The next meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society is our 鈥渕embers and invited guests only鈥� AGM.聽 This marks the end of the gardener鈥檚 year for us, and is the time we look ahead and will soon start making plans for next year鈥檚 interesting program! Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca to see what鈥檚 new with the group!
An amazing gardener and dear friend of ours, Glen Tymiak, recently sent us pictures of their Christmas cactus, bright and full of glorious blooms! Christmas cactus has become a very popular plant for the holiday season, and I have seen them out already in the stores. So I thought it would be a good idea to get some Christmas cactus advice from Glen!
I asked Glen about growing basics for the Christmas cactus. 鈥淪oil in the pots should be light and rich with a good drainage. Provide plenty of filtered bright light and check weekly for water. Let the soil dry out before watering. Do not over water. During blooming season do not fertilize. Blooms will last longer if the plant is kept in a cooler location and cooler for the night.鈥�
They are beautiful while they鈥檙e blooming, but then what? Glen鈥檚 suggestion is this: 鈥淎fter blooming, remove old blossoms and cut back on the watering. You can trim the plant by one third. You can propagate the cuttings by cutting at the joint, and put into soil at least one segment.鈥� 聽
That led to my next question: what if we want to start a new plant?聽 鈥淪tart plants in a small pot and repot every 3-4 years into a slightly larger pot. Plants should be root bound to bloom well. Force them to bloom by giving them 12-14 hours of darkness every day and cooler temperatures, starting in September or October. Do this for 3-4 weeks before the time you want buds to appear. Use a light mixture of plant fertilizer, high in potassium, an orchid fertilizer of 20 10 20 or Epsom salt every 2-3 weeks until October.鈥� Glen recommended.
And here鈥檚 a little cactus factoid! Did you know that there is more than one type of 鈥淐hristmas cactus鈥�?聽 Glen clarified this for me. 鈥淭ypes of cacti鈥�..Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter (spring) Cacti. Thanksgiving Cacti have pointy leaves and bloom in November to December. The Christmas cacti (Zygocactus) has rounded leaves and blooms in December and January. The Easter or Spring Cacti belongs to a different group of cacti. The leaves are more scalloped and bloom in the spring.鈥�
Here鈥檚 one amazing bit of trivia that makes Glen and Lena鈥檚 Christmas cactus part of their family! I asked Glen how long they can live, and this is what he said: 鈥淭hey can live for many years鈥� ours is over 70 years old, in the same pot and soil, never repotted and still does well.鈥� Glen said that one of their cactus plants was planted by Lena鈥檚 Mom, and with a little fertilizer boost, it still blooms for Christmas! Isn鈥檛 that amazing and wonderful!
In case you were wondering, when spring comes, you can take your Christmas cactus outside.聽 Glen suggested this: 鈥淚t is good to keep the plants outdoors for the summer in a shady location. We keep ours under the apple tree thus getting plenty of shade, summer heat rainfall and later the cooler evenings.鈥�
So there we have it: we can enjoy our Christmas cactus not only over the holiday season but, with proper care, for years to come! Glen, thank you so much for your help and advice!
Have a great week!聽聽
