If
you love indoor
plants that have beautiful flowers
and
are easy to grow, then
a Christmas cactus may be the perfect plant for you.
I
received a
Christmas cactus that
was covered with buds but had no blooms. So
I fertilized it with Miracle-gro bloom booster every two weeks and
in no time I had beautiful pink blooms. The flowers only lasted one
day but I had many buds to enjoy during the Christmas holiday.
Unlike
other cactus, the Christmas cactus will
thrive in cooler temperature. An ideal temperature would be 68
degrees. So a cooler room with moderate
light is best for your Christmas cactus. Do not put your cactus in
direct light and a southern exposure would be too hot and
would burn the leaves.
I prefer to set my cactus off to the side so that the light is
moderate and not direct.
Know
that over watering your cactus will kill it. Evenly moist soil is
not good for your Christmas cactus. I would recommend that you let
your cactus soil dry. before watering. Allow
the water to drain out of the pot. Do not allow the water to collect
in the saucer. Instead of watering your plant daily you should
lightly mist
the leaves of your plant daily to maintain a level of humidity around
your cactus plant.
After
Christmas caring for you cactus is easy as long as you keep the plant
in a cool room away from a draft or a heat source, provide it with
moderate light and do not over water then your plant should thrive
and live a long life of 20 to 30 years.
If
you have cats or dogs you do not need to worry about the Cactus
plant.
According to the ASPCA poisonous plant database the Christmas cactus
is not toxic or poisonous to cats or dogs.
Learn how to force your Christmas cactus to re-bloom by viewing this video.
