Holiday Cacti Gearing Up

I've pulled my holiday cacti from their summer quarters in the semi-shade garden as they are now setting buds. It's always a reminder to me that the holidays are fast approaching!
I put them out where they get full afternoon sun for about 6-7 hours so the buds stay drier. I've found that excess moisture on the young buds can cause a lot of them to drop.

This message was edited Nov 10, 2005 8:03 PM

Wonderful bud set! A couple of mine (just babies) are setting buds too.

Oh my gosh, Happenstance ~ THOSE ARE HUUUUUGE! And soooo PEEEERRRRRRRTTTTY, too!! What colors? You must've had these guys for years. Please post when they bloom - it'll be breath-taking!
I can grow just about anything but for whatever reason....I have a tough time with holiday cacti. Got some little cuttings in a trade and I'm going to give it another shot. Someday hope to have plants just like yours! =) Two Green Thumbs UP!
Betsy

Here's one of my babies, with buds. Just brought inside due to frost warnings...

And here's my big one, doesn't set buds until later... and temp. in the kitchen until I find an inside spot to accomodate it for winter...

Sure wish mine had lots of bud's like Happenstance's.

darius, your cacti set buds on differents moments 'cause they're different species. The first one, with buds, it's a Thanksgiving Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), and the second one it's a Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera Bridgesii)

This is my Thanksgiving cactus when it flowered last year.

Regards

Carlos

Beautiful flowers, Carlos. Thanks. ( I knew mine were different species)

What colors.......hmmmm? Let's see I have a white, peach, fuschia, pinky, red - orange, the colors may vary from year to year on each plant depending on the outside temps, how long they get left outside, and the amount of fertilizer they are given.

They don't like to be soggy, the buds should have adequate air circulation so they don't stay wet with dew or rain or sprinkling, they like to be fed throughout the growing season, and last but not least they must have experienced a chill factor and long dark nights to bloom profusely. Since we don't get frost these will stay outside until the monsoon rains begin and/or the nighttime temp drops below 40F. They usually spend the last couple of weeks before Christmas in the unheated sunroom before I move them inside for the holidays.

Here's an image of some of mine from last year.

And sometimes they can get completely off schedule......I've had Christmas cacti that became "Haloween" cacti and an Easter cactus that bloomed in June last year because of unseasonably cool temperatures.

This was June of last year for my Easter cacti.

I remember those blooming photos from last year. I was really impressed! (and still am, LOL)

Great plants, Happenstance. Thanks for the tips. I have always problems with bud dropping.
The white one I have is a cultivar called "Thor-Britta". I've seen in PlantFiles that you have "Christmas Fantasy". If you want, after blooming time, we can trade them.

This is a picture of the common with fuchsia blooms.

Carlos

... and this is the common reddish one.

Carlos

Here's one I have... doesn't look like "Thor-Britta" but not sure what it is...

Gorgeous as always! What an amazing load of blooms! I luv your Easter Cactus!
:) Donna

Holy cow - - you guys (and gals) have some AWESOME specimens! Puts my 3 little shoot to shame...but now I know what to aspire towards. =)
Just really gorgeous all!

Great pictures as always, Candy! Your plants are magnificent! I really do have to start treating mine better:-)

Carlos, your cc pictures are lovely too!

Here is one of mine which has decided to bloom now. My other one should bloom by Thanksgiving. Why my camera now shows a date in 2006, I don't know, but I'll have to fix that:-) This picture was taken today.

Edited to say: I just realized that this picture is out of focus. Sorry about that. My batteries are charging, and I'll get another one soon.

This message was edited Oct 18, 2005 12:53 PM

Darius, your plants look great too! The biggest will probably develop buds any day now:-)

Here is a better picture from the other day which is not so out of focus:

Here's a picture of my Epi oxy hybrid which is still going and going and going. I love it!

The nice thing about this flower is, even though it is fairly small, it smells very sweet, and it stays open until about noon. These two pictures were, in fact, taken around noon.

This is one of my CC's from last year. This picture was taken on 12-17.

Lovely photos everyone......as cooler weather approaches these brightly colored beauties make life much cheerier dontcha think?

That is one special Epi Clare! Still blooming like a trooper after all this time. Are you getting the rain we've been hearing about?

Definitely, Candy. It's nice to have some color in winter. Yep, we had about two inches on Sunday night and Monday all day and night, but now it is clearing. I love it when I don't have to water!

