I rescued one (red) from the supermarket 5 years ago and it has bloomed for every holiday, all through each year!!! It stopped this Labor Day. Poor thing must have been exhausted. It's still alive and growing so I'm hoping for flowers for Christmas...............You might want to put it into a larger pot and give it some more soil, at some point.

Patti, a friend gave me a little 4 sectioned start from her Christmas Cactus in August. I rooted it in water, then potted it up in mid September. That little thing now has 2 'arms' and a flower bud on each. I was curious about the differences in "Christmas", "Thanksgiving", or "Easter" cactus name given to what looked to me to be the same thing. Wikipedia helped.

Here is a link that might be useful: What blooms when

My Christmas cactus is about 15 years old.

But we no longer call it a 'Christmas' cactus.... we call it the 'birthday' cactus.

It blooms earlier and earlier every year... now it is early November around DH's birthday.

You are lucky Patti. Mine is old, and has only two tiny buds right now.

I know, at this time I should not move it, or they might just fall off.

Maybe I will put it outside again next year? That sort of treatment always made it bloom.

Moni

Mine used to bloom twice a year quite happily. I used to have quite a few plants in different colours but I had to give away my plants since we got cats that liked to garden.

I usually buy mine after Christmas when they look pretty bad and they are $.25! lol I bought 2 last year and put them together in this pot. I had no idea of the colors. Just ran up and took a pic of it.

We have two and both have buds about ready to open now too. They are so pretty when in full bloom.

There are Christmas Cacti and Thanksgiving cacti.

If the leaves have sharply pointed edges to them, I understand it's a Thanksgiving Cactus. The plant pictured above seems to have both Christmas (smoother-edged leaves/white flowers) and TG cacti (notched leaves, pink flowers) combined in it.

I have a huge TG--and it's covered right now with hundreds of blooms. A neighbor had given it to me last year, when my mom died on Thanksgiving night. It's a lovey reminder--not that I need one, of course. Over the summer, I hung it outside, and while it did get a little sunburned, it seems to have been exactly the right place for it--I've never seen one so very coated with blooms, not even in a florist's shop.

I am allergic to their thorns so I don't have one.

Mine has buds on it too!

I went to visit my cousin in Harriston in August and in her front window was this huge Christmas Cactus. I mean huge, like a beast. LOL The stems were thick woody stems like a tree branch. I looked at it a bit and said to my cousin "didn't that cactus sit in your Mom's front window in Riverside?" I remembered it from my childhood and the cactus was big then. My cousin said it was the same one.

What she then told me thrilled me to bits. She said the cactus is over 100 years old and belonged to my Dad's Mom who died when he was 6 years old. The cactus has been in the family for a long long time.

My cousin gave me a piece of the cactus she had repotted when a woody stem broke off. I brought it home and put it into a new pot and stuck it on my fridge and tried to remember to water it every week. One piece fell off and I put it into an egg cup of water and now it has rooted. I noticed the other day the cactus had buds on it.

I love having a piece of this living family heirloom in my home.

Anne

I bought one years ago at Target at an after Christmas sale. It is fushia pink. Last summer I found a huge one at my local Costco parking lot. It looked like it had been run over a couple of times and the pot was busted. Maybe someone forgot it or ???

I picked up the pieces and took it home and nursed it back to health. Most of the plant survived but hasn't bloomed yet. I am curious what color it will be. I tried rooting the broken pieces but have had no luck.
Clare

Also picked up this last year after Christmas when it was pretty pathetic looking, but what a difference a year made. Check out all these buds, and this was last week. They're just bursting ready to open:
{{!gwi}}

Here's mine. It's a few years old. It loves it outside all summer (in shade) I bring it in the house in late September, and give it a few drops of castor oil in water, and it does it's thing{{!gwi}}
Leslie

I forgot to say, I have another one (younger plant) that is just setting buds.
Leslie

My Christmas cactus is an heirloom, it was my 86 year old (step)dad's grandpa's! It's actually a start from that plant, which is at may parent's house, but I started that piece 26 years ago. It starts blooming for Thanksgiving and finishes about Easter every single year without fail. But this year I had moved it outside for the summer, then repotted it and brought it in, it set buds within a couple of weeks and is going to town!!!

This is mine! I bought it last year right before Christmas. I've owned several..but they always died. This is the longest I have EVER had one!*S* It was in full bloom when I bought it, so I assumed it was a Christmas Cactus. As you can see, it has buds right now, so maybe it "changed" holidays! haha I've kept it in the same spot (and pot) ever since I got it. Last year after I bought mine, I read up on them and read something about sitting the pot on a "bed" of pebbles..and to water the pebbles instead of the plant. So far it seems to have worked!

Leslie..when and why do you give yours Castor Oil?

{{!gwi}}

Mine are blooming now, too. Any time a piece falls off, I just stick it in some water to root it. I have a couple on the window sill that are ready to be stuck in some dirt.

I killed a Christmas Cactus the first year. I put it too close to a sunny window and it got fried.

I'm still curious about the Castor Oil! lol

Posted by linda_in_iowa (My Page) on Fri, Nov 21, 08 at 9:11

I am allergic to their thorns so I don't have one.

HUH? None of these types of 'cactus' have thorns.

I have 3 which are loaded with buds. Different ones bloom at different times. Mine are early bloomers. Here's a close-up of one of the blooms, from another year.

{{gwi:711808}}

I've only done it once. My DD has a CC that goes bonkers and is loaded with blossoms. Her mother in law gave her the castor oil type. I just put a few drops in the water when I watered it, after bringing it inside for the winter.
I too think having the tray of rocks in the bottom, with water in it, helps a lot.
Leslie

Here are some pics of mine