A great thing to get a plant lover at Christmastime is a Christmas cacti. These plants are easy to take care of and they are a great addition to poinsettias at Christmas.

These are much different than your run of the mill cactus. These plants come from the rain forest verses the desert. With them being from different places they are use to different environments and should be treated different.

First of all you should plant them in soil that mimic there environment.You should look for a mix that has ingredients such as perlite, peat, pumice or orchid bark. Also make sure your pot has adequate drainage to keep it from root rot. If you have the right mixture of soil the watering will be easier.

The great thing about this plant is that it can survive in different lighting conditions. They tend to do best if they can get full morning sun and shade the rest of the day.

Getting these plants to bloom can be the hardest part. In order to get them to bloom the soil mixture is one of the most important things as mentioned before.

Another thing that is important is the night temperature. It grows best when the nights are long and the temp is about 55 degrees. Also the day temp about 65 degrees.

Don’t water them in the month of October and in the month of November you can resume watering, but be careful to not over water it.

To get the plant to but it needs to be in the right temperature and have 13 hours of darkness everyday for 6 weeks. If you have to you can put it in a dark room or cover it with a cloth.
While the buds are developing only water if you need to.

After the buds are formed you can return your plant to normal conditions. Keep the soil moist and fertilize every 2 to 3 weeks and it will bloom by Christmas.