My Christmas Cactus Bonsai, The Bonsai Zone, Jan 2022

I'm pruning and repotting my 27 year old Christmas Cactus bonsai. I also prune up a cutting taken from the plant.
To see previous videos of this succulent bonsai, click on the playlist here....
• Christmas_Cactus_Bonsai
#TheBonsaiZone

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

I find this as a most fascinating bonsai. There is a nice development of the trunk. The pruning is with great thought and masterfully done. This is a great tutorial. It is great to do a plant that no one would think of to bonsai. Super video!!!

[@JackC1961]

A Master class in pruning and the reasons behind the cuts you make. Explained very well and great camera angles, we can see whats going on, brilliant, this should be taught in all Bonsai schools. Quotes of the day: "Any plants you can get a tree like form from is a Bonsai" and "What ever makes you happy"

[@conspiraterry7393]

I know right? I never would have thought of it, a christmas cactus bonsai!

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

With all those cuttings. I bet you could make starter plants and make a good $5/ 2.5 inch pot and make some money. I cannot believe all those good cuttings.

[@jesperFrost]

You made me start my own Christmas cactus

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

The new pot looks like a great match between tree and pot. Nice simple planting in the pot. Great Safety Tip!!! Mask/Perlite. I cannot ger over how nice the trunk looks.

[@OddBonsai]

All the knowledge you shared in this video will come in handy when I prune and repot an old cactus that I inherited from my grandparents. It must be somewhere between 20-30 years old but it was probably never pruned so it spreads out like a spider plant or other hanging plants. I just love that gray pot! It's so nice that I think any bonsai would look good in it. :)

[@andersnrregren9087]

After seeing yours and mark's cactus i got cutting from 2 defrent color cactus one is 30years old but the biggest one is from 1945 my grand farther gave it his wife and it was a big plant back then so age is unsure but must be close to 100years. So now i have pure white flowers and pinkish white but my cuttings are one or to leaf i like to start as small as i can so i can say i "made it" my self

[@carolholt416]

I saw in a previous video you had the Christmas cactus so I had to put mine in a bonsai pot now you did a video for it and now it needs the chop! So happy to know what to do with i now. Can't wait! Like you said do what makes you happy. Thank you again Nigel. I love sitting down in the morning to watch your videos.

[@Arbusculus]

Thank you Nigel! Everything you can make look like a bonsai, is to be considered as a bonsai. You rekindled my passion for bonsai with your videos and your take on bonsais. Thanks for that!

[@natrjack965]

I'd never have thought that Christmas cactus would make a bonsai but you did it Nigel and it looks awesome ..

[@Flesh_Tube]

That pot looks perfect with this tree

[@BlueJayBonsai]

I have never seen such an amazing Christmas cactus! 😍 I only wish my mom was alive to see it. She loved her Christmas cactus, but it disappeared when she retired to Florida. It would be around 30 years old if I still had it.

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Thanks Jay, it seems a lot of people have some around, they must be very tough to survive so long!

[@nataliekidd2135]

I remember the first time I watched one of your pruning videos. I was so shocked by the end you had little to no leaves left! It seems so counter intuitive but it really does produce beautiful results.

[@patsfreund9164]

That pot was made for this plant. It looks so wonderdul in it. Can't wait to see it in flower next year.

[@TheBonsaiGarden]

These make for beautiful and easily managed plants with a profusion of lovely flowers. I had always considered them to be more like succulents and never considered trying to bonsai them. I applaud your efforts Nigel, you may well be a pioneer, and the finished effort looks great in that pot. As I write, there is a Christmas cactus house plant at my elbow. I’m now looking at it with fresh eyes and wondering if my partner will notice if it disappears…

[@conspiraterry7393]

Or just "shrinks" drastically

[@styx62ga95]

@@conspiraterry7393 lol

[@mikereddy1019]

Just told my wife “guess who’s cactus is getting cut?!” Lol I do my chili peppers and citrus trees but would’ve never thought a Christmas cactus!!

[@emilypalmer1244]

Quite a Bob Ross of Bonsai

[@njoirae]

Can't wait to see another video of this cristmas cactus, especially when I've got my own now and flowering :)

[@carynludwig6667]

Great tutorial. I have always let mine grow with minimal intervention……not anymore! Very inspiring to really shape into a blooming upright willow style. My cactus is quite old and very woody. Will be a fun project for a real makeover. Thanks for posting! 👍

[@user-mb2qe7on4t]

I had a thanxgiving cactus when I watched your videos.. I transformed it to a bonsai… same color flowers..

[@dan-ig2ds]

You have really set this up well for next year’s growth!

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

The little cutting that you pruned looks nice in the pot you have for it.

