A ... by any other name.

At the request of Judycooksey, I shall put forth what I believe to be the differences in the seasonal cactii:
Thanksgiving Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) has pointed claws (hence lobster claw cactus.)
Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera buckleyi) does not have the pointed claws.
Easter Cactus (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri) has no teeth on leaves or jointed stems, and has little "hairs" at the joints.
Here is a photo to show the differences.
There will be a quiz later, so take notes. ;-}
I believe many are mislabeled. I even think some in the PDB are wrong. The simplest way to tell which is which is to wait until they bloom and look at the calendar. Mine seem to follow their natural cycles well. They live in a sheltered, shade cloth covered, inner courtyard of my home. They are against a north facing wall and never get any direct sunlight. It is nice to have all 3 to spread out these wonderful blooms over a long period.

This message was edited Oct 23, 2005 7:01 AM

Thanks for the information. Great pictures also.
Thanks , Patti

What a great tutorial! Now I'll have to see what I really have.

Thanks for the info. Never knew just what the difference was. Now I will check out to see what I have. Binky :)))

Looks like my three are one of each. The Thanksgiving cactus has bloomed and still has one bloom and it's a small plant I have babied.

The new start I got from lizh loks like an Easter cactus, and my really big one looks like a Christmas Cactus although it rarely blooms by Christmas.

Isn't this wonderful information!!! Thank you for taking the time. It is sincerely appreciated.

Judy

The one I have is a Thanksgiving cactus. and its blooming right on time, :))))))

Nice plant, binky. For quite a while I thought mine was a Halloween Cactus. It must have been El Niño.
George

Can you see the picture?? For some reason I am having problems with it now.???? Any way Thanks George.

broken jpeg, binky. You might be able to re-send it.

Did it again. Hope this one stays. don't know why it did that???

Here is a shot from Halloween 2003.

And a close up this Thanksgiving.

You wouldn't want to use mine as a calendar lol! They are all blooming or are about to bloom now but I have a white/pink one that blooms every four months or thereabouts. My 15 yr old son is quite proud of it as it is his baby. Mine all get quite a lot of afternoon (read baking in summer) sun. They do not know that this is not their preferred way of life.

Thanks for the tutorial. I NEED an Easter Cactus now. Well, I do not suppose I really need any more plants but golly, a girl can dream.

Here are a few blooms in the cactus garden at 5:30 am today.

Hey, Frogs... when a piece "falls off" the white/pink one, will you send it to me? I can get yoyu a cutting of an Easter cactus.

An ancient (over 40 yr old) Christmas cactus.

There is one in the local vitamin store that's about 6 feet across. Wonder how old it might be?

Yours is wonderful, and I love the gargoyles, or whatever they are called.

Sure thing Darius. She is a beauty isn't she? It was a 50 cent rescue a couple of years ago. It is not really a very large plant yet but is definately trying.

That is a beautiful Christmas Cactus. Is it a true red? I will have to look for that Hot pink color too.

I have fallen for this plant finally bought my first this was it the day I brought it home but soon it lost all the blooms so I am hoping it will bloom again..Guess I should have not gotten one with so many blooms getting ready to open..But I could not resist it was just so pretty and I have always wanted one..So I am weak this I know but I just have gotten my addiction from DG's..

And with all the help I have gotten on how to take care of it maybe it will continue to grow and bloom.

Thanks all

vs, you certainly got a nice large healthy looking one! I'm sure with the advice from this thread it will do fine.

You wouldn't believe I found it shopping for thanksgiving dinner at food lion but just maybe to many blooms and the move home it had about 5 that opened really pretty but most of the blooms that was on the plant fell off so I am doing what you all have told me and maybe I can get it to Bloom again..They just were sitting there in the vegetable aisle and I just had to bring it home..

Note To All - Last year I got 3 nice hanging baskets of Holiday Cactus after Christmas for $1 each at Lowe's. They had stopped blooming so they wanted to moved them out the door. In our area Lowe's and Home Depot have the best sale prices on out-of-season plants. I can never find a good deal at the Wal-Mart Stores.

If you have gas heat, sometimes things that have been forced in humid hothouses cannot take the dry heat. It looks to be a big strapping plant so will probably reward you next year.

