciate being in a warm place too. Happy Christmas!

Hi anne, marguicha has given a very good answer but does not seem to know that you like to keep your plants on the window sill. Please don't put them in the window sill but still give them good light and little water. They will be fine and will look great all over Christmas. Happy Yule Tide Terry.

Like all cactus, place it in a sunny spot and do not over water, only when the earth feel dry to the touch but not powdery. Cacti are very resistant to dry weather but do seem to rot or die when they are pampered.

Water it once a week, give it light but not direct sun, feed once a year, yer basic plant care routine. They're fairly hardy.

I used to have a red one and I remember having to hide it in the bottom of my clothes closet in the fall because they need darkness in order to bloom at Christmas time (or ever) ergo the name Christmas cactus. They are not hard to keep alive. It is getting them to bloom that takes the small effort of remembering to take them out of the closet at the right time. Funny how different plants need different amounts of light. Cucumbers are funny that way, too. They like lots of light, but not for too many hours in a day or they will not blossom either.

Look on the Internet for directions. Make sure it's kept warm and don't over water, I know this much about that plant.

I have a cactus that give flowers once a year...its in a pot and last year did not flower at all! but today when I looked it has a budding flower how lovely is that! I Am going to have a cactus flower for Christmas! now mine is an outdoor plant I feed it once a year and only water it when the weather is very dry other wise she seems to have a mind of her own!

A lot of people seem to be responding to this who don't really know much about cacti, let alone Christmas cacti. A common assumption being made is that Christmas cacti are typical desert cacti. Common names can be misleading. There are several very different Queen of the Night cacti (Peniocereus, Selenicereus, Epiphyllum - others?). Then people can sometimes get scientific names down right wrong. I recently got a plant labeled EUPHORBIA "Cereus peruvianus". Euphorbia is a huge genus with about 1500 - 2000 species including about 500 succulents, some of which look rather like the plant in question. However, this plant has hairy patches with spines coming out of them, a sure sign this is a cactus, not a Euphorbia. The cultivar name should be in single quotes, not double quotes. Cereus peruvianus is a species of cactus that looks vaguely like the plant in question. I did some research and identified the plant as Acanthocereus tetragonus 'Fairy Castle'. When people talk about Christmas cacti they normally mean either Schlumbergera truncatus or S. x buckleyi, which are both very similar. The former has pointy bits on the joints (the things that look like leaves) while the latter doesn't. As you say your plant has pink flowers I suspect it's one of these. They both typically have magenta flowers although there are many cultivars of S. truncatus. Basically you just treat this like a fairly typical house plant. If you want something that's easy to grow, particularly if you're prone to neglecting you plants, try Aloe (there are lots of species that are mostly easy to grow), Sanseveria, Crassula ovata (Jade plant), Opuntia (prickly pear cactus) or Echinopsis. Actually there are a huge number of mostly easily grown succulents in the Jade Plant family (Crassulaceae) but they tend not to last long if you don't give them a cool period in the winter (some will tolerate a down right cold period in the winter and are hardy in cold climates).

Have found a link on Christmas oak, it may have some thing to do with St. Boniface who when he chopped down the oak tree found that a fir tree grow from the roots of the oak. I'll let you decide if there is such an oak tree known as a Christmas oak.