Thank you Ana. It’s always fun to grow your own hybrids. Merry Christmas!

Thank you Daz! The Christmas cactus is such a nice houseplant and one of my all time favorites. I hope you and Edith are having a nice week. Warm regards.

It's definitely a mature Thanksgiving/Christmas cactus! It's putting on such nice show of flowers right now.

Christmas cactus are the best!

Wow, your Christmas cactus has such an incredible and storied history! It's amazing that it's been thriving for 68 years, and its origin from your Great Grandma's plant in Brazil makes it even more special. I love how these plants are long lived and get passed down. Schlumbergera are among my favorite houseplants!

Thanks for your comment and for sharing your cacti plans. Those cuttings and rooted cacti should make for a beautiful display next year! 😊 My Thanksgiving Cactus are coming into bud right now, so I think it's going to be time for another video soon on these wonderful plants. Stay tuned! 🌵🌼🎥

Welcome to the channel Jim, and thanks for subscribing! 🌟 My Thanksgiving cactus are also blooming early this year. I had my first flowers open today, just in time for Halloween!🎃 I couldn't agree more about how these plants are great for mental health in the winter. These plants helped me get through many long New England winters. Stay tuned for a new Christmas Cactus video coming soon. Happy growing and happy Halloween! 🌵👻🎃

Many thanks, glad you think so! The Christmas/Thanksgiving cactus is one of my favorites.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. The thanksgiving cactus is a great plant that I really enjoy this time of year.

Thank you so much for the encouragement!! 💚💚💚

Yes! I have pollinated these cacti before and grown them from seed. It takes quite a bit of patience to grow cacti from seed. I will definitely consider making a video on that subject. Good luck with your new Christmas cactus collection. These are such wonderful plants!

I hope your cactus thrives! I find they do tend to like smaller pots and don't need repotting very often.

Hi Lori! If the cactus you have looks similar to the one in the video and blooms in May, it is likely an Easter Cactus. I'm sorry to hear that it's starting to show signs of yellowing. If you could send me a picture of the cactus, I might be able to provide a more accurate diagnosis and offer better advice. You can find my email address in the 'About' section on my KZfaq channel page.

Must it remain for 1 month before blooming time

Hi! Some people do this and its the way my grandmother did it. She would even put the plant in a dark closet for a month. But I follow a slightly different method that has worked well for me. AFTER (and not before) my Christmas or Thanksgiving cactus blooms, I like to give it a little rest. During this cooler, non-growth phase, I make sure not to overwater. Instead, I allow the soil to dry out quite thoroughly between waterings. This often leads to another round of blooms during the winter season. To support these subsequent blooms, I give the plant some more water. Once the blooms fall, I return to allowing the plant to dry out again. Then as the seasons move into the warmer Spring and Summer months, I increase the watering frequency to match the plant's active growth period. So, in essence, the mini dormancy phase only occurs for me after my Christmas cactus has finished blooming. I never put my plants in a closet🙃I hope this approach helps you in caring for your Christmas cactus, and I'm sure you'll enjoy having it - they're truly wonderful plants!

Hello! It's great to hear that you're caring for a Thanksgiving cactus. These plants are amazing! It seems like you may just need to have a bit more patience with your cactus. Cacti, even tropical ones like the Thanksgiving cactus, are slow growers. Since last summer, I haven't seen much leaf growth on any of mine. However, once the weather warms up and gets brighter in the summer, this should trigger new leaf growth on your plant. Regarding repotting, the decision is entirely up to you. If you want to repot, this is a great time of year to do so. However, it's probably not necessary at this point. You do want to make sure the soil dries out between waterings, so you'll need to be careful not to pot the cactus in too large of a container. If you do, the soil will take longer to dry out after watering. It sounds like you're on the right track with your new plant! Thanks for visiting my channel for some plant care tips. Congratulations on your new cactus, and I hope you enjoy lots of beautiful blooms next winter.

@@CACTASTIC Thank you so so much for the reply and help! When it arrived the soil was a bit moist still and so I waited to water it. I checked it with a moisture meter 2 or 3 days later and it was dry except for up close at the base on one side of the plant. The opposite side of the base was dry as a bone though. Looks like theres about 5 propagated branches in the pot next to eachother. So I waited another day or 2 and checked. The one side was still moist, so I added a tiny bit of water to the dry side, further out away from the base. Last night sometime the branch on the side that wouldn't dry out, had fallen off. It was lying on the soil when i woke up this morning. I'm trying to propagate the broken branch. I also pulled out the plant to check the roots. The branches on the dry side (that I watered a tiny bit) look great, the other moist side (that I never watered) was gross and mushy. I think it was already overwatered when I received it, at least the one side was. So I removed the yuck bits and soil. Repotted it back in the same pot with new, dry soil and said a few prayers haha. Hopefully with the overwatered half gone, it survives now. At least the soil will drain properly! Thanks again for the advice and tips! : ] 💚🌱

Hi Mary! If you want to distinguish between a Christmas Cactus and a Thanksgiving Cactus, the simplest way is to examine their leaf segments. Christmas cacti have smooth, rounded segments, while Thanksgiving cacti have somewhat pointed and jagged ones. Interestingly, the original Christmas Cactus was more common in the past, but these days, you're more likely to come across Thanksgiving cacti. 🌵🦃🎄

Thank you for the correction. You're right, it should've been 'lithophilic.' I noticed this slip up as well. Thanks for helping keep the information accurate!

thanks for that useful information.

Thank you Teresa for sharing your feedback. I will keep this in mind when I create videos.