How To Care Of All Holiday Cactus Types (Christmas, Easter, ThanksGiving) + Propagation 

I am going to propagate my grandmothers Xmas cactus for my sister. This cactus has been around since I was a little girl and I’m now 52! Since I took it over it looks so much better!!

You are one of the few out there that describes these 3 plants correctly. Thank you so much! I grow all 3 as well. I love all their flowers. I call the Thanksgiving flower a dancing flower. The Christmas cactus I describe as a rocket flower and the Easter as a daisy looking flower.

I just bought a holiday cactus after Christmas and on clearance at Lowe's for $1. I thought it was a Christmas cactus, but from your video, I now know it is a Thanksgiving cactus, so that thing has been hanging around for a long time at Lowe's. It was really really dry, so I wasn't even sure it was going to make it, but it is doing much better now. Thank you, this video helped!!

When the box stores sell the cactus they force them to bloom early to sell them. That's why the following year they bloom on their own natural schedule. Grate video!

Thank you so very much. I just got a Christmas Cactus. I haven’t had one in several years. My dad always had one blooming in our house. He use to propagate them and give us one. He died in summer at age 93 and when we went out back of his house we saw he had some started. He loved them. Thank you for your video. I hope that your occupation has something to do with plants as I believe that’s your calling. You are very good at it.

It's crazy how thorough you are...

My thanksgiving cactus blooms in nov for my birthday every year so I call it my birthday cactus.

You're so delightful and refreshing to watch. I just bought my first easter castus( now I know it"s not a Christmas cactus) I love your comparison of the leaves and flowers of the 3 cacti, very informative. Thank you! 🥰

Erika, One thing to add. If you want them to produce LOTS of flowers, you need lots of segment ends. If you clip back to one segment from a fork, most times, each cut will provide 2 new segments, a fork. Let those grow a bit and cut them both back to one segment, then you have 4. Let those grow and clip them back to 1 segment and you have 8. Then 16, 32, 64 and so on. If a cut provides only a single segment, clip it back and try again until you get the fork. If you aren't getting a fork with at least 50% of your cuts, add fertilizer, wait a month, and try again. That tip helped me grow super bushy plants from a single stalk that turned into flower factories every year.

I totally agree they have their own little clock. I have a thanksgiving cactus and she gave me a single bloom last February. She is weird that way but I love her.

I love these solo-plant-focused plant videos. Majority of the time, I don’t have these plants lol. But these are so entertaining to me!! It’s so cute to me they’re named holidays corresponding to their bloom times

I inherited my mom's all three kinds of cacti. They're all over 40 years old and still bloom every year. Sometimes twice. The stems are woody but they look nice. I just got my first bloom on my queen of the night cactus. Oxpetalum. Can't wait for more.

You're so cute you make the videos fun to watch and VERY informative! Thanks for another great one!

Growing up we had one in the family for around 20 years (his name was Charles lol) and looking at this video now i realize that Charles was a thanksgiving cactus but he bloomed throughout the year, usually 3-4 times a year. He had that woody bit on a lot of his bottom part and i always wondered what was going on there but glad to hear it wasn't anything harmful for him. I just decided to add holiday cacti back into the fold and got a few small ones from a local seller, different colored flowers supposedly but wanted a refresher for raising them right! Thanks so much for this video.

14:09 ..."specially the pink flowers, Oh my goodness!" You're adorable! LOL

My thanksgiving cactus blooms all year including multiple times each season... crazy! It had flowers in october, nothing till february and then it exploded since then. Love the pink blooms 🤗

Now I know that my Christmas cactus is a Thanksgiving cactus. Lol I love the flowers. They make me think of a bird taking flight. Sooo beautiful!

I just love your enthusiasm! Thanks for this great, informative video!

The best and most clearly explained video about holiday cactus, thank you!!!!

I love, you! I think you are adorable, focused, and simple! You give really great instructions without all that extra stuff! Keep up the wonderful work!

