Overview of Holiday Cactus

Poinsettias and holiday cacti are the primary indoor plants of the holiday season. When cared for properly, holiday cacti can be long-lived, providing a greater display of flowers in each successive year. However, too many of these plants, either received as gifts or purchased for their cheerful seasonal color, languish and die. This article is intended to help you not only keep holiday cactus alive and thriving, providing its desired floral spectacle year after year.

With brightly colored flowers in shades of pink to red, white and bicolors, blooming holiday cactus plants are a welcome sight, but not all types bloom in sync with fall and winter holiday festivities.  Many specimens have been kept as houseplants for years, or even decades.

Holiday cacti are indeed true cacti, in the same plant family as the giant saguaro of Arizona and our native Wisconsin prickly pear. The origins of holiday cacti are in the mountainous jungles of Brazil, where they grow as epiphytic plants (rooting into something other than soil), with their roots anchoring them to branches high up in forest trees or sometimes growing in shady areas of cliffs or rock outcrops. Because of their rounded and flattened appearance, the stems are often confused for leaves, but like most cacti, plants lack true leaves. In nature, the plants are pendant, hanging from their perches on trees or cliffs. Although young plants have an upright form, with age the ends of the branches tend to sag, giving a very graceful appearance. Basal stems get thickened and woody as plants grow, helping support the weight of the younger stems and, seasonally, the great profusion of flowers.

In nature there are relatively few species of holiday cacti and they belong to two different genera, Rhipsalidopsis and Schlumbergera. Rhipsalidopsis are spring bloomers and are sometimes referred to as Easter cactus. This article will discuss Schlumbergera because these are the plants that commonly bloom from early November into January, during the holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. A plant in this genus would commonly be called Christmas cactus and, occasionally, Thanksgiving cactus.

There are relatively few natural species of Schlumbergera and the vast array of colors in the many cultivars and hybrids on the market today result primarily from the parentage of a true species, S. truncata and an early hybrid known as S. x buckleyi. S. truncata (formerly known as Zygocactus truncatus) has distinctly pointed projections at the edges and ends of the stem segments, whereas S. x buckleyi has more rounded, scalloped edges. S. truncata blooms earlier, closer to Thanksgiving, while S. x buckleyi blooms closer to Christmas. Hybrids between the two have intermediate blooming times.

In nature, Schlumbergera flowers range from pale to deep pink and occasionally into red. There are well over a hundred cultivars and hybrids that have been produced and named. These commonly range from almost pure white, through various shades of pink and purple, to deep red; many are bicolored pink, purple, or red with white. A few cultivars are available that are lovely shades of yellow or gold.

General Care of Holiday Cactus

When planning the care of your holiday cactus plant, think a bit about the conditions in which the plants grow in nature.

• Temperature. Schlumbergera is native to mountain forests of Brazil, at elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 feet. That means they get cool, especially at night in the winter, but never cold. Therefore, consider minimum temperatures to be around 55 to 60°F; they cannot tolerate frost. Living at higher elevations and in the forest shade, they are not exposed to the high temperatures we often think of in the desert habitats of other types of cacti. In general, they thrive at daytime temperatures of 75 to 80°.

• Sunlight. Similarly, Schlumbergera does not well tolerate prolonged periods of strong, direct sunlight. They prefer bright indirect light, or the light shade of a lath house or shade house. Some people have great success by putting them outdoors in the frost-free growing period, such as hanging them in their pots in the branches of a shade tree, but avoid the deep shade found under large mature trees such as Norway maple. A shaded porch is another ideal location. Southern exposure is best as long as they are not in direct sun for more than a few hours in the morning. Indoors, they grow wonderfully well in a bright window, but fresh air movement helps keep plants healthy.

• Water. Another consideration is water. In nature, Schlumbergera grows in locations with perfect drainage, hanging from tree branches or rocky cliffs. In the rain forest, they receive frequent rains during the wet season but the water runs off rapidly so the roots do not persist in waterlogged conditions. Even in the dry season, they may get 2 to 3 inches of rainfall monthly. Frequent waterings are good if in a very well drained potting mix. In a heavier mix that tends to retain moisture, allow the media to dry somewhat between waterings. Some growers recommend slightly reducing the watering regimen in August and September to harden the stems that will bear the flowers and resuming normal watering once the flower buds start to swell.

• Growing media. An ideal mix will have high organic matter content, be slightly acidic, and be well drained. A famous commercial grower in southern California recommends a mix consisting of 40% perlite and 60% peat moss. Keep in mind that peat moss tends to lose its structural integrity after a few years, resulting in poor drainage and suffocation of the roots. Periodic repotting into fresh soil resolves this situation.

• Fertilizer. In nature Schlumbergera receives a constant supply of nutrients from decaying tree foliage, bird droppings, and other natural fertilizer inputs. They normally grow more rapidly than desert-dwelling cacti and therefore can be fertilized more like a conventional houseplant. Use a good quality, balanced, soluble or granular fertilizer, such as a 10-10-10. If using full strength according to label directions, fertilize monthly. Otherwise, cut the fertilizer rate to about 25% of what is recommended on the label and fertilize with each watering. Stop fertilizing in September to reduce vegetative growth and help stimulate bud formation on strong stems. Resume fertilizing after flowering ends. Occasional use of micronutrients may be helpful.