[@vivadevega]

Watching you chop these plants down to nothing is fascinating and terrifying. I know it will look amazing in the months down the road but if I did that.. I would kill it. Lol

[@jackthefarmer08]

I've witnessed how much difference a suitable pot can make on a bonsai tree. It looks so nice.

[@BonsaiJCan]

The large Christmas cactus is looking really good and just awesome in the new pot. The smaller one is starting to look more mature and tree like, I also like the pot it's in. Really cool bonsai !

[@raton_garden]

Wow so beautiful planting 🎉❤🎉❤

[@chesh1rek1tten]

The Bob Ross of Bonsai.

[@zackau9807]

I don't think that pot could match the plant any better. The bright pink of the flowers, next to the dark grey of the pot, is spectacular!

[@invivobonsai]

I've been following this tree since your first video on it. The trunk is turning out great! It's a great example for experimenting with challenging or non traditional material. Keep rocking Nigel!

[@9dnoble]

Nigel, you said Subdivisions so many times I had to listen to the Rush song! Thanks

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Lol! Geddy Lee would be happy!

[@conspiraterry7393]

I just love the Christmas Cactus plant and I am going to take a much closer look at my white flowering beauty I have not yet thought about "bonsaiing"

[@kathiesizemore2754]

I love the way he uses different plants from the norm!

[@borisnoone]

The easiest and safest way to trim a Christmas cactus plant is to just gently twist the segments off with your hand - no tools required. The plant will quickly sprout new segments at the edge of the last segment and maybe a few lower down the branch, and the removed part can be used for propagation - most varieties root easily in a 50-50 peat-perlite mix or a similar airy growing medium.

[@craft-o-matic2377]

The Christmas Cactus is perfect for that pot Nigel! Love it! Lisa

[@pattivermeersch7348]

Excellent tutorial…. Thanks much appreciated

[@dennisfox8050]

Well done and I am headed to do two of mine as well, thanks!

[@prehistoricbonsai4334]

That big one is such an amazing tree Nigel! Wow, I just love how it looks in the new, freshly cleaned pot. I have a much younger Christmas Cactus that is almost done flowering too, I was thinking about doing some major pruning and repotting soon. Thanks so much for this detailed tutorial, just in time!

[@SamisBonsai]

I love Christmas Cactus. I bought one last year at a big box store. Sadly I didn't get any flowers this, but maybe that was because it wasn't in the greatest shape when I bought, so maybe it is still recovered. It is just starting to grow now and had spent the summer with it's segments just plumbing up.

[@ainati6121]

I like it better with all the leaves hanging than looking it like a bonsai

[@TheBonsaiZone]

They will grow back in again!

[@duskmoss]

Yes on what bonsai is because people like wisteria bonsai but those are vines and succulents are sometimes trees like baobab

[@chunk1200]

Hello thank you for working on a Christmas Cactus. I started one of my own its a very similar family to yours, the leaf shape and flowers are identical but the fuzzy spikes come out the end of the leaves on mine. The one i have was a small cutting i got in the mid-late 90s from my grandmothers plant that was huge in the late 80.

[@R_H21]

Hi Nigel! I haven’t been here in a while ‘cause I’ve been busy with my other obsession-watercolors! But nice to see this tree again. I was tempted to buy a Xmas cactus to grow like you (and I still would like to) but I just can’t. This is the year we are downsizing and we expect being on the move for a while. So I really have to keep my plants down to a minimum. I sold a jade (among others) that I had for a few years and was starting to get woody. 😢 So I totally understand how you must feel when there’s a good cutting but you know you just shouldn’t. P.S. So, so glad you’ve started to wear a mask when repotting. =)

[@kathispilberg3451]

Very good pruning instructions for the non-green thumb public

[@nikolcemarkovski7380]

Mr. Nigel, you shouldn't have cut all the woody branches, especially on the bigger one, it takes long time to develop such branches I think.

[@Rblock777]

Cant wait for spring pruning on my trees, I have learned a lot from your videos and already know how im going to prune everything

[@martinsmith3614]

Thanks for another fascinating lesson Nigel. Always learn something new and you explain things so well. Cheers from the not so snowy UK.

[@DavesBonsai]

That big one is looking great!

[@marysoldeeley2218]

I'm fascinated by the spines that yours have. I will have to look at my mother's. Her Christmas cactus is at least 40. she has had it since I was very young.

[@alaskatundrakid]

Wish I was close by would love to get the cuttings. I have never seen this done to this type of plant, interesting.

[@lakibhutia4434]

I like this video

[@BonsaiLearner]

I have been watching the progress of this project for years, hope to get a cutting of it one day

[@thenaturecreater8906]

Think the new pot fits the big one very good. Great choice Nigel!