My Easter cactus is in a northwest window and blooms from March to August/September. It’s probably one of my most rewarding plants. I don’t do much other than water if dry and using very diluted liquid fertiliser if it has new growth.

i live in a very humid climate, 6 months of the year, big time humidity, now that is when i move mine outside, in mid fall i bring them in till winter is over, and sping comes i put them outside in shade, they go nuts but they should be misted every day in humid climates, they simply love it, Mine also bloomed for 6 months non stop last year,

My mom has a beautiful holiday cactus and we have always thought it was a christmas cactus but now i am thinking it is an easter cactus. the weird this is that the first year it bloomed for us it was almost halloween but then a few months later in july it bloomed again, and continued to bloom for almost a month! it was so beautiful! one of my favorite plants ever. great video!!

Your plants are so beautiful. You are very knowledgeable.

I just received a decently sized one as a gift, this video has answered every question I had. Honestly, it's a really cool plant. Thanks for the video :)

Great explanation of differences in these cacti!I i don't have what I thought I have! Lol!

Idk why but I would trust you with my life 😂😂😂 Thank you for this video!!! I got an Easter cactus in 2019 that I’ve managed to keep alive 😂 but I want to treat it better and this video was so so helpful!

You are so right that some of them are on their own blooming schedule, I had a Thanksgiving cactus bloom in January this year. I would love to see a repotting, I have a Christmas cactus in an 8" hanging nursery pot that needs a soil refreshing as it's been in that pot for going on 3 years. It's just starting to get that look like its depleted the soil and its just time. My favorite is my pink Easter Cactus and it's been my most consistent bloomer. These are probably in my top 5 favorite plants for so many reasons. I've had one successful propagation that is so tiny, but bloomed for me this year, and I've got my 2nd propagation attempt going now from my Easter cactus and for some reason I decided to stick this one straight in soil, my first was water propagation and I found putting some stones in the bottom to be helpful as it kept the bottom from sitting directly against the glass, felt like the roots formed quicker this way. Great video! ✌💟🌿

You’re a Schumbergera Cacti mom! I love it, I have four. ❤️ Thank you for the information, it is very helpful. I’m heading to the store to get some terracotta pots, and orchid bark. I forget what the other thing was, it started with a ‘P’ and looks like white pebbles.

This video came at the best time! Today I got a small cutting from what I believe is the Thanksgiving cactus and I'm very exited to propagate it and had my own plant. They look so cute!

I was gifted both cuttings as well as a rooted Thanksgiving cactus. Both were shipped to me. I knew if I looked you would have a video on them. 🌿👍🏻❤ Thank you Erika

Awesome❣️ I get it now! My mother kept the holiday cacti all the time, I just knew when they was to bloom, and my favorite is the Fuchsia pink /white to me the double type, my thanks giving cacti look like swans,so beautiful❣️ thank you for the enlightenment 💖❣️

I have three "Christmas" cactus but they try to bloom at least twice a year, sometimes every few months. They're in bloom right now and we're in summer.

Great information🙌you have made a lot of sense out of the confusion that I had with the 3 cacti😂 I also love the spring one and it’s so cool to learn it’s a rhipsalis 🤩

I got my first cactus (a Thanksgiving mislabeled at a Christmas) and I've managed to keep it alive for 6 months. I really wanted an Easter cactus and was kind of giving up hope when I just happened to find one at Walmart! My Thanksgiving is a pink/red/orange color and my Easter is a pale pink. Now I have to complete my collection!

Great video Erika! It is really difficult and confusing to tell the difference between all of them. My Thanksgiving cactus (what's left of it) bloomed only one flower this year. But, she is putting out lots of new segments right now, so that's a good sign.

Congrats! I can't wait to collect them all. 😍

you completed the collection!

I have a Thanksgiving cactus that I was told by my MIL was a Christmas cactus. After her passing, I took a couple of cuttings to propagate, as I always loved the salmon colored flowers on it. Now trying to explain to my husband why it is actually a Thanksgiving cactus, & not a Christmas cactus. LOL

I have been researching these plants forever and yes, most the info out there is confusing. Thanks for narrowing it down. Grats on actual Xmas one!

