Christmas Cactus help

Hi all,
I have a question about water care for the Christmas Cactus.
I recently bought 1 (Jan 28/13) and its doing great but-im scared to water it :/
Its in its original 6'' pot and has not been watered since i brought it home,so my question is how much to water? i read on the internet to water till it runs out the bottom and again when it drys up and/or also to water a 1/2c once a week?
Which is the preferred way to water? i don't want to over do it but at the same time i don't want to dry it up either
Thank you for any help :)

You have a Thanksgiving cactus. Water until water comes out the bottom then let it get dry before watering again the same way. Simple as that.

Thanks for the help!

Another question
when/if it blooms do i still water as mentioned above?

Sorry, wrong forum. Luciee {;^)

This message was edited Feb 21, 2013 9:53 AM

Lots of Tillandsia on eBay and other places.

These kinds of plants (Christmas cactus, Thanksgiving cactus) are jungle cacti, not desert cacti. Getting very dry isn't something it really appreciates, it will get weak, puckered, wilty if it gets too dry. Watering until water comes out of the drain holes is good, as long as that's at a sink, where the water can flow away, not sitting in the drain saucer. If it's still in the original peat, you may want to think about changing that to something more porous and chunky soon. Is your plant making some aerial roots? These are fun to propagate.

Thank you Purpleinopp for the reply!

I have been watering my 'Holiday' Cactus once per week and it seems to be doing really well.I haven't re potted it (its still in the same soil/pot i purchased it in) i did buy Cactus soil (for a question ill ask after) should i re pot my Holiday Cactus in the new soil? and how do i get the old soil off?

Now my question ... Well another 1 on a different Cactus Lol :D
I just recently got cuttings of a Christmas cactus,the cuttings were took from the 'woody' branches of the Cactus (original plant is 35+ yrs) I bought the cactus soil for that reason-i potted up these cuttings (no roots) will the plant be okay like that? and now that its potted to i treat it like a normal (mature) plant by not watering again till dry? (i'll post pics) its quite a lovely plant and i'm scared to lose it :(

I did take cuttings as a back up but i've never rooted Cactus cuttings so i'm not banking on those (pics on those as well)

Thanks for any help!

You can gently brush the soil off, and/or swish the plant gently in a bucket of water, reaching into the water to help loosen the soil. If the pot is full of roots, I would repot (when it's predicted to be sunny for a few days, a cloudy stretch of days wouldn't be helpful for recovery if there's a shock from it.)

I hope someone who has experience with cuttings that large will chime in. I've only done smaller ones like your 2nd pic. They make roots very quickly, I usually lay them flat but have done many in a more upright position also. I don't get the pot soaking wet for a while until there's some significant roots. If you have a squirt bottle that makes a thick mist, that can help keep the surface moist without getting the pot soggy down where roots can't use the water.

Whew, I'm glad the little guys root easy :)
Should I take them out of the ziplock bags and
Just mist everyday?
I have them in the bags on my hubby's fishtank
Lights to bring up humidity/moisture levels,I'd like to do
good with these incase the big cuttings fail

If you think the humidity is low in your house, probably not a bad idea. Maybe leave open a bit for the best of both, humidity and fresh air? On the fishtank is probably as consistently humid of a spot as there is inside, great idea. Sending good vibes to your cuttings!

Great! I took them out of the bags might rotate
in and out depending on how moist/dry they get
Hopefully they"ll do good
Thanks again for all the help!

Thanks, Tommy. I'll check around. Luciee {;^)

Hi, I've been growing the Christmas,Easter cacti for abt 10 years. They are easy to grow.
When I want to start a new plant, I pinch off one segment,leave it laying on top of the soil for a couple of days then just stick it in the dirt and water lightly. I also keep mine outdoors in the shade from late spring till fall.I have red,pink and white.
Vickie

Thanks for the tip Vickie!

I think i might be obsessing over nothing lol, their so pretty though....
I have 2 unknown flower colors (bought out of bud) and 1 pink.I'm gonna put these guys out when when June comes (then i know the snow won't surprise us here in Alberta) and hope they grow to be big lush plants :D

When its time to bring them in do you use the insecticidal spray to get rid of bug's? and if so what procedure do you use?
just spray with soap and water then rinse later? This will be my first year putting plants outside ...

Thanks everyone for all the help

You're welcome, Mine have never been bothered by bugs so have'nt done anything to them. I use Sevin dust for everything else. Seems to work well.
I have so many birds here,I don't poison anything unless I'm desparate. My cats are bad enough, tho the birds are pretty cagey.
Vickie

Hi, forgive me for butting in here, but you all seem so interested in your new and old CC that I just must ask you to take a look at this link:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1284057/#new It is the Holiday Cactus discussion and filled with so much good information.

There are several links in some of the posts there that will help you tremendously. We are a group who many of us have been playing with what many call Christmas Cactus, but most of the time they are actually dealing with hybrids that would be Thanksgiving Cactus, and some of these hybrids bloom from Oct. to February, so we call this thread Holiday Cactus.

Everyone is welcome and no question is considered stupid. We share our success stories as well as when we have a big failure or even bugs. We all just hang out this time of year because it is too cold for many of us to do anything else in our greenhouses or farms. We all have houseplants and many of us propagate the cactus and sell and trade them. If you care to visit please pop in and do not hesitate to ask questions.

We are always very happy to share with new Christmas Cactus (Holiday Cactus) lovers.
Have a great day and please consider at least looking at the links in some of those posts. It will clear up many of your questions. JB

Thanks JB, I'll be over to at least lurk. LOL
Vickie