Easter & Thanksgiving Cactus Care for Summer 2024: Watering, Fertilizing, Light, & Media

[@sharonholmes2470]

💗 You do a marvelous job keeping tabs on all of your plants and it shows! Blessings dearest friend. 😇

[@OrchidWhisperer]

@@sharonholmes2470 thank you, Sharon! Especially when it's this hot I keep a close eye out. I know you're used to that in the AZ heat. Take good care, dear friend 🧡 😇🌸

[@africanqueen1147]

BEAUTIFUL .❤🙏🏾

[@hillbillyorchids]

Oh Paula Pink has a bud huh! What a silly plant! 😂 Big Red has his own zip code now! Hes beast Red! 😂😂

[@OrchidWhisperer]

@@hillbillyorchids 😆 Beast Red! Oh my, 🤣 🤣 Can you believe how Paula Pink has grown! She's such a pretty girl...and that bud. I knew that would crack you up! 😇

[@ellietobe]

My “holiday” cactus is not near a window. It is under a grow light. I ran out of windows. Anyway, it has new leaves on just about every stem. I have used my orchid fertilizer on it once during the late spring and that seemed to speed up growth quite a bit. I have a smaller holiday cactus that I propagated from the original plant, however, my cat decided to attack the poor thing and pulled it right out of the pot. It was looking pretty sad when I found it on the floor. It is replanted but does not have the kind of growth that the other has. I did not want to fertilize it right after what happened to it. I think that it could probably be safe now. It is looking better and I have protected it from anymore assaults. I still have not found a real Christmas cactus but my hunt continues.

[@OrchidWhisperer]

@@ellietobe most of the Christmas cacti now are hybrids, not a true Christmas cactus. Big Red has qualities of both a Thanksgiving and a Christmas cactus. Some of the blades are rounded, some are pointed. I hope you find one! Happy 😇 growing! 🌸

[@ROlson-dx2jc]

Hi Amy. I so admire the beauty and health of your plants. I have a two part question: My Thanksgiving Cactus had a thick mat of roots on top of its pot, very few in the middle and several coming out of the drainage holes ( it was in terracotta) is that normal? How do you deal with the mat of roots? 2nd question is how to deal with transplant shock? I repotted it into a clear orchid pot as you suggest, now he's pouting ( at least I will be able to see what is going on with his roots now) . Thank you, you are my go to person for holiday cactus care!

[@OrchidWhisperer]

@@ROlson-dx2jc hi! I've never had a clump of roots on top of the pot like that. I think I would cover them over with extra potting soil. It's late in the year to repot...I did the same thing to Big Red a few years ago...and he pouted, too. You can mist the plant every few days, that helps keep them hydrated. Also, CalMag at a rate of about 100 ppm (or 1/4 tsp per gallon) will help. Happy growing! 😇🌸

[@ROlson-dx2jc]

@OrchidWhisperer Thank you! He hasn't completely collapsed just leaning a little. I should have not repotted. I'll try the cal mag maybe with seaweed to help him along. This poor plant has been through a lot between me and my cat. He's named Mike after Mike Tyson because he never gives up !

[@OrchidWhisperer]

@@ROlson-dx2jc Cal mag with seaweed should do the trick. I would just do the seaweed once or twice...stop it by the end of August. It might confuse the plant to grow instead of bloom. I hope Mike Tyson perks up and blooms well for you this year! 😇🌸

[@ROlson-dx2jc]

@@OrchidWhisperer Thank you 😊

[@franricks1608]

Would it be a mistake to repot my “baby” cactus at this time of year? They grew well over the winter but now all show withered sections.

[@OrchidWhisperer]

@@franricks1608 you can repot them during the summer, I don't think it will be a problem. 😇

[@franricks1608]

@@OrchidWhisperer Thank you

[@Mimi-63]

Hi Amy, I noticed today that a section of my Easter cactus dropped off. Looking closely at it I noticed the bottom “leaves” have brown patches on them. I know mature cacti start looking woody but this looks different than that. Any thoughts on what could be happening? Chrissy 🤠

[@OrchidWhisperer]

@@Mimi-63 hi Chrissy! I just googled "brown patches on Easter cactus" and it gave me a lot of info about how it can happen. Everything from pests to over or underwater. Check for pests first, and then go thru the list on Google. I didn't know it was so common in an Easter cactus. Have a great day! 😇🐶🌸❤️

[@Mimi-63]

I will have to Google, I used duck duck go and didn’t find much… or maybe I was just panicking lol 😂. I’ll check for bugs & then check the list. Thank you Amy, I’m always thankful for your help❤️, have a blessed weekend🙏🏻🌸💜!!