[@zonnig46]

It is aways nice to look back to the real bonsai videos from long ago. Have you thought about it to plant all those cuttings in order to sell them ? Greets from Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

[@emmitstewart1921]

Cacti are sometimes classed as shrubs with woody trunks when mature. they are distantly related to apples, roses, peaches and other fruit trees, so you have a perfect right to call your plant a bonsai. At least as much as those who call their wisterias bonsai. Christmas cacti are true cacti. your cactus is Schlumbergera Buckleyi which was first bred in 1865 and is considered the true Christmas cactus. The ones you see in the stores with the pointed corners on their leaves are Schlumbergera Truncata hybrids and are considered as Thanksgiving cacti because they tend to bloom somewhat earlier. Christmas cacti are not usually sold in stores and are handed from friend to friend as cuttings or an old plant is passed down through family members just like bonsai because plants over a hundred years old are not uncommon. Since Christmas cacti are usually passed on as cuttings, you may quite probably have a clone of the first Buckleyi that sprouted in 1865, which would make your plant 165 years old. Buckleyis are highly prized in some circles, though by no means rare, and you might consider saving your clippings to share with your bonsai club members. Cuttings planted in the spring will bloom next Christmas. Unless they want to make a tree, the custom is to plant at least three cuttings in each pot facing in different directions to make a more balanced plant. Blooming can be insured by keeping your plant quite cool (10C to 15C) from October on.

[@mzaree3821]

I guess it's a good job but I don't think I'll let him give me a haircut. LOL

[@jifry69]

Muy bueno!

[@Derrick8WLee]

Nigel, I think the large one is a really nice bonsai, especially in the new pot.

[@jawoend]

waaaaw amazing😎😎😎😎

[@wodnyrak]

Nigel posted a Christmas cactus video? Means it’s time to prune mine as well ^^ Thank you for the inspiration!

[@TheQueensWish]

Time for an update on this one! It’s been a year.

[@louisezaros1616]

You don't make it look like a tough decision.

[@tone7560]

I was thinking he was just gonna leave only a couple trunks, he pruned the living shit outta that thing

[@dan-ig2ds]

Love the new pot!

[@dan-ig2ds]

You have really set up the plant well for next year’s growth!

[@urosknezevic3504]

So many new cuttings on table hhe

[@michaelmason4206]

Nigel, this was a great video I really like the way you explain what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. I know there’s a lot of bonsai KZbin channels out there and everybody’s a little bit different but the stuff that you talk about just makes so much sense to my level of plant knowledge. Do you happen to have an update on these two Christmas cactuses? It’s been a little over a year now?

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Both are doing well, check in the description, you will see the playlist for these and you can always see the latest video with an update on them!

[@GrantGreetings]

I got a pink Christmas Cactus like yours this year but mine doesn't have a brown trunk at all. Just green all the way to the dirt. How long before I see a brown trunk? I have three varigated Portulacaria Afra bonsai trees and they have brown trunks and look great, so succulents do make good bonsai. Love your videos. So inspiring!

[@koholohan3478]

Ardeniums are super popular for bonsai, at least here in Florida, and they're as succulent as they come lol.

[@patrickfo967]

Hi Nigel, your big Christmas cactus really looks great 👍🏻 however if it would be my tree the lowest branch would worry me. I mean it’s important because without it the tree would be two dimensional but the angle at the „shoulder“ is kind of weird. The new front view takes care of this problem, but doesn’t solve it. But that’s just my kind of view ! The pot really suits the tree !

[@sophiaangelini4368]

The new pot is lovely. Zone pruning is a demonstration of non sentimentality (sacrifice) for the future good.

[@dominiqueveron7086]

Although I do understand what you did to that 1st Shlumbergera bridgesii as a succulent-lover I cringed every step watching you ‘mutilate’ such a beautiful specimen, better looking than my own. However, now I look forward to see what will happen to it in the next few months. If I wasn’t so far, AB, I would buy the cuttings from you. Always love watching your posts Nigel.

[@louisezaros1616]

Seems like so much at once, no shock ,?

[@louisezaros1616]

Omg share the trimmings 😉

[@opuntiad8100]

To me this really looks like a bonsai version of opuntia Echios from the Galápagos Islands! It’s super cool! Maybe you could get a tortoise that reaches to eat a paddle!

[@TheBonsaiZone]

That would be cool!

[@CGKFPV]

ahhh I absolutely love this tree! Something about the weeping style cactus with flowers that just blows my mind :) I have two Xmas cacti in the works and I'm using yours as inspiration. Thanks for sharing.

[@andrewogawa1029]

How long will it take to bloom after the hard prune? I have 5 large plants that have at least 1 or 2 sets of blooms. I guess I like the mass of blooms. After your hard prune it would take at least a couple of years to get that. But then yours will look mote “bonsai”. Will be interested in follow-up.

