A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum The Seed and Cuttings Exchange Christmas Cactus Cuttings up for grabs

Long story short(ish): I have a Christmas cactus and so does my mother. My grandmother wanted a SMALL one for Christmas with blooms. Ours weren't blooming. I went shopping and found a bunch of sick Christmas Cacti. I found a giant Christmas cactus as a hanging plant- slightly sick but better than the others. I bought it and split it, gave my grandmother the sections with the buds (and looks healthy), and kept the rest (Sickly but perking up past few days). I don't know what to do with this plant and can't find anyone to give it to. But it's probably too big to safely ship.

However: Several leaves had fallen from the sick plant and rooted themselves in the over-watered soil. Some of them have buds. I put them in water and they're all still doing well. I have 10 or 15 of them that can easily be shipped, most have roots. Pink blooms.

I read in Birds and Blooms today that if you have a pink blooming Christmas cactus it's in distress and needs either more light or fertilizer. Mine is blooming pink. The article says it should be red. Online there are pink blooming Christmas cactus' for sale so now I'm confused.

That sounds so strange to me, Sheri. There are all sorts of colors of Christmas cacti - even white. Wonder what they would say about my yellow blooming Christmas cactus?

Lynne : I would say your yellow blooming cactus is beautiful !!!!!

I too have a cactus just getting ready to bloom pink--
and I have several different color blooming cactus starts sent to me by friends---

Look what I found on the internet--this seems to imply that there are many different colors of christmas cactus, as well. I am sure other members have posted pictures of other colors than Red of Flowering christmas cactus.
I have to wonder if the article you read Sheri meant (but did not say) that a RED Christmas cactus would do that, if it was not properly fertilized.

The below question & answer was copied from a web site on the internet..
(( answer was apparently by :Ron Smith, Horticulturist, NDSU Extension Service))

Q: I have a beautiful Christmas cactus. Half of it bloomed before Christmas. The other half is blooming now. It is a very deep pink. I heard there also are red and white varieties. If I find slips of the other varieties, can I plant them in the same pot? (e-mail reference).

A: You certainly can, but I don’t recommend it. From a sanitation standpoint, it would be better to root any new slips in separate containers in case of disease problems that are not visibly evident. Once you see them successfully established and growing in your own environment, then you could do the integration to have the mixed colors.

Half of mine bloomed before Christmas and the other half is blooming now too. Cool.

I re-read the article and it's talking about pink LEAVES not blooms. It says the pink leaves are beautiful but are a probably a sign of stress.

Sorry.

not a problem--it happens to us all, and besides you never know what one might find in an article these days---

As I said, I have a couple Christmas cactus and they're all treated equally. While some of my plants go to school with me or stay in my room the Christmas cactus were always too big and remained in the same room with the majority of the other plants. This means that they get the same sun, soil, and water. They all get re-potted and fertilized at the same time. And they bloom different colors, some pink, some red. I'm quite sure that it's a difference in variety of the plant and not anything else. Perhaps that article is wrong? Have you tried looking at other articles? I don't see how a plant in distress could live so long and continually put out new growth without showing signs of disease or dying.

OK Sheri that makes more sense. I find that when I put any type of thin leaved cactus or succulent outside in direct sun, it gets red with distress, and the entire plant looks sickly. It's sunburn actually. As soon as I bring that same plant back indoors, it greens up again and is fine.

then I need to know what I am doing wrong--when I put mine out in the sun (west side of house) last summer--they burned--but they got white & dried out & never did really recover well.---so it sounds like I did something wrong ??? I decidede then & there that no christmas cactus that I own was ever going outside again.

BTW: I have one that is just about ready to give me 2 blooms. when the blooms open I will show it to you all.

I've never put mine outside but the ones with the red leaves that they showed in the magazine were beautiful. I would have never thought it was from stress. The red leaves were beautiful.

Looking forward to your pictures.

Junie, did they bloom yet?

nope, not yet---but one day soon---when it is bloomed, I will take a photo & post it to show you all.
It is going to be pink !!!

Today jan 12, one of my c cactus has a blossom.lol I think it was a confused one

Show us a picture dodge.

Mine must be confused too, Barb--But here is a few pictures for you to see. They are all the same plant and there are only 2 blooms, but as Dodge told me what to do to get it to bloom, I thought she should see them--as well as everyone else. I am so excited they are blooming !!!




This last one is not completely bloomed yet, but as the first bloom was beginning to fade, I thought I better get to showing you now---

wonder if it was just the season for that one.. There are different types you know.
Carol now you can sleep tonit. :ding: :ding:

HORRAY HOORAY CAROL,
i KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU.
cONGRATS AN KEEP GOING.

ps some how got on here again.

bHere it is Carol

Not open yet....
dodge

Barb: Thanks so much for the kind words---and I am so glad that you were able to get on today.(FYI: I often have notices saying that windows is having trouble with one web site or another---but eventually I get on)

great looking cactus--thanks for posting---looks like yours is going to bloom now as well..

FYI: On another cactus that I had downstairs there was a few buds starting, but I didn't keep it watered, (my bad) so they died--but now that I brought it up, I think I have a few more starts of buds--I will keep a better watch---

They needed shock treatment.lol Or a rest
ou will win.. purchased an annual primrose for a dollar. Lowes......it was dead on blooms
Here today it suprised me with blooms again

Pretty. Same color as mine.

Healthy looking plants, Carol and Dodge!

Carol - very pretty blooms!

Dodge - can't wait to see yours in full bloom.

my one...lol

I know this posting is kind of old, but I am wondering if the offer is still available. I had a 2 christmas cactus I had gotten from grandmother, one of them was over 100 years old and the other was about 80 years old. Well I made the mistake of putting them on my deck for the summer. I had gone away for a weekend and it froze one of those days. It killed both of them. I was in tears for days over it.

I would like to replace these cactus with another cutting from anyone who has a cactus that would memories from the person they got it from.

I could go out and buy one, but it just wouldn't be the same. I would rather be able to carry on the memories of a plant.

I had many many houseplants on the deck that weekend and lost them all. So if anyone has other plants I would be more than happy to carry on the memories of those also.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post,
Kris

Cant ship in winter here.zone 5.........perhaps in the spring.

Mine isn't big enough yet to divide but I'm sure someone will have a piece to send. Sorry about your plants though.

as Dodge said--in the spring I could possibly send a few cuttings but it IS too cold now---

and ladies, no more blooms for me it seems---but as the plants are green & healthy, I guess I will be happy with that for now--next year I will try to repeat teh process again--- Thanks for all of your nice words though..