Wow, looks like a good specimen to me. I wish I had this problem with my x-giving cactus. It blooms faithfully but doesn't grow nearly as fast as yours.

If you really want to control the growth, I find that keeping plants potbound will slow them down considerably. When it gets really pot bound you could pull it out, prune some roots, replace some soil, and put it back in the pot. If you fertilize often, you could try cutting that in half. I'm not sure how much you can prune these things back, but you could try cutting it down by half. I'm no expert, so don't take my word as law. Just some suggestions.

M

I did cut it back by almost half this summer and it came back with force! I havn't re potted it in over 5 years, maybe I will check out the roots on it someday soon.
Hmmmm...

My Xmas cactus hasn't grown a single leaf in 4 years and has flowered for me faithfully every years, mostly 2 to 3 times each season. Currently it is in flower.

I have never repotted it since I bought it. I controls the leaf production in a pot bound plant.

Pull out the plant from the pot and remove all excess soile and try to pot it in a smaller pot to get it potbound.

Christmas cactus need specific conditions to flower-
1. 18 hours of dark per day and
2. night temps below 55 degrees
starting in about Sept. until the buds are about to open.

If they are healthy and don't get those conditions, the new growth will become leaves instead of flower buds.

You might try putting it in a room that gets cool at night and where light is limited. I have mine in a spare bedroom w/minimal heat and at a North window. Here the days are perfect length beginning in Sept for the plants to set buds. In other geographies I've had to cover them with a dark sheet to keep light out for 18 hrs/day.

I bring them out to enjoy once the buds are about to open (too soon and they will drop off) sometime between Oct and Dec. Then once flowering is finished I put them back in that room. They usually set buds again and re-bloom in Feb.

18 hours of darkness? Now where in the world could they possibly get that naturally? This is of course an old wive's tale.

The various holiday cactus are all fairly similar in their requirements to initiate flowering. Cool temperatures somewhere in the range of 50F-60F will initiate flowering regardless of the day (or night) length. These temperatures must be maintained for several weeks. If temperatures rise, early buds may grow as leaves.

If temperatures are above 60F, flowers may still be initiated by shortening days. 14 hour nights are sufficient to initiate flowering but shorter nights may also produce buds, sometimes barely longer than 12 hours. Plants grown outside typically initiate buds in about September (northern hemisphere) and then go on to flower in November or December.

The requirements for these plants are known precisely because they are so widely produced commercially. Flowering can be initiated almost to the exact day so that plants are available for sale exactly when they are "supposed" to be in flower.

All I do is leave mine outside well into fall, until temps get to about 45 degrees F. or so. They set buds very easily in cool fall temps. Mine stay under a roofed back patio.

Ah, sorry. I am dyslexic. You are correct, shrubs. I was trying to write thirteen hours of dark per day.

While I have read that you can either have the cool nights or the hours of darkness mine get both and seem to flower best when they do. If I change either factor the budding either slows or stops. Probably something unique about my household environment. Maybe when I think I'm changing only one factor the other is also affected w/o my notice.

Remember very few people will be able to get temperatures consistently around 50F indoors. Those that do, maybe in a porch or sunroom, will often find day temperatures much warmer and they will need the lengthening nights to maintain bud development. Its sooo frustrating to spot the little buds and then come back a couple of weeks later to find only leaves.

essft, would ya want to trade some of that "fast growin" c.c.????what color is it? mine is not growin to fast,i think i "watch" it to much.what part of the country do you live in??i have red, white to trade.plmk,thanks ahead,molly

essft, oh yeah, this is what you do to a plant that grows to much,ENJOY IT, you must have a really green thumb.LOL!!!t.c.,molly[ again]

essft, yours looks just like mine!

[IMG]http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/PC090023_edited.JPG[/IMG]

[IMG]http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/PC090025_edited.JPG[/IMG]

[IMG]http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/PC090028_edited.JPG[/IMG]

This plant was my mom's, it is at least 45 years old. I can't pinpoint when somebody got it for her, but it's been blooming like that for a lot of years. Except when I got the bright idea to re-pot it. I put it in too large a pot, it quit blooming for a couple of years.

I only fertilize one watering once a month. It sits outside on the south side of the house, but is under a canopy of 3 trees. I bring it into the house the first of October, unless it gets too cold, or a chance of frost. As soon as I bring it inside, it begins to bud.

Essft, I'm agreeing with the other posts regarding shorter days (and cool temps as a bonus helper).

Yes, you can cut these things back dramatically with no ill effects. In fact I have one that's 30-40 yrs old that I've been basically bonsai-ing. By removing lots of the segments, the base segments have become very firm/leathery and trunk-like. So instead of segments cascading over the sides of the pot, the very firm and vertical "trunk" holds them high and the plant has more of an umbrella shape overall.

What color is yours? I've got a Red-fushia, a Red with white throat, and an Orange with white throat if you might want to trade cuttings.

--Tina

Hi Tina,

That sounds really cool, do you have any pictures you can post? I would love to see it. Thanks!! I have a couple of thanksgiving cactus, one is from last year and I just bought a second one 3 weeks ago. Can't find the true Christmas cactus here anywhere.