The Christmas cactus, also commonly called Christmas cactus, Santa Teresa feathers, Santa Teresita feathers, winter cactus, Easter cactus or Christmas nopal , as well as scientifically Schlumbergera , is a very popular plant in the winter months, since it begins to bloom at that time of the year and as it is the Christmas season when the Christmas cactus bloom in greater numbers, they are mostly called by this common name.
It is a plant that belongs to the cactus family and is native to Central and South America. What is most striking about the so-called winter or Easter cactus are its colorful and impressive flowers. Yes, although it has more different aspects to most cacti, what differentiates it most from others are its flowers because they are shaped like feathers, hence its common name of Santa Teresa feathers, and because they are more precocious, that is, they bloom earlier than most species. The flowers are pink, red, white, orange or yellow and measure between 3 and 5 centimeters in diameter. It is one of the most durable cacti, since in a pot it has a life of between 3 and 10 years. Its cultivation is very simple, although it has against that some of its segments can be damaged for no apparent reason,
If you want to know more about this popular and cheerful plant at these low temperatures, take good note of the care you need to enjoy it in its maximum splendor because in this gardening guide we tell you how to take care of a Christmas cactus.
Christmas cactus care guide
This is a short guide, by way of summary, on how to care for and grow a Christmas cactus :
- Lighting: do you have to put the Christmas cactus indoors or outdoors? They need to be in a place where they are partially shaded, so a window is the best option. Thanks to this, it can be indoors throughout the year, and if you put it outside in summer it has to be avoiding the sun directly.
- Temperature: it needs temperatures that oscillate between 15 and 22 ºC.
- Humidity: the environmental humidity has to be at least 50%, something that you can achieve by steaming the leaves every 2-3 days when the environment is dry.
- Substrate for the Christmas cactus: the best to develop correctly is the one that is rich in nutrients and very well-drained. Put a mixture of peat moss with mulch or with heather soil.
- Watering: in summer it should be abundant, and you should let the substrate dry completely every two waterings, while in winter it should be more distributed, allowing it to dry out in all waterings. Do not water the flowers directly and use soft water that does not have lime, such as rainwater or bottled water.
- Fertilizer: apply in spring and summer, adding liquid fertilizer to watering the Christmas cactus once a month.
- Pests: the plague of mealybugs is the one that can affect the most, so you have to watch for if it appears.
- Transplant: you should do it in spring and every two years, always using a larger pot so that in those two more years it can grow without problems.
- Multiplication: it must be through stem cuttings or through seeds, always in a substrate that is sandy.
Below, we explain some of these aspects of Christmas cactus care in more detail.
