How to Care for a Thanksgiving Cactus Plant
I bought a plant that has a card saying it’s a Thanksgiving Cactus. How is a Thanksgiving Cactus different than a Christmas Cactus? Is the care different? How do I get it to flower.
Thanksgiving Cactus Description: Just like the name says, a Thanksgiving Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) blooms around Thanksgiving. Its a relative of the Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) which blooms around Christmas. The leaves of a Thanksgiving Cactus are flat and wide and have serrated leaves. The leaves of a Christmas Cactus have smooth edges. Both a Thanksgiving and a Christmas Cactus are easy care plants that bloom for many weeks and live for many years. There are several things that play a key role in helping a Thanksgiving Cactus to bloom at the right time. This is a thermo-photoperiodic plant, the amount of light and and the proper temperature determines if and when the plant flowers. So starting about 4-6 weeks before you want your Thanksgiving Cactus to bloom, provide 12 hours a day of light and 12 hours a day of darkness. During this time, the ideal night- time temperature should be 50°-60°F
(10°-15.6°C). Reduce your watering slightly and do not soak the soil, only moisten the top few inches. Although a Thanksgiving Cactus needs fertilizer when actively developing leaves, once the buds appear do not feed the plant. Remove dead flowers as soon as possible to help the plant continue to bloom.
How to Care for a Thanksgiving Cactus
Light: A Thanksgiving Cactus likes bright indirect light, but no direct sun for most of the year. Starting about 4-6 weeks before you want your Thanksgiving Cactus to bloom, provide 12 hours a day of light and 12 hours a day of darkness. Once the buds appear you can move the plant back into bright indirect light.
Water: Keep the soil of a Thanksgiving Cactus barely moist most of the year, when the plant is actively growing. After your Thanksgiving Cactus has finished flowering , water less and keep the soil dryer. If you allow the soil to get too dry, the stems will start to shrivel and look wilted. Fortunately, once you water, the stems will perk up. When new growth starts to appear in the early spring, resume your regular watering schedule.
Fertilizer: Feed a Thanksgiving Cactus monthly from early spring to around September. Use a balanced, water soluble fertilizer that contains magnesium. Always dilute your plant food to 1/2 the recommended strength.
Humidity: Even though this plant is called a cactus, it does like humidity at 50% or more.
Temperature: In order for the flower buds on a Thanksgiving Cactus to set properly, the correct temperature is very important. If the room is too warm, the buds will not set and the plant will not bloom. Once the buds start to develop, the day the temperature should be 60-65°F (16°-18°C). At night the temperature should be about 10 degrees cooler. After the buds have set and the flowers are starting to appear, the temperature in the room can be about 10 degrees warmer, 70-75°F (21°-24°C) during the day and 60°-70°F (16°-21°C) at night.
