![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5L5-LC4EiL5NmA2piBJlUovWWS0na9GNkOq1IZ_mojDhFuT3U7rM_mzfUxazQINvIK3ZAp7HJmG7zgF9mOH-P_RNFptjjouZRc59aouNW9V59ZJ_s1vexozGv721Ae-x669HnXtJLTcR/s1600/bloom2.jpg) |
The wonderful magenta bloom |
On schedule, my Christmas Cactus begins blooming just before Christmas -- every year. The cactus is a cutting of my Grandmother's plant. I've had the plant since 1979 in one or the other of its iterations.
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You can see the buds that have formed. |
This cactus had rounded leaves -- not the spiky leaves found so often on the market nowadays. It sets buds in my 3-season room when the temperature gets cold and the number of daylight hours diminishes. I'm not sure which triggers blooming -- maybe it's a combination of both temperature and light. Moving the plant to another location, changing the temperature too much, or overwatering will cause the buds to drop.
I used to put the plant outside for the summer until one year I forgot it and left it out until November! Many of the leaves were frosted but the plant survived.
When the plant gets too big for its place in the sunroom, I take cuttings and start a new plant. The existing plant is probably the 3rd or 4th cutting generation from the original plant. I think of the Christmas Cactus as a bit of my Grandmother that lives on.
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