I use 50% orchid bark, 30% peat-based compost, and 20% washed grit water just goes right through the pot when watering but it works for me here in the UK
Yes! I live in Idaho and I've always wanted one of these plants but scared to get one because of my not so green thumb and fear of not being able to grow it in Idaho. But your video definitely helped so excited to go find one!
For the blooming, what I found is very important is to have them have less light. My christmas cacti (which are in my bedroom) always start to bud when I am going home for the Christmas holidays, which is pretty late as they normally bloom in November/December. Since I am not there to disrupt the "days getting shorter/ night getting longer" signal by putting the lights on, they can bloom. However, the temperature stay around the same and I water them the same way all year long.
Botruc, that’s awesome! I have lived in locations where I didn’t have to do anything and they just bloomed every year as well! But for others who don’t live in locations that have less than ideal conditions naturally, many have to put a little more effort to get theirs to bloom. Glad yours are doing great! Happy growing! 💓
if you cover them with cloth when you buy them or plastic to get them to the car, and set them in a cool room for a couple days, they wont drop their buds,
trying to get my Christmas cactus to bloom: my grage is heated so could I keep them in my storeroom were its colder until they start blooming ? there is no window in the storeroom, or should I keep it in the storeroom at night and upstairs during the day?
Thanks for the tips. I recently bought1 & noticed a lot of buds & leaves falling off. I was told to check if plant was over or under watered; I checked soil & yes...sopping wet!!
Wow yours look amazing. Thumbs up! What do you think, could I just use ready orchid media mix when potting these guys? The one I have now is in normal potting soil.
i had to bring mine in from outside, the outdoors was killing them wehre i live it gets, 115 and mine were dying so i brought them in put them in the tub and in the cool, i had to cool them down by watering their leaves and getting the dust off, they were so limp, they will stay in there a couple days, and theni will bring them out, i am sure , i may loose one or two, but i had no choice , our summer just got too hot this year
i love it when mine bloom but i really do not care, i dont do anything special to mine, some years they do, some years no matter what i do, they will not always bloom every year, i have way too many house plants to do that haha
Would a mixture of half cactus soil and half pumice do? Around Christmas I was gifted one and it was in a soil (not sure what kind because i did not plant it). Im worried the soil it was given to me in is going to be too moist, even if I let the soil dry between watering. I am newer to plants. I happened to stumble on a few of your other videos about lithops. Thank you so much for your knowledge, it is very appreciated!
Gretchen Goyke, yes that should work! Several of mine are in a similar mix like succulent soil/pumice and they are quite happy. 😉. Pot size is almost more important even when thinking about how fast your potting mix will dry out. Because as long as the pot is just a small amount bigger then the root ball, and not really deep or a lid bigger around that the root ball, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about it drying out too slow. Some of mine were in just regular potting soil from the nursery and I haven’t changed it because the roots are filling up the pot and the plant is huge, so it uses up all the water pretty fast even through the soil is “wrong” if that makes sense? But as soon as it needs a bigger pot I will give it different soil as well. Just wanted to point out it’s not an emergency to change the soil if the pot is the correct size. Hope that helps! And hope your plant likes it’s new dirt!
New subscriber here, great video. Can I use horticultural charcoal in the potting mix to add aeration instead of sand or perlite? I happen to have quite a bit of charcoal on hand, and I regularly use it in my orchid potting mix.
Amy B, no, sadly charcoal could be more of a substitute for bark, as its charred wood, but not really comparable to pearlite or pumice. So it could be an ok additive depending on your soil, but not as helpful with aeration, mineral content, moisture control etc. Hope that helps!.
My thanksgiving cactus is starting to bud but the leaves looks wrinkled! Do you have any ideas why? I live in a dry climate and I water it once every week and half or two!
misting with a spray bottle helps fix this problem, though I don't know if it ok to mist when blooming , maybe someone else can clarify the misting thing if its blooming. I do 100% know it safe to mist when there's no buds in the plant and it works well for me. your problem could be due to lack of humidity.
yes you could because there care is so similar, but I don't recommend it because they are still two different plants and when they grow super big its going to be a pain in the but to separate.
