How To Get Your Christmas Cactus To Bloom Again - Joy Us Garden

You bought a beautiful blooming Christmas Cactus last year. It’s still looking good, and now you want your Christmas Cactus to bloom again during the holiday season. With a little effort, you can make it happen. Yours may bloom on its own, but if not, here’s what you can do. Sometimes they’ll bloom on their own, but if not, here’s what to do.

I’ve been growing Christmas Cacti since I was a little girl. Back in Connecticut, we had a few in our greenhouse that always bloomed during the holidays with minimal effort. Later, in Santa Barbara, I grew them in a shady spot outdoors in pots, where the mild climate suited them. These days, I’m in Tucson and grow them indoors.

They’re very long-lasting, easy-care houseplants. Even if they never bloomed, I’d still love them for their unusual, appealing foliage and wacky, arching growth habit.

One of my Christmas Cacti (actually a Thanksgiving Cactus, noted by the pointed leaf ends) with red & white blooms. Growers often plant 2–3 colors in one pot.

Table of Contents

• About Christmas Cactus
  • Christmas Cactus Blooms
  • Christmas Cactus Care
• Steps To Get Christmas Cactus To Bloom
• Christmas Cactus Blooming Outdoors vs Indoors
• Christmas Cactus To Bloom FAQs

About Christmas Cactus

Christmas Cacti are actually epiphytic tropical cacti, not desert cacti. The ones you see for sale in bloom around November are usually Thanksgiving Cacti (Schlumbergera truncata), like the one pictured above. Christmas Cacti(Schlumbergera × buckleyi) are timed to flower closer to Christmas.

That means most plants marketed as “Christmas Cactus” are Thanksgiving Cactus. It makes sense, we start decorating for the holidays in November and often buy poinsettias at that time as well. A grower once told me that a Thanksgiving Cactus has thicker, sturdier segments (stems), which makes them easier to ship, so they’ve become the ones most often sold in November and December. You can tell them apart by the stems, Thanksgiving Cactus have pointed, jagged edges, while Christmas Cactus have smoother, more rounded ones.

Most Thanksgiving Cacti are labeled as Christmas Cacti, and sometimes as Holiday Cacti. No matter which one you have, they all bloom in much the same way, just at slightly different times. Mine usually start opening buds in mid-November, and the flowering lasts into Christmas.

Your Christmas Cactus can bloom without fertilizer, but the right nutrients definitely help. I use a water-soluble African Violet fertilizer, which mine seem to like. I feed monthly from mid-February through mid-September, then stop. They don’t need fertilizer during the dormancy period.

If you don’t have African Violet food, any balanced houseplant fertilizer diluted to half strength will work. Just don’t overdo it. Too much fertilizer too often can cause salt build-up and stress the plant.

Christmas Cactus Blooms

There are a few things I want to tell you about Christmas Cactus flowers and related tidbits before I get to the flowering part. You may be new to this popular holiday houseplant, and the following points may help you out.

1. They bloom at the end of the leaves, which are technically stems. They’re prolific bloomers, especially as they age. Older plants can get covered in flower buds.
2. Each bloom lasts 5-7 days, depending on the temperature of your home. The warmer your home, the faster the flowers will fade.
3. They tend to bloom in stages, so the flowering period typically lasts 3-6 weeks.
4. They originally had red flowers, but now hybrids are bred and sold in white, pink, magenta, lavender, peach, salmon, and yellow.
5. You can remove the flowers as they die. Pinch them off with an easy twist.
6. They bloom best when tight in their pots, so don’t rush to repot them yearly.
7. If yours doesn’t flower the 1st year, one of the reasons could be that it’s simply acclimating to the drier air in your home. They’ve been grown in greenhouses in humid environments, after all.
8. Remember, this is a tropical cactus, not a desert cactus. Christmas Cactus plants may not flower as well in dry environments.
9. When you bought your Christmas Cactus, it may have had multiple buds and flowers at the tips of each leaf segment. That’s because it was grown in a greenhouse under ideal humidity conditions. At home, you may not see quite as many. Mine will sometimes produce a few double blooms, but most are singles. Even so, the flowers are showy and beautiful — a few blooms can still put on a wonderful display. A bit of extra light and humidity can also encourage more buds.

10. Do you have questions about growing a Christmas Cactus? Answers here.

Christmas Cactus Care

For your Christmas Cactus to bloom, it needs to stay healthy year-round. These plants do best in bright, indirect light — a medium to high exposure. They require ample light to grow, set buds, and keep their foliage looking good. Just be sure to keep them out of hot windows or direct sunlight, which can burn their fleshy leaves.

Even though they’re succulents, Christmas Cacti aren’t desert plants. In their native rainforest habitats, Schlumbergeras grow on trees and rocks rather than in soil. At home, give your plant a deep watering, allowing the excess water to drain from the bottom, and let the mix dry before watering again.

