5 Tips for Looking After a Christmas Cactus
A Christmas cactus is one of the easiest plant you can get when it comes to maintenance and generally just keeping it live. It also looks different and even flowers once a year. But how can you look after yours properly whilst still making sure that it flowers every season? I thought I'd give some hints and tips as to how to look after it.
Make sure it's out of direct sunlight, but nor somewhere dark
Whilst ensuring that your Christmas cactus is kept our of direct sunlight, to make sure it blooms flowers every year, you need to make sure it's still got access to bright light as opposed to direct sunlight. You also need to make sure that it's not somewhere that's too dark because this may stunt its ability to grow and bloom its flowers.
Water it regularly
You would be forgiven for thinking that a Christmas cactus doesn't need much watering, but you'd be mistaken. A Christmas cactus needs to be watered enough to ensure the soil remains moist most of the time. It would be better to plant it in a pot that has a hole at the bottom and is placed on a plate so it can expel water it doesn't need but take it up when it does.
Don't let the plant sit in water
Although I've just said that the plant needs to be regularly watered, it shouldn't ever sit in water, hence why you need to put it in a pot with a hole in the bottom so it can get rid of any water that it doesn't want. Keeping it sitting in water could rot its roots and you'll then have a dead Christmas cactus as opposed to a lovely flowering and healthy one.
Ensure it's kept at room temperature
A Christmas cactus needs to be kept in conditions that sits between 15-21 degrees Celsius with humidity levels that are considered high. If you would like to add more humidity to the plant, then place some pebbles in the plate that the pot sits in and sprinkle some water over them.
I, however, have a window sill in front of my sink in the kitchen and we like to keep ours there as it gets all of the moisture from the washing up bowl as well as enjoying the steam that comes from cooking and boiling kettles etc.
Dust off the segments lightly
The plant needs to be exposed to the air and that involves making sure that the plant itself is well dusted and free from any debris. This helps to keep the plant happy in terms of "breathing" so to speak whilst also ensuring that it looks nice and healthy as well. It will, in addition to that, help you to see any imperfections in the plant so you can check for disease or signs of expiry, for example.
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post? Let me know in the comments if you have a Christmas cactus or would like one and I'll see you again very soon with a brand new blog post :)
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