Great video, I really love these! I have a pink one I've had since I was 12, I'm now 27. They just need regular pruning to keep them bushy otherwise they get super leggy. Corbin

This video came on time. I just found what I believe is a Thanksgiving Cactus (cuttings actually) and thanks to you I know how to care for it. Hoping to get the other two.

This was very informative and helpful. It appears there is a 50/50 split on propagating in water versus soil amongst plant enthusiasts however. It seems both methods work.

I love watching your videos girl. Your demeanor is amazing and I feel like your heart is gold. Love the energy & your knowledge. Watching from Okeechobee Florida 💘🫶🏼

I just picked up two Spring Cactus from Lowes too in Concord, CA! So excited. Thanks for the tips.

ive found some old almost dead, thanksgiving cactus, they’re very small, some have roots, some are propagations, some are in my propagation er 😭. i’m hoping for big beautiful plants one day im excited to see how they grow and maybe bloom!! thank you for this video

The blooming times arnt so true in hybrids and well cared for plants my Christmas cactus boomed 3 times last year and it bloomed again in January. EDIT: Also have you thought about getting a variegated one and a Schlumbergera opuntioides it's really cool!

Very informative video! I will have to check mine more thoroughly to see if its Thanksgiving or Christmas! Never really understood the difference. So Thank You Erika! ♡

Thanks for sharing this nice Video and its a great imformation stay blessed 😀👍👍

I have a huge thanksgiving cactus....I have made about 5, 6in pots out of cuttings taken off of it and it looks like I barely pruned it. It's in a 10 or 12 inch pot now, and I need to bump it up again now. These cactus grow fast.I put mine outside on my porch over the spring and summer, as it loves our hot, humid North Carolina weather. ( My plant is about 5/6 years old)

Thank you so much for the identification of each plant. It helped me to know what kind I have and which ones I need to get.

Thank you! Water propagation made easy. Especially like the species delineation.

I would like to see a follow up on your water propigation and potting pls.

Thank you so much for this video, it was super helpful! I now know that my cactus is a spring cactus! Which I had no idea was a thing! I was wondering why the leaves on my plant didn't really look like a Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus, but now I know why😂

Really enjoyed this video!

Beautiful plants! You’re doing a good job keeping all of them. Wish all my plants will be like them in winter time 🥰

Fantastic information!! Good job..

good job on describing al 3 plants i got two i need the christmas cactus lol

Thank you so much for very helpful information! 👍💖

I like the spring catcus flower

The first one I received from a friend who was tossing the plant out. It was in clay dirt.... Not potting soil. I was young and didn't know any better. I kept it alive for years with no blooms. Then I had to move across country, so I gave it to my grandfather. He hung it was n his front porch in summer and brought it inside for the snowy winters. The 2nd summer hanging on his porch it bloomed like crazy. We never changed the clay dirt nor repotted it. Grandpa went to a nursing home and I have no idea what happened to the plant. It had a good life while grandpa was alive. . I've had several since then... most would die to neglect or a pet attack. I have one now from last year,,, waiting for it to bloom this season.

Thanks for doing this video! Now I need to look at my moms and identify it. 😉 I know to propagate it now too!

BEST video on this, by far, and so fun n enjoyable! Thx! :-)

Thank you for the lovely video.

My thanksgiving cactus blooms around Thanksgiving and Easter.

Department stores need to stop mislabeling. Thought I bought Xmas cactus but instead is a thanksgiving one. Thanx for the education chicky

Love them!!

Wow Erika! Such great information. 👍🏼😊I specifically like the Easter cactus the best. I have yet to own any of these bc im afraid of killing them.

Just osm beautiful flowers n plants 👏👏👏👏👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

I am a new subscriber, thank you for sharing 🙏🌺

Ur plants super cute

Spring is my favourite x

I got a Christmas cactus with buds and Christmas was yesterday but it hasn't bloomed yet and I got the plan t from my aunt

Bought Xmas clipping on Etsy three years ago, placed in East window, growing but no blooms. Recently moved to West window, plant seem happier. Thanks for your info

Have 2 pink easter cactus put in one pot hope for a huge bloom...

