ALICIA7B HI! After ALL these comments, and posts, that went WAY off the track, to what YOU posted, asked for, ...did you EVER find any of the OLD/ANTIQUE/ORIGINAL Christmas Cactus from anyone? I was sent THIS post, to look at.... I have just put up my own post, looking for cuttings of the plant myself. My original one, that was over 150yo!! The last of it JUST died, and it is weeks before X-mas now. Nice gift:( I was the one in the family to be entrusted to keep it alive, I am the gardener in the family. But after 3.5 decades in south Fla. after living in Conn. all its life, and mine, it died. I got some cuttings of the ORIGINAL cactus after mine started to rot and die slowly over a period of years, from some very nice people, like 5 years ago. But THOSE plants just gave out on me, after a super HOT summer, and Hurricane Irma coming through my city, it just got to stressed, I assume, and it finally died. Did YOU ever get any cuttings/stems from someone with a huge specimen...and maybe might be willing to part with a few more? IF you even see this reply to your post....I am hoping you do....maybe you can tell me who to ask. Thank you. ******* I see a picture of a HUGE pot of the X-Mas cactus, you got it from someone. You got A LOT of cuttings from someone!!! Wow! THAT is the one I am desperate to get. I can see a few other pics. But they are not the same thing. This is an old post, so the pictures are not showing up. I dont see how a cactus that is over 150yo,...mine was,...can be a 'hybrid'. It is the one that all the others came from! I cant read ALL these posts, but i read a few, and someone said it was a hybrid. All i know is that THIS is the one i would like to find. I hope YOU or someone sees this, and can help me out. THIS was my 150+ yo specimen. Maybe YOU can help me out? That one you have is huge, and now 6 years later, it must be much bigger...??? Care to share????

Thanks for responding, Since I got it from an evil box store 3 or 4 ago months the cactus has been sitting on a covered porch where it usually gets plenty of indirect light. The temperatures have been up around 90º thisz past couple of weeks tho'. I water it once a week, using rainwater from a kiddie pool under the eaves that my 2 ducks play in (um...the water is a bit...'enriched'...by the girls). Every couple three weeks I also add a capful of ammonia per gallon and a dash of instant tea, per a Jerry Baker book. Hmmmm, would be that be it--overfertilization? A Thanksgiving cactus wouldn't need the extra 'enrichment' that the foliage plants would like. Any suggestions on how to best help the plant recover? Thanks, Kelly

It could be cultural difference. The blooms that formed in this photo were in a Victorian bungalow we were renting-- drafts like crazy, and the whole place was pretty cool temperature-wise. Your first pic resembles mine much more. So maybe it's just the temp thing? I know there are some though that have a solid magenta coloration no matter what.

Just wanted to note that the Lexie1397 VS Greenfingernail swap - most beautiful plant swap of the season - took place last week!! Exchanged were: The most georgeous Angel Wing Begonias, the cutest donkey's tail and jade, and aloe vera in exchange for a Christmas cactus, Dischidia rafflesiana or Ant Plant, Mistletoe cactus (Rhipsalis Sp.) and a rubber plant cutting!! Wow! It actually happened! Thank you Lexie1397, and thank you darkruler, gardenweb's Plant Exchange forum and all the elements that helped this awesome trade! (As you can guess, my very first trade!)