Prune Your Christmas Cactus in 5 Steps

Pruning a plant is a bit like trimming your particular person hair: Logically, you already know that it’ll all develop once more. Nonetheless the part of you tentatively holding the scissors is feeling pretty apprehensive. Don’t panic! Pruning doesn’t must set off quite a bit anxiousness; significantly on a species as forgiving as a result of the Christmas cactus.

Schlumbergera x buckleyi is a much-loved houseplant well-liked for its longevity and winter-flowering nature. Of their native Brazil, Christmas cacti anchor themselves to shady cliffs and tree nooks and accumulate nutritional vitamins from wildlife droppings and decaying leaf litter. Potted up in a entrance room, they like well-drained, barely acidic soil. In stark distinction to their desert-dwelling cousins, these vegetation need light temperatures and a great deal of water. 

Why Prune Your Christmas Cactus?

Youthful Christmas cacti have an upright improvement sort, nonetheless as they age, the basal stems thicken and develop to be woody. The branches will lengthen and start to drape downward. This provides it a extremely elegant look, nevertheless over time, it would most likely look leggy and a bit scraggly. Pruning can reshape and improve the appears of these lovely long-lived beauties.

Pruning can also help promote flowering. This species sorts flowers fully on the ends of the stems, significantly the place the segments of the flattened stems meet. Additional stems will lastly equal further flowers.

One other excuse to current your houseplant a haircut? To make further of them! This species can merely be propagated with stem cuttings. 

Step 1: Wait Until It’s Accomplished Blooming

Prune your Christmas cactus correct after it has accomplished blooming nevertheless sooner than it begins actively rising as soon as extra. That’s often spherical February or March. Pruning proper now will direct the upcoming energy in course of manufacturing new stems as a substitute of down present stems. The end result? A lush, bushy plant comparatively than longer stems.

Don’t prune previous summer time season. The Christmas cactus begins to direct energy in course of flower bud formation in early fall. As quickly as buds begin to sort, it’s best to go away them undisturbed. As short-day vegetation, Christmas cacti require a variety of uninterrupted weeks of cool temperatures and prolonged (12+ hours per 24-hour day) stretches of darkness to set off flowering.

Step 2: Uncover the Right Pruning Stage 

Lucky for us, the pure type of a Christmas cacti’s stem makes pruning pretty foolproof. The segmented stems are composed of many leaf-like buildings often called phylloclades. Botanically speaking, these are often not true leaves, nevertheless they do carry out photosynthesis. Choose a slender joint between division segments. It will possibly naturally produce 1-2 new phylloclades the place it was reduce.

Avoid lowering the hardened, woody improvement down near the crown. Woody stems are a pure part of the rising older course of and a sign of a mature plant! Comply with the softer, inexperienced improvement near the highest of the stem.

Step 3: Make the Cut back

The second you’ve been prepared for: time to prune your Christmas cactus! Some gardeners merely twist the stem at one among many slender joints. I need to utilize a pair of pruners or a knife to steer clear of tearing. In case you choose to utilize pruners or a pair of snips, make sure they’re clear sooner than using them. In case you’re hoping to propagate your cuttings, make sure each stem lowering has on the very least 3-4 segments and is a variety of inches prolonged. 

Step 4: Decide on a Quick Snip or Exhausting Cut back

In case you merely must tidy up or take away a couple of stray stems, a variety of quick snips ought to do it. Older vegetation which is likely to be additional giant may start to drop branches that they’re going to not assist. On this situation, you would possibly want to reduce considerably more durable.

In case you’re making an attempt to drastically reshape the plant or take away a couple of of its mass, you’ll prune as a lot as one third of the foliage. Eradicating a few third of the leaves at any given time may ship it into shock. The plant may or couldn’t flower throughout the upcoming season.

Step 5: Make Additional Crops

Now, what to do with all these bits of stem? That’s the correct different to broaden your Christmas cactus assortment (or a very good pal’s) and propagate a variety of new vegetation! Likelihood is you will want to start a variety of stem cuttings to up your odds of worthwhile propagation.

Let the stem lowering dry for a day. This could allow the wound to callous over, which, in flip, will forestall rot. Then, place the lowering upright in moistened potting mix. Christmas cacti require very sharply drained soil that is comparatively nutrient poor. Use a potting mix significantly made for succulents and cacti, or make your particular person potting mix out of potting soil, perlite, and coarse gravel or sand.

Put the planted stem lowering in a shiny, warmth (65-75°F or 18-24°C) location. Maintain the potting mix persistently moist nevertheless not waterlogged. Various spritzes with a sprig bottle will help amp up the humidity with out drowning the stem lowering. You possibly can too affix a plastic bag or dome throughout the vegetation to maintain up humidity.

It would presumably take 2-3 weeks for roots to sort. Be affected particular person! As quickly as new improvement begins rising on the tip, you’ll re-pot the stem lowering in an even bigger container of your choice. Likelihood is you will want to try planting 2-3 stem cuttings collectively to help fill out an even bigger container. New cuttings is likely to be propagated at any time of 12 months, nevertheless you might need among the finest results in late spring.