Schlumbergera

Mine thrived on neglect! They are very forgiving. You will probably find that the buds drop because of 'shop-shock' but that doesn't seem to deter them from a good show in time. My window sill faced North but I've kept them in positions all over the house before now.

Really pretty Shirley. I have low light levels here during winter which doesn't suit them.. Doesn't mean I don't try them every year though!

Anget, you're right about buds dropping as I found seven or eight on top of the soil today.

Julie, at the check-out my OH just looked at it with a 'Not again' look . . . :o)

Janey, my dear Mum kept one in her bathroom, South facing, for many years but only watered it when she remembered! It often had a fine dusting of talcum powder due to her using one of those big fluffy powder puffs!

Oh dear another 'drunk' plant :-))
Neglected ones do best I have found. Bud drop is quite normal when rhey''ve been moved. They do appreciate a weak tomato feed in the summer when they can popped outside

Haha Shirley! My mum was the same, hers was in the front room which was east facing. It was a very large old plant, smaller leaves than they have now, but full of blooms come Xmas, she loved it..:)

Julia, thanks for that info.

Janey, it must have been a thing of their generation.

Mine is usually in a north facing window in the Lounge,Shirley.. but in summer ,it's been outside most of the time,then in the Conservatory.. back indoors now,and starting to flower again:o) Just watered when I remember,so it's had a bit of TLC this week :o).
I will reply to your message soon,I hadn't forgotten .x

Oh, thanks for that Sandra, I read that they like to be sitting on gravel with a little water in the outer pot, for humid conditions, not sure if that sounds right though!

I usually put gravel in the bottom of all my outer pots, but I haven't seen anything about the watering ,Shirley.I take mine out to give it a decent watering on occasion,then put it back when it's drained off. I've read that some don't water them at all ! .I'm sure someone will enlighten us,of the correct way :o) x

I grew them for many years - often the same plant lasted for many years. As is always the case with succulent plants excessive watering can kill them - my last few plants went that way last year!

But they propagate so easily that you can get dozens from a single plant!

There are basically 3 kinds - the Christmas Cactus, the Holiday Cactus & the Easter Cactus. As these are all plants that live in the nooks & crannies of branches & tree trunks in the wild they need very little nutrients to survive & flower for many years.

I have 4 small pots with rooted cutting of Easter Cactus in the kitchen (though for a few months I was sure they were going to die on me). The mother plant I threw away earlier this year as I had accidentality overwatered it & all the leaf/stem segments were falling off. It couldn't be saved. I'd had it for a great many years, probably close to 20! In all its years it had never been repotted since I first potted it up having grown it from a cutting.

You can differentiate Christmas Cactus from Easter Cactus when not in flower by their leaves. In the case of the former they have oval leaves with jagged protrusions along the leaf. The Easter Cactus (Hatiora rosea) has completely smooth leaves with no jagged edges.

Yours is probably not Schlumbergera truncata but S.bridgesii!

Here is a webpage that shows the difference between the three species:

https://desertsucculents.com/christmas-cactus-vs-thanksgiving-cactus-vs-easter-cactus/

Hope this helps.

Mine's in a clay pot and I feed it with plant food a few times in the summer after flowering. It's on a south west facing window in the winter and on a window that gets the sun in the first part of the morning in the summer. To take cuttings just cut a few joining segments under a joint and pop into a pot of compost and they root easily. I did five cuttings to a pot and now have a super pot full of pink flowers just bursting out. They like rainwater best. Good luck.

Just yesterday I discovered a single leaf that had fallen onto the soil of a bigger pot that has a Bird of Paradise seedling growing in it (said seedling is now three years old but I will continue to think of as a seedling until it flowers - maybe in a couple of years time!). I immediately put it into a small 9cm pot I had close by & gave it a little water. I hope it will continue to grow.

There are 4 small pots with Easter Cactus cuttings in them sitting on the soil in the pot, each in its own little saucer so not in contact with the soil.

Sandra, Linda and David, sorry to be late replying - damaged my hand and it was painful to type anything for a couple of days!

Sandra, Mums Christmas Cactus rarely got watered and put on a fabulous show . . . :o)

David, thanks so much for the information, especially the link, off to take a look in a minute.

Your welcome! 👍 Hope your hand gets better soon.

I had a really painful shoulder for a few weeks but it is getting better. I managed to see a doctor 😱 (so very difficult now) & he sent me for an x-ray which came back OK. No damage in the joint! 😃 ("Just old age" - doctor's words!) Now I have to do physio exercises.

Hope your hand recovers well Shirley.
Keep up the exercises Balcony....I have two replacement knees and a replacement elbow, and I keep doing exercises, even steps when I'm out walking as, I live in a bungalow. Hope your shoulder is recovering well.......

Sorry can’t help…… good luck though….

Oh Shirley I'm sorry you've hurt your hand. I hope it's nothing serious.
My arthritic knee is my problem. I'm hoping they will agree to replace it.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you're better soon. X

David, Linda and Julia - Thanks for your good wishes, I had a freak accident whilst getting out of the car and fell, landed awkwardly on my left hand and right knee. Nothing broken - just bruised and very sore - :o((

Well Shirley, I hope you are feeling better since the accident.

As for my shoulder it's getting better & for most of the time now it feels more or less normal. While I avoid certain movements it's OK! (As for the age thing - nothing can be done about that!)

Thank you for asking about my hand David - pretty much pain free now - hooray! I am glad your shoulder is getting better - stay well!

I’m really sorry to hear you’ve had a fall. It must have shaken you up. I hope you are feeling better now and the bruises are fading.
As regards the cacti, they really do thrive on neglect. I water them maybe once a month and don’t let them stand in water. Mine seem to enjoy indirect sunlight and any temperatures above freezing. I put a fleece over them if very low temperatures are forecast as they live in the unheated greenhouse most of the year and I give them some of the tomato feed occasionally in summer. When they start to bud up or flower in late October I bring them into the conservatory so I can enjoy them until after Christmas. As pieces get knocked off, I pot the ones that are about 3 inches long into gritty compost. They soon root and you end up with more plants than you know what to do with!! I have given loads away.

Hb, it was a shock and the bruised knee looked awful as I'm on blood thinner meds.! All faded now, thank goodness.

Thankyou so much for the info. on their care - it is currently on the windowsill in the loo - no heating at all in there so perhaps I should move it somewhere a tad warmer . . .