How to grow Christmas cactus

Schlumbergera is a plant flower of the genus Schlumbergera in the Cactaceae family. It is also called Christmas cactus, Christmas cactus, and fairy finger flower. Schlumbergera is light green in color, with many branches. It is very easy to become woody and grafted. The flowers are on the areoles at the top of the stem nodes. Schlumbergera flowers come in many colors, the most common ones are bright red, pink, apricot yellow, and pure white. The flower is named Schlumbergera because the shape of the node diameter of the flower resembles the crab's claws.

How to grow Christmas cactus

1. Christmas cactus likes warmth and is not cold-resistant. Christmas cactus should be placed in a place with a temperature of 5℃ for winter. It grows best at 18-25℃. It needs to be shaded in summer. It is drought-resistant but not waterlogged. Strong sunlight will cause the stems of Christmas cactus to shrink. It grows well in a slightly acidic environment.

2. After winter, Christmas cactus will enter the bud formation period. It should be placed in a sunny place with light time not less than 4 hours. You can fertilize the flowers with fertilizers such as bone fertilizer and phosphorus fertilizer. You must also spray the flowers with 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution, which will increase the flowering rate of Christmas cactus and increase the humidity of the flowers.

3. After the Christmas cactus blooms, do not let the soil of the flower be too dry. Keep the flower very moist. In this way, the flower will bloom brightly and the buds will not fall. After the Christmas cactus flowers fall, they will enter a short dormant period. During this stage, the soil of the Christmas cactus will be changed once, and appropriate amounts of fertilizer will be applied. It is better to keep the soil in the flowerpot moist when watering the flowers.

4. During the growth period of Christmas cactus, a very thin fertilizer will be applied. Do not apply fertilizer during the high temperatures in summer. Christmas cactus needs to be placed in a cool, dry and ventilated place to prevent it from rotting.

5. Christmas cactus can be propagated by cuttings. Select a well-developed cactus or three-edged arrow, and then select a Christmas cactus stem node that is neither too old nor too young. Insert the Christmas cactus scion into the cactus. You need to build a frame to fix the scion. It should grow in a moist environment away from light and rain, at 18-25 degrees Celsius, and it will take root and grow in 20 days.