False Christmas Cactus
4.6 out of 5 (280 experiences)
Survivor
Fast grower
About False Christmas Cactus
Did you know plants in the Schlumbergera genus are actually leafless? Instead of leaves, they use modified stems to capture sunlight! Unlike the Easter cactus, this species flowers in the later autumn or winter. They also have pointed wings at the corners, where its counterpart has more rounded edges. In the wild, they are epiphytes, meaning they grow on tree branches or rocks! 🌳 🪨
Taxonomy
Schlumbergera truncata
Schlumbergera
Cactaceae
Caryophyllales
Also known as
Holiday Cactus, Crab Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus and False Christmas Cactus 'Thanksgiving'
How to care for False Christmas Cactus
How often to water your False Christmas Cactus
every 9
False Christmas Cactus needs 0.5 cups of water every 9 when it doesn’t get direct sunlight and is potted in a 5" pot.
Use our water calculator to personalize watering recommendations to your environment or download Greg for more advanced recommendations for all of your plants.
Water 0.5 cups every
9
Finding light for False Christmas Cactus in your home
a window
False Christmas Cactus can tolerate being far from a window and light source.
Place it less than 6 feet from a south-facing window to ensure it receives enough light to survive 💪.
Select your region to see how the current weather in your area affects the placement of False Christmas Cactus in your home 🏡.
How to fertilize False Christmas Cactus
Most potting soils come with ample nutrients which plants use to produce new growth.
By the time your plant has depleted the nutrients in its soil it’s likely grown enough to need a larger pot anyway.
To replenish this plant's nutrients, repot your False Christmas Cactus after it doubles in size or once a year—whichever comes first.
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He’s dying (maybe it was the ill-fated name, but Greg chose it)! What do I do? Chunks just keep falling off of him and nothing is connected to the base anymore. Am I able to bury the pieces that fell off and hope that they root. Please help! #thanksgivingcactus
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How can I bring this Thanksgiving cactus back from the (near) dead? It lived by my office window for years, healthy with slow growth. Then just started turning red and losing leaves. I repotted but am not sure if he'll make it. #thanksgivingcactus
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I received a cactus on christmas sits in a 5” pot. what size should I repot it in? #thanksgivingcactus
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What kind of fertilizer for Christmas cactus? #thanksgivingcactus
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Just bought one #thanksgivingcactus I caved and bought a new plant. The soil is growing friends and I’ve soaked it in isopropyl alcohol and Castile soap and neem oil and rubbed a qtip through all the webs I found between it. Was going to mist it in the shower. Will the blooms drop with a repot? And how quickly will they return? Should I leave it in the mossy soil until it has been done flowering or should I repot? Or just systemic granulates and a topping of sand?
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I’m so excited that my Christmas Catus has some flower buds! #progress #wall-e #ChristmasCactus
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Anything I can do to interrupt the process of her dropping buds? I was/ am so looking forward to seeing her bloom this year--bought her in full bloom last year #thanksgivingcactus
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I'm having an off cant day and need to complain for a minute. See, I love plants but they're a racket and collectors only exacerbate the problem. I bought myself a little false Christmas cactus from Dollar General when they ended up with a handful of them for $6. I was perusing nursery sites where you can get the same sized plant for $40-50. Like. What?? And then you get into 'rare' plants that are only rare to be found at a reasonable price. Everyone has them for sale, but you will pay. Oh, will you pay. And the moral of the rant is, if there is a nice thing it will inevitably be made prohibitively expensive to make sure rich people can keep feeling superior. Anyway here's the cactus they forgot to mark up 1000%.
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SHE HAS BLOOMS! #thanksgivingcactus #BloomingSuccs #Blooming #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #PlantAddict #PlantTherapy #FloweringPlants
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Any reason why LeBron’s leaves are getting pale? They are dropping off segment by segment and no new growth is occurring. #thanksgivingcactus
Care Summary for False Christmas Cactus
False Christmas Cactus
Greg recommends:
Water
0.5 cups every 9 days
Placement
< 6ft from a window
Nutrients
Repot after 2x growth
Based on the 4” pot your plant is in, and that it doesn’t get direct sunlight.
What other plant parents say
Survivor 187
Fast grower 98
Blooms easily 88
Easy to propagate 86
Large, lush leaves 29
Pest magnet 5
Browns easily 2
04/01/2022
Such an amazing plant!! Can get a little leggy and has inconsistent blooming, but overall nearly impossible to kill and very rewarding when it does decide to bloom. ♥️
Fast grower
Blooms easily
Easy to propagate
Survivor
03/20/2022
Easy to grow. Not fussy. Can take drought conditions.
Blooms easily
Survivor
03/19/2022
It blooms in the winter, with small colorful dots which turn into big colorful blooms.
Fast grower
03/06/2022
I find the Cece.Helmers@gmail.com’s to be easy to grow. Blooms, well that’s different. Mine requires complete darkness for about 7 days then it will bloom.
Easy to propagate
02/27/2022
One of my long time friends
Fast grower
Easy to propagate
02/05/2022
It’s incredibly sensitive!!! It likes room temperature and not direct light and not to be moved around a lot.
01/23/2022
Find these to be tricky. Mine dropped all its buds when I brought it home. Evidently they don’t like changing environments. Settled in now but all blooms for the holidays were wiped out. Better luck this year.
01/18/2022
my grandmother had one, I have one
Survivor
01/10/2022
This is another new plant of mine which I had never seen before but decided to rescue it and it has plenty of flowers that will be ready to bloom soon
Blooms easily
Easy to propagate
12/29/2021
Very easy to prop but medium rate of growth using grow lights. Overall a very cute plant that’s pretty simple to care for though- just have to watch out for underwatering as the plant wrinkles up
Easy to propagate
Survivor
12/27/2021
Very pretty when it blooms! Fun even when it’s not!
Blooms easily
12/11/2021
Blooms in fall/winter 🍂🌸
Fast grower
Blooms easily
12/10/2021
Only blooms for a short time.
Survivor
Easy to propagate
12/05/2021
Can’t get to bloom for nothing. But easy to continue to grow lol
Survivor
12/04/2021
Water sparingly
Survivor
Large, lush leaves
11/21/2021
They seem to like to be neglected
Easy to propagate
Survivor
Blooms easily
11/18/2021
Love it so much
Large, lush leaves
Survivor
11/16/2021
Gorgeous showy red blooms in November brighten up the room.
Blooms easily
Survivor
10/23/2021
Likes indirect light!
Easy to propagate
Survivor
10/23/2021
Very cute and grows really well, easy to maintain :)
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