The frequency of watering depends on several factors: your home’s temperature, light exposure, pot size and type, and the soil mix. When the plant is in bloom, water a little more often to keep the flowers looking fresh. After it finishes flowering, reduce watering in winter; then increase again in spring and summer as growth picks up, if necessary.

Complete Christmas Cactus Care guide here.

Steps To Get Christmas Cactus To Bloom

They need a short dormancy period to bloom again, which is triggered by shorter days (long nights) and cooler temperatures.

It can take a bit of effort to provide this. Some people move their plant into a closet or basement each evening, while others use a spare room or office that naturally has the right conditions. Another option is to place a box over your plant around 6 pm and remove it the next morning between 6 and 8 am. Put your plant to bed early each night so it can have long, restful nights to set buds!

LIGHT

A Christmas Cactus needs equal or longer periods of darkness to set buds. If you want yours to bloom around Thanksgiving, start the process in early fall. Give it 12–14 hours of darkness each day, starting approximately 6–8 weeks before you want flowers.

When I grew mine outdoors, they naturally got the right amount of darkness as the days shortened. Now that I grow them indoors, the one in my front hall gets enough darkness on its own, while the one in my kitchen needs to be moved into my office by the second week of October.

WATER

Keep the plant on the drier side during dormancy. Wait until the top half of the soil has dried out before watering again. Depending on the temperature, soil mix, and pot size or type, this could mean watering only every 3–5 weeks. Just don’t let it go bone dry for too long, as that can stress the plant.

TEMPERATURE

Temperatures between 50°F and 65°F ar ideal for bud set, comparable to a cool bedroom at night.

WHEN BUDS APPEAR

Once buds start forming, move your plant back to a bright spot and return to your regular care routine. and enjoy the beautiful flowers.

Christmas Cactus Blooming Outdoors vs Indoors

I’ll include this in case you live in a temperate climate and want to grow them outdoors. My Christmas cacti, which grew outdoors, set buds in late fall. As the days grew shorter and cooler, the changes they needed to bloom occurred naturally. I hardly had to do a thing to get them flowering in the garden — I’m sure being six blocks from the Pacific Ocean in ideal conditions helped!

I never let my Christmas Cacti go completely dry, because if you do, the leaves can shrivel and turn reddish. The one you see in the photo collage at the very end of this post turned reddish that summer due to excessive sun, but it gradually turned green again as the days shortened in late fall. Its color shifted once more when evening temperatures dropped in winter.

The color change is caused by environmental stress. One of my former client’s Christmas Cacti turned completely orange — it grew on her front porch and was rarely watered. These succulent beauties are surprisingly resilient.

I now live in Tucson, AZ, and brought one of those Christmas Cacti with me when I moved. I grow it indoors, and although it still blooms, it produces fewer flowers here. Let’s just say it’s not as fond of the dry climate and misses the coastal fog.

Christmas Cactus To Bloom FAQs

Can a Christmas Cactus bloom more than once a year?

Yes, they can. One of mine often puts out a lighter flush of blooms in February or March. The other one hasn’t so far, but it’s younger. To encourage this, make sure the plant stays healthy with bright, indirect light, proper watering, and occasional fertilization.

More info on that here.

Is fertilizer necessary for blooms, or will it flower without it?

Your Christmas Cactus can bloom without fertilizer, but the right nutrients definitely help. I use a water-soluble African Violet fertilizer, which mine seem to like. I feed monthly from mid-February through mid-September, then stop. They don’t need fertilizer during the dormancy period.

If you don’t have African Violet food, any balanced houseplant fertilizer diluted to half strength will work. Just don’t overdo it — too much fertilizer too often can cause salt build-up and stress the plant.

Why does my Christmas Cactus only bloom on one side?

This is most likely a light issue. The plant needs to receive light on all sides to bloom evenly. You can rotate the plant every month to avoid this.

What’s the difference between a Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter cactus?

These three types of holiday cacti are timed to bloom at different seasons, and their leaves look a bit different. A Thanksgiving Cactus usually flowers in November and has pointed, notched leaf edges. Christmas Cactus blooms closer to late December and has smoother, rounded edges. Easter Cactus appears in spring with vivid pastel flowers, and its leaf segments are more scalloped.

Do I need to repot my Christmas Cactus to get it to bloom?

No, bud formation is dependent on a dormant period – short days, cool temperatures, and reduced watering. Christmas Cacti bloom best when slightly snug in their pots, so don’t rush to repot—more on repotting here.

Video Guide

Conclusion: Getting your Christmas Cactus to bloom takes a bit of effort, but it’s well worth it. With proper year-round care, this holiday cactus produces stunning blooms, making it a festive favorite.

Do you love Christmas Cactus? We have more guides for you! Christmas Cactus Care, Christmas Cactus Repotting, Christmas Cactus Propagation, Christmas Cactus Flowering More Than Once A Year, and Christmas Cactus Leaves Turning Orange.

Happy gardening,

• About the Author
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Nell Foster

Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.

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