Yes, it's unusual! Please post a pic!

Josh

Pretty sure it's unlikely to be ONE plant, they simply don't have both types of leaves on the same plant. I suspect once unpotted, you'd find each type of leaf is a different plant.

Yes, please post a picture. That would be my guess also, that someone planted several cuttings of each whether it was intentional or not hard to say. You probably have a pot of mixed TC and CC. Looking forward to that picture. Congrats on finding a true CC even thought its mixed. That's a rare find!

I will add a photo as soon as I can figure out how to do it :-) ! Please check back!

Nancy

Hey Nancy,

Short version: use a free photo-hosting site (like Photobucket, which is all I've known & used). One uploads the pix there first. Then after that, for a pic you'd like to add here:

From Photobucket, the codes under the photo you wish to share, copy the THIRD line of code into the Garden Web post & then preview it. It'll look like gobbledy-gook until you see it as Preview, where it will appear as the actual photo (if done correctly).

Good Luck, I only started doing it last year & my computer's a bit slow so it can take time.

Two different types of leaves on the same plant....

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Same plant, the segments just have different shapes because:

1. some segments have grown under different light/watering conditions, the teeth become less developed then. Very common.

2. your plant looks like one of the TC types with less pronounced teeth, why they disappear more readily than on a more typical TC.

There is much focus on the shape of the stem segments for distinguishing between different Schlumbergera hybrids and Hatiora, but it is not that easy unless you have seen a lot of these plants before. The flowers are far better for this purpose.

My BF has had a Christmas Cactus for at least 20 yrs. I re-potted it last year and since I've been living here (3 yrs.) it has never bloomed, it is very healthy looking. It is sitting on our livingroom table and I water it probably once every few months. It does receive regular light at least 8 hrs. a day. I would really like to see some blooms. What is the best way to achive this?

Thanks,
Susan

Hi,

Pls read some of the materials mentioned above & re-read some posts above. These are tropical, not desert cacti.

That said, water every few months is WAY TOO little. As jungle cacti, they live where they often get short bursts of strong rains & then dry off quickly; they must be fast draining.

I'm amazed your plant is well, in its time of most active growth (Spring Summer), I'd guess it'd want water once a week at least.

hi there,
tought this might be the right thread to ask this in since i didnt bother to make a new one just to ask this question :)
i was wondering if there was a crested(?) form of the tc, if that is the right word for it:)
a few months ago one of my tc's put out a new "leaf" that has tips all around it if you could imagine that? so where the normal tc only has tips on the sides this one has tips where the normal one is flat :)
hope that made sense :) if theres no "crested" tc out there, then im gonna try and start a new plant from the leaf.

I have not heard of any, but I never look for crested/monstrose forms anyway, so I might have missed it.

im not really that much into crsted/monstrose either :), but it would be neat to creat your own cultivar, dont you think :)
i was wondering, when is the best time to take cutting from a tc?

I take cuttings more or less year-round, Jonas.
I've had good luck rooting cuttings in Spring and Fall.
I do major pruning - not just for cuttings - on Mother's Day (in May).
I just took some Christmas Cactus cuttings today.

I root Holiday Cacti in straight Orchid Bark - or bark with a bit of pumice/grit.


Josh

Jonas, can you post a picture of the leaf you're describing...sounds interesting and I can't seem to picture it and would love to see it. Thanks

I remember seeing a picture on Mr. Subjunctive's blog with a Schlumbergera stem that had a lot of flower buds on it because apparently it had been treated with a lot of... whatever hormone makes plants flower. I wonder if that's what causes the monstrose stem in crested?

Also not usually a fan of crests, but there are a few monstrose things I like. I could imagine a monstrose CC being pretty striking, in all honesty, if such a thing could ever happen.

Anyway, I just remembered a weird observation. When I see CCs/TCs/whatever in stores, I notice that there seems to be some interesting variation in stem thickness. Some of have really thin, almost papery feeling stem segments, which are really floppy and very leaf-like.

On the other hand, the one I just bought has rather thick and waxy stem segments. I wonder what the different genetic makeup between the two is, or if it's just a matter of age or culture or something..?

(Also where DO jungle cacti fit in in the whole cactus family? I mean they're not opuntioids, even though they kind of resemble them in terms of having heavily segmented stems in a lot of cases, as well as lacking ribs or tubercles like you see in desert cacti, which they are apparently more closely related to?

Also there's that whole thing S. opuntioides existing.

Plants sure are weird!)

As Josh wrote, cuttings can be rooted year-round, but rooting is much faster in spring/summer.

i wont be able to post a picture until this saturday so you'll have to w8 a bit :), also i havent treated it with anything to make it grow differently, actually i havent given it anything at all, i bought it last year and i haven't even repottet it yet but its flowering right now so it will have to w8 a bit :)

I'll just go ahead and jump in here, too. I had noticed that a couple segments on my TC looked "off", for lack of a better word. They were green, but almost transparent and felt dry even though the rest of the plant was happy. Yesterday, I took a closer look and saw that the segment below the two in question was damaged. It looked like it had been cut almost all the way across. So, in my novice brain, I deduced that the two segments growing out of the damaged one would never get the nutrients they needed and decided to pinch them off. I was about to throw out the segments when something caught my eye....ROOTS! There were roots coming out of where all the segments came together AND a root coming out of the damaged portion of the first segment. I threw it in a pot with the whole first segment buried. Wish me luck!

No, I was not smart enough to take a picture before I planted. :(

Holiday Cacti grow adventitious roots from the nodes quite often, even on undamaged segments.
Good luck, but you won't need it ;) These root very easily...especially if roots are
already present....

Josh

Thanks Josh! I'm pretty excited about the little guy! Sadly, all of the buds are drying up on me on the momma plant. I think it's just a little shocked and probably wasn't cared for properly before I brought it home. I
m confident it will bloom for me next year. I have a few new segments forming, so I guess that's a good sign!

Check out the link below, if you don't mind. I'd love to hear your suggestions for my new additions!

Here is a link that might be useful: New Additions

as requested heres a picture of the weird segment :)
sorry about the quality.
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Earthygal, I realize that this is a bit late, but I don't think your question concerning inducing blooms got answered.

In order to induce blooms in a Schlumbergera, they must have short days and long nights. Some people will tell you that you must submit them to cooler temps too, but I have never found that it is necessary to do that. The short day/long night treatment is what triggers bud formation. Mine are brought into the house in late August and put into my living room where no lights are turned on after dark and temps are an even 68*. They bloom just fine. :-)

In September, find a place in your house where the lights are not on after dark and put your plant there. I guarantee your plant will bloom.

I have a question? I've noticed a couple of buds on my TC cactus. Do I continue to keep it in the closet overnight until it gets more buds? or should I stop the dark closet routine now?
Thanks