This was a scraggly unknown color from the 50 cent bin at Lowes last year. It will make someone a nice gift this year if I get it to them soon.

Very pretty color...I do love Lowe's plants they always have such great sale prices, and I love it when hubby wants to go so I can check out to see what they have in the plant dept......I want to find one of them gorgeous white/pink ones now, well maybe one of each!!!!...They just bring some color for the holidays...

Lol just do what I do and get 6 to 12 of them and find out what color they are later. Put the ones that are the same color in a larger pot. I have only one that I got with flowers on it. The white was a surprise as was my peach one. Love surprises.

Ohhh me too and that sounds like a wonderful idea and my hubby will be so pleased (: ...He already thinks I am crazy but at least I can come on here and everyone else is just like me so I feel normal....

Betterto by a dozen dollar plants than a dozen expensive ones and They do make nice gifts

Thanks George, I always wanted to ask..................................but was afraid to. I have a few of these wonder plants, I have one coming into flower at this time, it must need a little more sun, they don't see to be getting any bigger. Our temps are going down to 3OF and below. If I move them out a little further to get more sun, will it blast? If I don't will they ever open. Norma

I think that the light exposure is more important during the summer months. The blooms are prompted by the change in light. These cacti are a jungle cactus and as such do not get direct sunlight, only filtered light in their native setting. I would not move them out further into the freeze situation. Mine have handled freezing conditions in the shelter of the eaves, but they are fleshy enough I don't think they would handle a full freeze. I am only working from personal experience in a very mild climate. I do not profess any real expertise. I am just a humble hobbiest like most of the DGer's.
In general I only like cactus in other people's gardens. The entrance to this house was surrounded by cacti (ugly prickly big yucky ones) when I bought it. They were in the dumpster within a week. One of them had a light fluffy spine that floated like dandelion fluff and got into the eyes and nose. Ugh! Here is the before shot.

Thanks, George. I had forgotten this thread was here.

What about this one? It seems to have the pointed leaves like an Thanskgiving cactus, but no jointed stems that I can see. This was a 1 1/2 in dried up fallen on the ground forgotten about bit that I picked up and brought home from the garden center. All winter it did nothing. But in the past month or so it has really started growing. But all one long leaf. So far, no sign of jointing and it's already nearly 10 inches long! Any ideas what it might end up being?

-Julie

edit: just to clarify, the other little piece you might see sticking up from the pot is another orphan I rescued. Not from the same cutting.

This message was edited Jun 10, 2005 6:28 PM

Hi Julie -

It's hard to tell the size from the image.....it appears to be larger than the one I have that is similar. I had one with no ID, but matched it with another that did have an ID in my greenhouse. The little guy from the greenhouse now has several little buds....so the truth will be told soon.:-)

Plant Files
Lepismium houlletianum http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/97922/index.html

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Cactaceae/Lepismium_houlletianum.html
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Cactaceae/Lepismium.html

http://www.f-lohmueller.de/cactus/Lepismium/gf_rh3.htm

http://spazioinwind.libero.it/piantegrasse/schede_cactacee/lepismium%20houlletianum.htm

http://www.cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Lepismium

Definitely looks like Lepismium houlletianum to me! Thanks so much Candy! I'm always really amazed at the thought and energy you put into your responses. It's always very much appreciated :-)

So, does this guy belong in this forum or not? I saw links with the berries, but no actual pics of flowers. Have I broken the Orchid Cactus law yet? ;-)

-Julie

Oh I wouldn't think so.....these are like junior members of the same family :Cactaceae

Check this page (scroll down for L. houlletianum http://www.golatofski.de/Pflanzenreich/gattung/l/lepismium.htm
Mine certainly doesn't have that many buds.....but they look the same to me. Will get an image later this afternoon.

This message was edited Jun 10, 2005 1:55 PM

OK, here are a couple of pictures. These flowers are miniscule and just beinning to open.! Maybe 3/8ths of an inch total.

.

Thanks Candy. Now I'm convinced mine is this one...or very close to it...because I've seen those flowers completely covering a plant at the garden center. The plant had so many flowers it was next to impossible to see what the leaves looked like without the flowers. But now I suspect that my little cutting probably fell from this one (or one of it's siblings). Now I've very excited. :-)

-Julie