Schlumbergera bridgesii

Stanton | December 22, 2008 12:12 PM | Edit

Christmas cactus!

eric | December 22, 2008 12:19 PM | Edit

We have two of them. One is blooming, the other is not. No culprit has been found, though we are holding the cat as a material witness. :)

Robin | December 22, 2008 1:12 PM | Edit

We have three of them, but I can never get mine to look so thick. They seem to grow long arms that eventually break off for me instead of growiing a lot of arms with branches. Still, we do seem to get them to bloom.

Karen S. | December 22, 2008 6:36 PM | Edit

I have two, and the blossoms are beautiful.

George | December 23, 2008 2:49 AM | Edit

Glad to see the plants are beginning to get a fair shake. They evolve too you know! Now how ‘bout some bryos?

Mike Z replied to comment from Robin | December 24, 2008 12:14 PM | Edit

Robin said:

We have three of them, but I can never get mine to look so thick. They seem to grow long arms that eventually break off for me instead of growiing a lot of arms with branches. Still, we do seem to get them to bloom.

Maybe you already did this, but try trimming some of the longer, spindly branches. If you also give it good nutrients and tons of light, it will grow back thicker. The more you repeat that process, the thicker it will get.

brightmoon replied to comment from Robin | December 26, 2008 4:42 PM | Edit

Robin said:

We have three of them, but I can never get mine to look so thick. They seem to grow long arms that eventually break off for me instead of growiing a lot of arms with branches. Still, we do seem to get them to bloom.

put it outside during the summer ..some plants seem to need that extra stronger light

Chelydra | January 1, 2009 8:16 PM | Edit

That plant looks to be Schlumbergera truncata (the so-called Thanksgiving cactus) judging by the pointed teeth on the phylloclades and the bilaterally symmetrical flowers. Schlumbergera bridgesii is apparently more properly called Schlumbergera x buckleyi, a hybrid of S. russelliana and S. truncata created in the 1840s having very rounded teeth and radially symmetrical flowers. Supermarkets and the like don’t seem to sell true Christmas cactus any longer, only Thanksgiving cactus.

Matt Young replied to comment from Chelydra | January 2, 2009 10:24 AM | Edit

That plant looks to be Schlumbergera truncata (the so-called Thanksgiving cactus)…

I’ll have to take your word for it - the nursery called it simply Christmas cactus, so I did the best I could. Perhaps next year we can show a Christmas cactus around Thanksgiving. If anyone else wants to weigh in, please feel free. Many thanks! Matt

Mike in Ontario, NY | January 5, 2009 1:41 PM | Edit

We have one that is easily 40+ years old, an heirloom from a friend’s family. I like to call it the GUILTY EX-CATHOLIC CACTUS, because half of it blooms at Christmas, and the other half blooms at Easter! Every year for the last 12 years it has done that, in three different dwellings.

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