My boss gave me his Christmas Cactus. He had not repotted it in at least 14 years. It looks like there are 3 plants in the pot. Over the past six months, one of them has lost entire sections 3-6" long. They start looking "mottled", then shrivel and dry up, then drop off. That plant has even lost sections of the stem. It does have a few healthy-looking sections, but for the most part - it looks like a goner. That one is planted on one side of the pot while the other 2 plants are planted on the other, and so close the main stems are touching. One of these has started the same mottle-shrivel-drop routine. (It is the smaller of these two plants.) What should I do? I'd like to save as much of the plant as possible. (BTW, I've never had a Christmas Cactus before but am good with every other plant.)
Too dry or too wet, the first one liable to be the more likely in my experience. And I have some that have been in the same pots or perhaps bumped up once since I rooted them in the 7th grade. I am now 51.
Cactus mix is likely to be fine. Being epiphytic the nature of the substrate (as long as it is well-drained) is less important than adequate moisture. If you have potting soil already, use whatever you have. In nature these grow on tree branches in montane cloud forests.
Some plants will dry, or become close to dry at the end of the week, sometimes they don't and it takes longer, especally when temps get cooler, it all depends on the environment indoors and soil your using. You really can't water plants on a schedule. With a christmas cactus/jungle cactus, it should be watered thoroughly, then let the soil dry before watering again. Your cactus is either over-watered, or not watered thoroughly enough it sounds.
