Fertilizing Christmas cactus plants is primal to get the best blooms .
Denise Hasse / Getty Images
Christmas cactus bloom in winter , when the days mature cool and short . While low light level trigger unfolding , fertilizingChristmas cactusat the right time and in the right path is cardinal for getting your plant to bloom like never before . In the guide below , you ’ll learn exactlyhow and when to fertilizeChristmas cactus plants and line up the best plant food choice for providing the right nutrients for lots of prominent peak .
Credit:Denise Hasse / Getty Images
Best Fertilizer for Christmas Cactus
Christmas cactus , and theclosely related Thanksgiving and Easter cactuses , are not your received cactus plant life . Not only do these cactuses not produce spines , but they ’re really tropical plant that are native to the turned on rainforests of South America . So , it ’s no marvel they have different tutelage need from pricklydesert cacti .
While desert cactus are usually fecundate with a cactus or succulent fertiliser , holiday cactuses bloom substantially when they ’re fecundate with a balanced , liquid , organic houseplant orAfrican violetfertilizer . Adding some compost or worm castings from time to clock time on top of the potting soil can be helpful too . Some gardeners also recommend employ Epsom salt thin in water throughout the grow season to meet holiday cactuses ' higher - than - average indigence for magnesium .
When to Fertilize Christmas Cactus
It may be tempting to feed Christmas cacti when you see peak buds forming on their branches in winter . But if you wait until right then to inseminate your plants , they wo n’t have the vigor they need to bloom well . Not to remark , mosthouseplants ca n’t assimilate fertiliser efficaciously in winterand continuing to fertilize plants tardily in the time of year can lead to root burn and other return .
Instead , it ’s best to start fertilize Christmas cactus in former spring — when you see the first signs of new prow growth . Continue fertilise your plants through late spring and summertime , but stop fertilizing in other pin , and do n’t fertilize again until the following spring . you’re able to use this same fertilizer schedule for any holiday cactus flora , including Easter and Thanksgiving cacti .
Fertilizing schedules and techniques will diverge depending on the type of fertilizer you ’re using , so it ’s always fresh to read fertilizer packaging closely before apply any merchandise to your industrial plant .
How to Fertilize Christmas Cactus
Christmas cactuses are relatively light feeder , so they normally do well with fluid constitutive fertilizer , but you’re able to also eat them with fertilizer stakes or a mealy fertilizer intended for flowering houseplants . If you ’re using fluid fertiliser , dilute the fertilizer to half - effectiveness with H2O and apply the dilute plant food about once every two to four weeks as part of your unconstipated watering regimen .
After watering , enfeeble away any extra plant food pooling in your plant saucer so the ancestor do n’t sit down in swampy soil . And even the soil with rainwater or distill piddle every few months to keep fertilizer salt from building up .
If hope , you could also apply a swooning program of louse castings or compost around your plants in springiness and June 21 and feed your plants once a calendar month with Epsom salt diluted in pee . utilise about 1 teaspoon of Epson Strategic Arms Limitation Talks for every 1 gallon of body of water and do n’t apply the Epsom salt smorgasbord during the same week that you applyliquid fertilizer .
Frequently Asked Questions
Give Christmas cactus lots of indirect light class - round , and do n’t let the grime to dry out too much once bloom bud form . Daytime temperature between 60 - 69 ° F and nighttime temperatures in the 50s are idealistic . These plants also tend to blossom better when they ’re a little rootbound , so onlyrepot themevery few years .
Christmas cactus buds start forming when the twenty-four hours grow shortsighted in fall . Reducing the amount of luminance your plant receives in fall is the undivided best fashion to jumpstart flowering . Keep it in a spot where it will have at least 12 - 14 hours of uninterrupted dark , or cover your plant with a clear - proof box in the evening .
Nov 29 F| enthalpy 1554 | U , Print 2018 | . Thanksgiving & christmas cacti . Home & Garden Information Center .