• Pests. Holiday cactus are fairly resistant to pest damage, but scale insects, mealybugs, and spider mites can occasionally be problems. Use an approved houseplant insecticide according to label directions. Slugs and snails love holiday cacti, so if growing your plants outdoors, keep the pots off the ground. Holiday cacti have relatively few disease problems, but growing in a poorly drained media promotes the development of root-rotting fungi. If a plant is sagging and not growing even though the media is moist, check to see if it has a healthy root system. If not, take some cuttings to start a new plant and use a better-draining potting mix.

Propagating Holiday Cactus

Plants are easily propagated from stem cuttings. Individual “joints” can be used, or cuttings up to 2 to 3 joints long. Let the cuttings dry in a shady location for 2 to 3 days and then put in a rooting medium such as perlite, or into a good well-drained potting mix. Keep the medium moist but not saturated. Rooting generally takes place in 2 to 3 weeks, after which new growth will start. New plants can be started any time of the year, but rooting may be better in late spring through summer. After the new plants have started growth, pinch them back to encourage branching. Often, three new plants are potted together to create an instant potful.

Saving an Old Holiday Cactus – A Special Challenge

A really old, large holiday cactus in full bloom is a beautiful marvel, with hundreds of brightly colored flowers open at the same time. It is not unusual to see plants in 12 to 15 inch diameter pots, with a canopy spread of nearly three feet. These plants can be decades old and literally passed down from generation to generation. Such plants may have great sentimental value in addition to their seasonal beauty.

All potted plants need occasional transplanting for various reasons. Most commonly, the plant outgrows its pot. But more cryptically, potting media can become altered over time to no longer be acceptable growing media. As plants get bigger the repotting process becomes more difficult to deal with and avoidance of the inevitable (i.e., procrastination) rears its ugly head. But potting media can eventually become both chemically toxic and physically lethal to plant roots.

As a succulent plant, the stems of holiday cacti can survive for amazing periods without water if the roots are dead. Entire plant death from slow starvation and dehydration may literally take years. But there are tell-tale signs of stress that include (1) reduced flower bud formation, (2) flower bud abortion, (3) reduced new stem growth, (4) shriveling of the younger stems even when well-watered, (5) “self-pruning” or dropping of younger stem segments, and (6) development of small, hair-like adventitious roots at the bases of many stem segments. Another sign of possible root loss is abnormally prolonged moisture in the soil because of the lack of healthy roots to extract soil moisture during normal transpiration.

As with many maladies, prevention is the best cure. Routinely repot your plant at least every 4 to 5 years. In the process, be sure to remove most of the old soil and then inspect the roots to be certain they look healthy. Use a well-drained soil mix and cut back on normal watering for a month or so to allow the development of new feeder roots. Large plants may need to be staked until new roots provide firm anchorage.

Another worthwhile practice is to root a few new cuttings every 3 to 5 years and keep a couple of healthy young plants on hand in case the original plant succumbs.

When dealing with an obviously stressed plant, unpot it and examine the root system. Cut back any dead or diseased roots and allow the pruned roots to air dry for a few days before repotting. In extreme circumstances, the entire root system may be dead all the way back to the base of the plant. Such plants can be very difficult to save. If this is the case, carefully clean the root system as much as possible, if necessary all the way back to the stem base. Severely prune back the stems so that they are not over-taxing new roots that hopefully will form. After a few days, repot the plant in fresh potting mix. Water sparingly and just in the area of the surviving roots. If rehabilitation is successful, the remaining stems will eventually plump up and new stem growth will begin. Save numerous cuttings of various sizes and try to root these to produce new plants (see Propagation above). Your success rate may be very low.

Encouraging Blossoming

Have you ever wondered why the plant you received, in full bloom, for Christmas a few years ago has always since bloomed in November? The reason is that the environmental factor that stimulates blossoming is the photoperiod, that is, the amount of hours of daylight. Commercial holiday cacti growers artificially control photoperiod by using lights to create longer days and dark cloth to cover the plants, creating shorter days. By using the right combination of light and dark, holiday cactus can be induced to bloom almost any time of the year. For those who don’t care about the blooming period and are willing to let plants bloom based on the normal photoperiod, there are a couple of things to remember.

• Once buds are starting to form, do not move plants into a location with radically different light or temperature conditions, as buds may stop developing and abort. When in bloom, flowers will last longer if not exposed to high temperatures. Plants should bloom for 2 to 3 weeks at temperatures around 70°F.

• To force plants to bloom at a very specific time, such as exactly at Christmas, regulate light and temperature as described above. No specific guidelines can be given because each cultivar or hybrid has its own response to specific conditions. Therefore, you may need to experiment for a few years to determine how to induce your plants to bloom under your growing conditions. Keep in mind that unregulated temperatures may either lengthen or shorten the period from bud initiation to full bloom.

Choosing the right Holiday Cactus

Holiday cacti in a variety of colors are commonly available in garden centers and discount stores starting before Thanksgiving and into the Christmas period. Plants that are in full bloom at Thanksgiving will be done blooming by Christmas. For plants in bloom at Christmas time, look for plants in late November or early December that have well developed buds but no open flowers. Keep in mind that temperature will determine how rapidly buds develop and how long the flowers last.

In the couple of weeks before Christmas, stores often have plants that are done blooming. If these do not sell they are often are thrown out after Christmas. Check with the store manager — you might get a good price on these plants that should perform very well in the coming year.

Before buying plants, check them carefully to be certain they are healthy and free of pests such as mites, mealybugs, and scale insects.

– Dan Mahr, University of Wisconsin – Madison

Last Update: Bruce Spangenberg, UW-Madison Extension 2025