I have two Christmas cactus in bud and ready to flower is this unusual or has the flowering season gone crazy ?Marjorie
By Marjories
Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
I have two Christmas cactus in bud and ready to flower is this unusual or has the flowering season gone crazy ?
Marjorie
- 29 Jun, 2016
Answers
One of my Zygocacti flowered again last month but then became rather ill looking and I fear for it.I've only ever had one rhipsalidopsis but the stem segments were a lot smaller than those in the Zygocactus and also a rather different shade.. If you put on a pic we can see which it is.
29 Jun, 2016
Thank you for your replies.
I have now attached a photo.
They did flower at Christmas last year and then I then retreived them yesterday from the rubbish heap!
29 Jun, 2016
After several years of not flowering, mine were fantastic last year and this year came into bud end of April and the first (pure white) flowers opened on 29 April - Good Friday for the Orthodox Churches - still in flower end of June. I totally neglect them, hardly ever water them as they are in a room that I don't use very often.
29 Jun, 2016
Yep, you're right, they are Christmas ones (zygocactus), but you seem to be saying they've been outside on a rubbish heap since after Christmas. That would mean it's hard to predict when they'll flower, so clearly they've decided to do it now instead of waiting till November. Or as they're a houseplant here, they think it's November, which wouldn't be so surprising, so far there's not been much difference between last winter and this summer, except for longer days!
29 Jun, 2016
They often respond to the watering regime you use so if they were outside in a dry spell and then got wet that would force flowering. Its not unusual for them to flower twice. Just intrigued by what they were doing on the rubbish heap?
29 Jun, 2016
Mine seem to flower as the mood takes them and when I remember to water them!
29 Jun, 2016
Stereogram they were removed from the kitchen window because looked so unhappy and then on to a pile of spring bulbs which I had removed from my pots. Luckily I spotted that they were in flower?
Thanks again for all your comments.
Marjorie
1 Jul, 2016
Is your kitchen window sunny Marjorie? Try them in a less sunny position another time and see if they look happier. They naturally grow in trees like orchids do and enjoy dappled shade.
1 Jul, 2016
Maybe yours are the so called Easter Cactus instead, a slightly different, but similar, plant. Has red flowers, usually in May - the plant's full Latin handle is Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri (or Schlumbergia gaertneri), whereas Christmas cactus is Zygocactrus truncatus and usually has pink flowers in November/December. The flowers are actually slightly different in form too, so you can tell by that which one you've got , pic below
http://www.ourhouseplants.com/plants/eastercactus
29 Jun, 2016