[@louisezaros1616]

I cant see that flowering for a long time. I wonder how long to grow in.

[@4shore325]

This was really fascinating. I have several thanksgiving cactus and always wondered if it could be made into a bonsai. (I just got some Christmas clippings and hope they take and grow) The end result looks great and love the pot you chose. Curious to see it almost a year later. Will you be doing a follow up video on this particular plant(s)? What do you do with all the clippings? If you ever want a home for them, I would love them.

[@collinwong9007]

I love it! What do you use for Bonsai soil? There are so many options and it is so confusing.

[@davidhill1220]

This was very helpful Thank you But so painful to watch it slowly disappear Patricia

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Yes, I hope it grows back in even better!!

[@tinjoesstation]

How the heck did you get that trunk? That is awesome!!

[@lindyashford7744]

I have a massive schlumbergia just like this one, with some very woody branches, can I prune and root these? I took leaf cuttings last year that are doing very well but have not tried woody cuttings. I have three different varieties which I inherited from a friend, all of which are likely to be well over thirty years old. I would like to propagate several cuttings as trees thatI could pass back to the original owners family and friends when they root and start putting out foliage.

[@christineazmi5111]

Nigel, can you please tell me about what kind of moss you use at the base of the bonsai and how you care for it? Do you spray it with water periodically? Ty

[@Silkblossom]

These cacti are epifytes if remeber right.

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Yes, they love growing in the canopies of other trees!

[@ImNotAProfessional]

Hi nigel My Christmas cactus had a flower bud which started getting quite big and then fell off I only rooted the cutting about 10 months ago so could it of been that it didnt have good established roots? Or maybe under or over watering? Or maybe because i moved it the day before? Thanks

[@baldyeti]

Daggum, some serious knowledge dropping here, Mr. Nigel. And I’m on board with you, doesn’t matter if it’s a succulent, if you have fun growing, shaping and training it, giddy-up! And I’ve seen a LOT of Christmas cactus bonsai videos out there, many of them owing there inspiration to you. Plus I love the world of Dr. Suess, and the trees that “exist” there. By the way, was that you “boy” in the background near the beginning? Full grown MAN now!!

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Yes, that's Julian, he's taller than me now! Thanks Yeti!

[@andrewogawa1029]

After the hard prune, how long will it take to bloom again? I have 5 large plants (3-4ft in diameter) that have at least 2 flushes

[@audriebarclay2855]

Great video. Question, how get it to grow up?

[@DeWhiskeys]

How long does the plant take to get back to shape like the one it started from?

[@danutashayler34]

I haven't dialed you in for a long time. I'm so glad I have. It is the Christmas Cactus caught my interest. This study with pruning and the whys' has been a very good video. This mature Cactus is a beauty. The new pot is stunning. Thought it might be too small; Nigel you brought it together. I had a mature cactus four years ago; unfortunately it was knocked over and shattered, outdoors for the summer; wasn't a bonsai. If I had had more knowledge I would have loved to try. Did you obtain this Cactus as a weeper or do you create this as it grows? Wish I could get into that pile of cuttings remaining. Best Wishes for this year. West Coast

[@TheBonsaiZone]

The branches just begin to weep as they grow longer, it's nice to get that upright style to the trunks, so the branches can then weep around it!

[@danutashayler34]

@@TheBonsaiZone Wow isn't that something. Thank you for responding. And I agree with your Philosophy re: Bonsai is more than the going standard. I love Bonsai creativity and art forms. Again many thanks. See you on the screen. West Coast

[@61_soon]

👍

[@Aganamusicproject2]

Keren beotherr lanjut

[@alesiadavis1003]

How do you get from nursery Christmas cactus to one that has a trunk how many years does it take?

[@Bahçe_Balık]

👏

[@OrionStar1]

When is a good time to replant my christmas cactus? Can I do it now? I want to put it in a slightly bigger pot.

[@Air_Plant1]

Looks old. Im trying to get my thanksgiving cactus to look like that. How old is it?

[@TheBonsaiZone]

It's about 25 years old, at least!!!

[@Derrick8WLee]

How long does it take to get the woody trunk from the cuttings? I bought some pots of multiple rooted cuttings from HD after Christmas for a dollar each. I am growing them as as a clump. I am hoping they will get woody.

[@GrantGreetings]

That's what I want to know.

[@neilhamilton2621]

Takes years

[@carloscolon2150]

What can of dert I use on my chritmas cactus I use

[@Ashley-ti6mp]

How did u developed the trunk woody?

[@karstdeboer4538]

Do you know if Pilea can be used for bonsai? Do they branch? They do have rammification

[@carloscolon2150]

What can put dirt I have to use?