What have I done? I had a beautiful Apricot Christmas cactus that I've had for about 15yrs. It has a span of about 3 ft and lives in a kitchen window where it has been quite happy until recently. Within the last two to three weeks I have noticed a marked decline. The leaves are now flat, dark green, almost translucent, very limp and feel like velvet. The soil is damp, but not wet and there seems to still be plenty of room in the pot. I re-potted last year and use a locally found fertilizer called BR 61 (water weekly with a weak solution). The only thing I can think of that I have done differently was to miss watering one week letting it get dry, but began the normal watering routine and now I have this problem. I've tried letting it dry out, watering it, but the leaves stay the same. Am I being too anxious? WHAT HAVE I DONE! Help, please!
First - nip off a couple of good branches and restart them. This way you won't loose the plant completely. If you've had it all this time you must be doing right by the plant, so the only thing I can suggest is this link. http://www.humeseeds.com/xmasccts.htm
Has the plant gotten cold? Any changes in its environment recently? Suggest reviewing The Usual Suspects: Light; Temperature; Moisture; Bugs; Chemicals. Any variation in these? (Keep in mind that a slight one sometimes produces a BIG reaction.) New curtains that allow more/less light? Cold/hot drafts? Is the plant getting good drainage? What about this BR 61? What are its ingredients? Have you checked for both the obvious pests (scale, mealybugs, fungus) and the hidden ones (gackly critters that live in the soil and suck the life out of the roots)? I keep my Christmas cacti pretty dry. My first reaction to your post was Lay off the fertilizer and reduce the water. Could you give us a photo? Give us an ingredient list of this BR 61. Our knowledgeable membership will no coubt be able to tell you if this is the right stuff for your cactus. Agree with Barb about taking starts off of the plant, and that the plant's longevity indicates good care. This latter seems to be evidence that something has changed recently. Plant detectives on the case! And: Welcome to the Forum!
After much reading I finally figured out that my plant was suffering from the PYTHIUM ROOT ROT. I cut it back and let the soil dry out and will change the soil and hope for the best. Thanks for trying to help me. Betty