Great video I was dissapointed to see only 880 likes. You by far are best presenter Ive seen. I subcribed dec 25 2020 Dont give up you have natural talent It takes time Best of luck Merry Christmas from Ontario Canada

I have my Thanksgiving can tus I'm white flower, Christmas cactus in red, and Easter cactus in orange or yellow still looking for the perfect one .but thank you for your video God bless.i live in Florida perfect weather

Best explanation thanks

Very informative.

Hi I enjoyed your blog on the holiday cactus, but I was like to ask what lights are you using and where did you get them from , they are lovely and bright thank you x

Thank you for always being so informative, Erika! What time of year is ok to start propagating a Christmas cactus? Is right now a good time? I hadn't even thought about doing that til now :) I hope I'm as good at it as you are! Stay safe and stay well!! :)

Thank you for this video. I have an Easter cactus that is starting to wrinkle. I just bought it in the spring. I dumped out the soil. ( it was pretty wet. 🤮. it looked like mud ). Left a little around the roots , then put it in Orchid bark. Once it starts to perk up .. I might put it in a cactus mixture ( which I don’t have right now) Wish me 🍀

Thank you so much for this video!! Do there need fertilizer? Also can you tell me the difference between plant food and fertilizer and are they both necessary for plants?

My Thanksgiving cactus is blooming right now - 4/16/21! She's under grow lights in my living room. I don't do anything special for lighting. I feed her as I do the rest of my plants, but don't water her quite as much. The first year she bloomed, it was from fall through spring! Thus her name - Oat-C (Over Achiever Thanksgiving Cactus). Lol Thank you for the info and the video. I want to learn about these, because I just bought a bunch! Two Easter cacti, one with deep red buds and the other will be delicate pale pink. Then three Christmas cacti all in different colors, but not labeled! The Easter cacti came with two cuttings from the seller's parent plant. We accidentally broke a three segment piece off of one of the Christmas cacti and I accidentally broke a piece off of Oat-C yesterday, so I'm trying to root the cuttings. I'll have so many... I love it! Thank you, again for the info in your video!

I don't know what it is but I can NEVER get those christmas and Easter cactus to grow, I've tried everything, changing soil, light, etc., but I'm a expert at growing Thanksgiving cactus, have been growing them for years! BTW nice video!

easter i love white flowers and light pink flowers but thanksgiving i like the orange flower we dont have thanksgiving here but we have halloween and pumpkins are orange but i have white flower and dark red flower, i dont have an christmas

eastern windows, is what i use, and i have some in south as well, but i shut the blinds mid day

I didn't realize they would get a woody stem like that, I've never seen that! Very cool

Erica watch about the seed buts. May inform us how to grow them from seeds thank you God bless

Thank you!

Great video😁 will definitely be looking next time to see if they are labeled correctly and make a selection 😉🌵

Loved your video! Very informative and easy to follow. Glad I’m not the only one who felt overwhelmed with these! I have a Thanksgiving and an Easter cactus currently and had issues with overwatering at first, which led to fungus gnats. Has that happened to you?

So my Christmas cactus is definitely a thanksgiving cactus 🥴 thanks girl!

Oh so you could maybe mount like stag horn fern ?

Great video I have a Thankgiving catus and the leaves are crinkled I think it go to much water iam drying it our but not use when I should water it again or should I repot it iam in in Vancouver Bc so we get lots of rain and I have it on an east facing window I have had it for a few years and had it outside all summer feeding it then when 8 brought it in for the winter I Sparyed it with insecticide soap

Thank you for very good information

My neighbor gave me a few clippings from her, what I now know is a thanksgiving cactus.

Christmas w red/pink

I would like to see you show us the plants as you describe

Hi, I just got a thanksgiving cactus labelled as a Christmas cactus and the buds are dropping off. Do I need to prune the leaves? And is it okay to have it on a table in front of french doors which get a lot of winter sun?