I never do well with these. It’s just a form of torture for these lovely cheery red Christmas plants.
I put off buying one until right before Christmas, otherwise guests in my home will enquire, “What happened to your flower?”. For which there is no response but, “I killed it.”
Now I apologize to the plant when I buy it, for the horrible death it’s about to undergo. This year the mister brought 3 back from the flower shop, one enormous. I thought it had a shot at going the distance but it currently enjoys the status of least close to death amongst the three.
I water, but there’s little sun this time of the year and it’s cold near the windows, with the furnace on I can’t stay on top of the water. I try, I really do.
When I walk by leaves fall to the floor.
It’s a sad, sad thing. And they are all clustered at the front entry so first thing you see is the trio of dying plants. Lovely.
You mean they’re supposed to last past Christmas?!? :eek:
I usually stop watering mine right around the time I stop watering the Christmas tree. By the first week of January or so they’re starting to lose leaves. They get thrown out around the 15th.
Seriously, they’re hibernating. Yes, even if you live in sunny Florida, even if you keep it indoors. They “sleep” from about January 15 to sometime in mid-spring. Then they will grow back all those lovely leaves. No really. Yes, I know they look dead. They’re supposed to.
But if you want them to put out red blooms again next Christmas, you have to put them in a dark closet at some point. I forget when.
Mine’s a miniature, a gift. It’s still alive and doing well in the kitchen window, right over the sink so I don’t forget to water. But before this one, mine were always dead before New Year’s too.
The three-year-old Christmas Cactus is finally dying though. It didn’t bloom this year. Think it needs re-potting.
Mine lost all its red the week of Christmas when I wasn’t home and there was no one around to water it.
Now it has sprouted wee green leaves all over and seems to be doing well. If last year is any indication, by summer I’ll have a nice bushy but totally green plant, which no matter how much I try I can’t get to turn red (I tried the closet trick and I tried giving it exactly seven hours of light every day - no luck).
Mine’s been flourishing nicely for a year and a few months now in a sunny window. Didn’t have red leaves for ages but a couple weeks ago it sprouted some tiny red ones on the end of a stem. Maybe the cold snap caused it? I just throw water at it and try not to spend too much time near it in case my black thumb kicks in.
I hate these bloody things. We get them at work every year, and for the past three years I let it die.
This year I am attempting to take care of one. I’m really good with plants, but as I don’t care for it it gets very little attention. I wouldn’t say it’s thriving, but it’s fairly healthy and doing OK. Now I’d feel bad, killing it.
Eh. I never even get them. They’re really not that pretty, except for the contrast of colors. They become leggy spider-stems with leaves few and far between once the chemical the growers use to dwarf them wears off, they’re totally green most of the year (when they’re not actually bare), and they’re incredibly persnickety about light if you intend to get the bracts to turn red again. Even incredibly dim light (like light coming in under the closet door) during their dark period will ruin things. It’s just not worth it.
Christmas cactus, on the other hand, have been good to me. Usually all I have to do is put it outside for the summer, bring it in once the weather starts to dip into the 50s, and they’ll have buds within a week or two.
Ours is still bright red and as lush and wonderful as it was the day we got it.
A straight-forward, but kinda fussy method to make them re-flower is [url=http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/poinsettia/reflowering.html]here. It’s not just “toss the poor plant in a dark closet for a month.” When you can pick them up for $3.99 at the drugstore, is it worth the effort?
Wait…you mean you keep these things? Isn’t that like leaving your Christmas lights up all year, only it takes effort?
I don’t get it: I mean, they just would not attractive when they’re green, and there’s no way to get it to turn red next year. (Sure, they tell you there’s a way, but have you met anyone who’s actually done it?)
Plus, I’m pretty sure WhyNot’s right: they’re annuals, not perrenials. The leaves are supposed to die in January. For some plants, death really is just a part of life.
Actually, WhyNot didn’t say they were annuals. They don’t actually die when their leaves fall (well, in most American homes they do, but that’s not a growth habit, it’s a growing habit, i.e. something that happens because of what the people who own them do or don’t do). They’re perennials, but they’re herbaceous perennials. Like the tulips in your garden, they fade and die off when it gets cooler and drier then regrow when it starts to warm up and rain.
No, no, no. They are perennial. And perfectly nice, normal plants. The problem is most of the ones you buy during the holidays were completely abused before you ever bought them. They’re destined to die, unless you’re good with plants. It’s like a human pumped up on steroids & PCP. Sure, they work great for a short time, but who’s surprised when they kick off when they’re mission’s over?
No, no, no, you don’t have to stick them in a closet. For heaven’s sake, are there closets in nature? No! :mad:
Give 'em a rest period, then treat them like your other semi-tropical plants. If you want them to bloom, they need to know the days are getting shorter, so starting around September 21st, don’t expose them to anything buy natural sunshine. No nighttime artificial lights. That’s it. Easy.
Ok, so I guess I should take mine out of the artificial lighting, eh, and bring it home. Will think about it in the spring, when I plant my own garden. (Isn’t it time yet?)
Someone gave me one shortly before Christmas, and it still looks good (it’s pink and white instead of red). I have it under a gro-lite at work.
I had another rather large one at home, which I’d had for a couple years, but I accidently damaged the roots pretty badly when I tried repotting it and so it’s gone now. :mad: I never tried to get it to flower again, but it was still a pretty nice-looking plant.
:mad: I never tried to get it to flower again, but it was still a pretty nice-looking plant.