My Halloween Cactus became Columbus Day Cactus this year. i.e. The first bloom showed up October 10. Mine live full time under the eaves in my inner atrium. I took this shot tonight.

PotEmUp, that's a beauty:-)

I have one blooming now. Will try to get a photo tomorrow in daylight.

That's a lovely one George! (For those of you who can't figure out which "holiday" cactus you have, George has a great composite photo showing the different leaf types.....how about a reprise George?)

Here's an updated image of the first image in this thread.....one week later. These are never gonna make it to Christmas at the rate they are going! (or should that be at the rate they are growing).

Here's one I have blooming now. Kind of salmon colored, with white centers. More blooms today but photo is last night.

Halloween Cactus?

Cool color, Darius! I love it!

Awe, Candy, there's still time! I bet they will be here for Christmas! They look so marvelously healthy.

There is the link to the 3 in one photo. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/471314/ But just for you here is my new and improved image with all 4 of the "seasonal" cacti.

Happened into Lowe's today and guess what they had?
I got Thor Britta and Malissa. In looking up Malissa I found http://www.bobsmoleys.com/s-z.html which has good reviews (at least lately) I particularly like Palmbob's comment

Neat! Thanks for sharing your new and improved image!

I have a question that's a little off topic, but I thought of it as I looked at PotEmUp's great picture. Is the Easter Cactus a Schlumbergera, also?

I'm not as familiar with them, but guess I do remember seeing them for sale in the spring (of course.) They are beautiful!

Morning Mary -

This is from DG's own plant files, although various references (including the internet) will still give you a variety of names:

Easter Cactus
Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Rhipsalidopsis

Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri
Rhipsalidopsis rosea

***********

Thanksgiving Cactus, Holiday Cactus, Crab Cactus
Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Schlumbergera

Schlumbergera truncata

************

Christmas Cactus, Holiday Cactus, Zygocactus
Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Schlumbergera

Schlumbergera x buckleyi

Like all scientific names, these are subject to change and they have been changed in the past:
Thanksgiving Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata, AKA Zygocactus truncatus) has pointed claws (hence lobster claw cactus.)
Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera buckleyi, AKA Schlumbergera bridgesii, AKA Zygocactus x buckleyi, AKA Epiphyllum x buckleyi) does not have the pointed claws.
Easter Cactus (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri, AKA Schlumbergera gaertneri, AKA Epiphyllopsis gaertneri, AKA Hatiora gaertneri) has no teeth on leaves or jointed stems, and has little "hairs" at the joints.
Rose Easter Cactus (Rhipsalidopsis rosea, AKA Hatiora rosea) has much thinner leaves with more joints
There is also Dancing Bones Cactus (Hatiora salicornioides) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55382/index.html which I have not personally seen. It appears much thinner than the Rose Easter cactus and does not seem to be a hairy.
There appear to be even more - check out http://www.f-lohmueller.de/botany/gen/h/Hatiora.htm
Also of interest http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Epiphyllum%20x%20buckleyi

By any name, all of them produce gorgeous flowers and are one of my most forgiving plants.

Here is the lst of my Thanksgiving cactus - blooming for about a week now (It cant make up its mind if it is Canadian or American!) My really big one same color is just setting buds. I love these because they bloom in the winter - usually twice - and have a mix of Thanksgiving, Xmas and recently Easter - trying to collect as many different colors as possible and gave away a lot of duplicates recently to make room!
Recently was given a red and a yellow. They are still rooting but the yellow had buds which we thought would drop. Guess what - they didnt drop and yesterday one flower came out (next pic)

Here is the yellow which just came out - the cuttings have not really even rooted yet.

Wow! Both are beauties:-)

The pink one is amazing! The yellow is harder to find. I did a trade this summer with someone in BC for some Easter cactus. I can't remember if she told me the color. The Easter ones are very hard to find.
:) Donna

Oh Donna wait until you see my 'main' pink one that color - it is about 4 times that size, just starting to bud now. Ive been looking for a yellow for years. There are a couple of good US places that sell lots of colors so next year I think I will just buy some although maybe now thru DG I can find some cuttings in Canada.

I bet your main pink is stupendous! I did a trade also to get some yellow cuttings. Do you know the color of your Easter Cactus? I believe I found a white Thanksgiving last year. Do you have that color?
:) Donna