Purple, I've enjoyed reading this thread and wanted to add my $.02 worth. The first thing I noticed is that the stems appear to be flacid.....wilty. That could be caused by over OR under watering.....whichever might cause the roots from being able to access water. In this case, I wonder if the water you're applying is evacuating before soaking the whole soil volume. One thing about these plants (all plants) is that though they need to dry out somewhat between drenchings, the potting soil must be completely saturated on watering day. This is true for all plants, even those cacti that are native to extremely arid regions. Have you ever seen "Medicine Man ", a movie starring that gorgeous specimen of manhood Sean Connery? It takes place in the rainforest of Brazil. There are scenes of my lovely Sean ziplining through the forest canopy, sharing the scenes with huge epiphytic cacti and other plants. Really neat movie. Plus, it stars Sean Connery. I get that it's difficult to understand how those prickly, barrel shaped desert cacti have ANYTHING to do those graceful rainforest plants. Here's what I "think " is a good analogy, but don't laugh at me toooooo hard if it really stinks. Take your dog into consideration for a moment. It's a mammal. So are you and the pesky squirrels in your yard. Big differences amongst those three mammals yet they share essential similarities. Still with me? Now, think of those incredible bottlenose dolphins familiar to anyone living in coastal areas. Superficially, they seem to have so little in common with your dog, but those porpoises are just another type of mammal. They live in a different environment, for sure, but the similarities are much more important than the differences. You just need to try to provide the kind of environment your dolphin needs. :-) Dorie

i.ve been keeping my 10 year old thanksgiving castuc in semi-hydro for may be 4 years. it was always blooming for me - in east/south-east/south /west window, don't seem to matter. it started as a little grocery plant and after sev years it got a little too wet and some stems dropped, i repotted it finally (1st repot) - don't remember in what, smth standard commercial with peat. after another may be 4? years i repotted it again - in the same pot with more perlite added and wrapped on perimeter with coir matting (cocofiber) - with a braided wick on the outside. i did it so it won't dry up when i am away for sev weeks during holidays (and it's blooming) - did not want to loose the buds. so it stayed like that for another 4 years. just now (kinda wrong timing...but i risked it anyway) - i repotted it again. biggest repot ever, trimmed the roots and potted it in exoticrainforest jungle mix. i started using it for most of my tropical moisture loving plants that i keep on self-watering wicks. i double up on perlite though for wicking. it's been a week now, i keep it tented with plastic further from the window for now. so far so good. it'll probably delay flowering. but that's ok with me, since i have 2 more 'babies' that are pretty big by now and flowering nicely too. as far as set-up - i put a plastic pot with a wick inside a cachepot with water. it wicks. occasionally i let it dry-up and then water over-head. especially when i want to keep it drier. the 4 year old babies are also self-watering. i posted about it some time ago. look towards the end - sev msgs with a pic of mama plant and baby below. that's last year. i trim them every year to keep it branching. but i do not bareroot on repot, just loosen up some soil a bit. Here is a link that might be useful: my holiday cactus in semi-hydro pic

Rhizo & Toni , it was interesting to hear your opinions on this. The last 3 years I have grown my Schlumbergeras ( Thanksgiving Cacti and Christmas Cacti ) "as you grow house plants" rather than "as you grow cacti". So I have potted them up every year and also fertilized in summer ! This has resulted in a lot of growth and also a lot of flowers. Because I read "here and there" that these plants are supposed to be "potbound" , I'm sort of waiting for things to go wrong , because of the way I grow them ... What I can say for sure is that potting up has not reduced flowering ! New plants Fall -05 bloomed again for Easter -06 after beeing potted up in February. A 2 1/2 years old Christmas Cactus ( from single segment cuttings Summer -04 ) potted up in July -06 are now full of flower buds. I had not expected any flowers at all since I potted it up so late ( had first decided not to , because of this "potbound-thing" but changed my mind because the plant had grown so much ). Now the "all-over-effect" / the "general health" of the plant in the long run , when growing them "more intensivly" , that I can not be sure of ... So far it looks good , but it would be interesting to hear more about what you all think about this. To me this is THE QUESTION , when it comes to Schlumbergera !

Yes, a repotting is in order. That clay pot in the picture which undoubtedly has a hole in the bottom could be perfect if the roots fit in there comfortably. These plants don't mind the roots being crowded. I would rinse off all the old soil before repotting. There are different opinions about the best soil. Some people like African violet mix, some people like orchid mix, either mixed with perlite which is available at nurseries. Rinse perlite before using to get small particles out. Don't breathe it. Don't pot too low in the pot. Before repotting you can gently bind up the leaves with some soft material to make the plant easier to handle. Like pantyhose or some such. If you accidentally break something off, don't worry. You can even stick it in soil to root. After repotting wait a day, and water thoroughly until the water runs out the bottom. Keep it in a bright but not direct sun location. It should perk up for you. If you want to know more go to the top of this forum where there is a search box and type in Christmas cactus. Know that in nature they grow in trees and don't mind a little more water than other cactus or succulents. Here's how I bound mine my old timer up when repotting. I left it this way a day or two before releasing it.