This has grown from a cutting acquired in France to a ~3foot plant. It has bloomed once with a soft red flower. It is thriving with minimal water in a bright indoor window area. I'd like to know how to encourage more regular blooms and its name,
Christmas cactus (and other "holiday" cactus) are Schlumbergera spp. They bloom in response to cooler temperature, thus they typically come into bloom for the winter holiday season. There is a lot of information on the web and these forums about their culture.
I thought it was photo period? Ours begins to set it's buds in late October...our house has not cooled off much by then (certainly not 10-14ºC for 6-8 weeks). The temperature sensitive plants we have (ie. Clivia) don't start to set buds until late January.
Water and fertilizer may be lacking? They are forest cacti and while being able to tolerate dry periods, they do better in soil that is just allowed to dry out before watering again. The grand show they put on at Christmas also demands a fair bit of plant food. Try to fertilize (low in N) it periodically during the summer (half strength every month should be enough).
Thanks for response smivies. The question is really whether it is a true Christmas cactus. I hope the pictures are attached. It is about 3 feet in diameter with very large internodal spaces.
ppppssss, Picture not coming through. Here is a link to the How To smivies, I took the flowering info right off the Wikipedia link. I think some of each is required. I did a report on Schlumbergera a few years back and what it took for the ornamental plant industry to successfully bring these into flower for the season each year, but unfortunately I can't remember which was more important. The point I wanted to make was that the flowering ordinarily comes only once a year at the appropriate season.
