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Re: what's blooming, etc.

Barbara and all:

I have no sure-fire method of growing Christmas or Thanksgiving cacti. They
just grow for me, even if I tend to ignore them.

Here's a run-through on what I do for success. I purchased today a red
Christmas cactus for 89 cents at a local discount store. Brought it home and
plunked it on a table in front of a large window that gets sun from about 1
p.m. on. I watered it thoroughly in the kitchen sink first, then sat it on
the table. I'll keep it slightly moist. It's loaded with buds, more than two
dozen of various sizes, so it'll be in bloom past New Year's Day probably.

After the cacti finish blooming, I remove the wilted flowers and move the
plants to the basement plant room. They'll stay there under lights, watered
enough to keep them from shriveling. They receive NO fertilizer. In the
spring, they go to a sheltered, mostly shady spot on the backyard deck to
harden off. I repot them before setting them out. Then they get their first
fertilizer, half the strength of the dose recommended on the package. I use
ordinary plant food, nothing special. After hardening off, they are moved to
a location receiving morning sun and afternoon shade. They're watered when
dry; they are fertilized every other watering. Depending on heat and
humidity, they require watering usually every other day or every three days.
Let them dry out before watering again.

The cacti remain outdoors until temperatures dip into the upper 30s or low
40s (in east central Iowa that's in mid to late October). They want cold;
they need that cold spell to produce blooms for the holiday season. Before
bringing inside, damaged or dead leaves are removed, a bug and disease check
is made. I do not repot because I want to disturb the cacti as little as
possible. I want them to concentrate on producing blooms.

Inside, I keep them in a cool room, at a window providing morning or
afternoon sun. They are kept slightly moist, not sloppy wet. Fertilize every
other watering. They spend the night in a dark location that doesn't have
any light. They should sprout buds before Thanksgiving.

I think the combination of a summer vacation outdoors, regular feeding and
watering, a cold treatment and a bright location are the keys to success. At
least they work for me. As I said, I don't do anything really special; the
cacti just grow with a little help from me.

Your shriveling problem seems to be a combination of bad soil mix and not
enough water. My mix consists of potting soil with sand mixed in. Since
Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter cacti are not necessarily soil dwellers
(in the wild they can be found on trees), the potting mix should be light
and well drained.

I grow them in clay pots. Make sure the pot is not too big. I usually put
the rootball in a pot that provides a half inch to one inch of space around
the ball. Overpotting can set the plant back.

A problem with buds "blasting" could be lack of humidity. These cacti don't
require a lot of humid air, but they don't like dry conditions. Changing a
plant's location also may cause bud drop; just bringing a plant home from a
store to your home may be a factor in losing buds. You always take a chance
when buying these cacti (and other plants) from supermarkets or discount
stores (Home Depot, Shop-Ko, Kmart, Wal-Mart, etc.) because they don't
receive the best of care, if they receive any at all.

I must point out that the little Christmas cactus I brought home today came
from Kmart, one of those discount stores I warned you about. Here's my
secret for success: I asked the manager a week or so ago when a fresh
shipment of Christmas cacti was coming in. He told me that today would be
the day. I got there in time to go through the shipment and pick out what I
decided was the best of the lot. I rescued it from bad care. In another week
those poor neglected cacti won't look so hot, and they won't grow so good
either.

Then there are cases, not frequent, where a plant just isn't a good one,
even if it looks fine when you buy it. Some just aren't destined to grow up;
no matter what you do, it's going to die.

If I could see your cacti in person, maybe I could be more specific. As it
is, I've run on too long. Hope this helps.

John G. Adney
Marion, Iowa
johnadney@email.msn.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Przadka <barbara@ntsource.com>
To: indoor-gardening@prairienet.org <indoor-gardening@prairienet.org>;
indoor-gardening@prairienet.org <indoor-gardening@prairienet.org>
Date: Wednesday, December 02, 1998 7:05 PM
Subject: Re: what's blooming, etc.


>At 08:41 PM 12/1/98 -0600, John & Pat Adney wrote:
>>Greetings all:
>>
>>Following the thread on what's blooming or otherwise growing: Thrashing
>>What's this? An Easter cactus, blooming for the THIRD time! It bloomed on
>>schedule earlier this year, put out a few more flowers in September and
now
>>there are eight new buds and one open blossom. The Easter cactus has never
>>bloomed at this time of year before, so I count this as a bonus.
>>
>>
>
>Hello, to John and the List,
>
>John, you are the person I want to talk to. Please, tell me how do you keep
>a X-mas cactus alive? I will explain. Almost every year I'm buying a
>blooming plant and ofcourse most buds will fall off. Then, the plant is
>doing OK for a year or so, it can even bloom the next fall, but invariably,
>it wilts. All the segmented stems will shrivel. I do understand that I'm
>doing somethig wrong with watering - but what? Over many years I tried
>keeping it wet, or barely moist, or dry - to no avail.
>And my friend, that also is not a novice in growing houseplants and garden
>has the same problem.
>So, here is my ?.
>How are you managing your X-mas cactus???
>
>In fact, your answers will be appreciated by three people. Thanks!
>
>Barbara
>
>
>
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