Get Your Christmas Cactus to Bloom by Christmas This Year!

I received a Christmas cactus as a gift a few years ago, and was told by the person who gave it to me to wait and watch for the glorious blooms come Christmas time. I was told not to over water the cactus (it is a cactus, after all) and to make sure it had plenty of sun. If I just cut off the brown and dying parts of my Christmas cactus and watered it now and then, I would be sure to have gorgeous magenta blooms come Christmas-time.

Well, I didn't follow the rules, and I ended up with a moldy Christmas cactus, and those blooms that were on the cactus when I got it never returned. Somehow, the cactus is still alive, and this year, I am going to have my Christmas cactus just bloom wonderfully. The trick is in planting. Soon as Spring hits, get that Christmas cactus outside, and basically just water it out there. That plant will thrive (and not mold from the moisture) out in its natural sunny environment. If you get rain in the summer, leave the cactus alone pretty much entirely all Summer long.

Soon as the weather starts to get a bit chilly, pull that Christmas cactus indoors so it won't freeze. However, don't water the plant for about a month or so, and begin watering it again just in time for the plant to create blooms through Christmas. Around late October- early November, pull the plant back inside, then don't water it until around the first week of December, and that Christmas cactus will be just blooming away for you come Christmas day!

I had done everything wrong - I believed I wasn't over watering my cactus, but it doesn't need to be watered until the soil is bone dry about a half inch deep, and even then only lightly watered, like a sprinkling. The cactus I have was always indoors when I should have had the cactus outside, and worst of all, I neglected to cut off the nasty brown parts of the cactus so it couldn't thrive. If you simply let your Christmas cactus grow outside where it will thrive, then bring it in right before Christmas, you will have your Christmas cactus blooms! I am crossing my fingers for this year!

Source:

husband who is a landscaper