I used to have some. I always give away my plants when I move because the moving companies will not take them. For the most part, Christmas cactus thrive on neglect. They don't like a lot of water.

They don't like water, but they do like humidity.

I did but I don't think any survived the flood. I love them would like to have some in lots of colors again sometime . The atrium will be quite a project once I get back in the house . What ever survived I will try to keep alive through the winter but next spring will be a major cleanup and throw out .

Congratulations on your pretty new plant we need pictures !

I do but........one I have had for over 10 years and it has never bloomed a second time. The other one I have is a piece from one I just killed so only time will tell. :(

I have one, but I call it my Thanksgiving Cactus, because that is when it always blooms. It blooms again in mid spring usually. That is a Burro's Tail in the pic with it. Started them both about 6 years ago with just one tiny segment of each that a friend gave me. As you can see, they are very neglected. Too much sun and watering is very sporadic. Plus they need repotting badly. Just took this Pic 5 minutes ago.

I have a couple that are around 100 years old. I also have a hoya close to that age.

Murraysmom I had a huge one that would never bloom I thought it must be a weird plant. One day a person who was visiting stopped and looked at it and said how beautiful and big it was. Then she said it never blooms does it I said how do you know that? She picked up the pot and walked to my den that had huge floor to ceiling windows facing the pool patio. She set it in the window sill and said it will bloom now. I was extremely skeptical but darn if it didn't bloom soon after and had an enormous profusion of blooms. Turns out it needed a lot more light than it was getting. So try putting yours in a window! That plant bloomed regularly after that. I tried moving it with us but it didn't survive.

I have several plants, and two are Thanksgiving cacti that just finished blooming. I have one very large, old plant that belonged to my late DM. I find that they seem to like a certain amount of neglect and infrequent watering. After they finish blooming, I put them in basement windows where they get light but are in a much cooler environment.

That must be a nice group of heirloom plants, kentrees.

Mine was a 10" pot purchased about 5 years ago on clearance from Costco. I leave it, basically ignored, under a shrub in the garden until I see buds form. Then I put it on the patio table to enjoy. I also bought a yellow-flowering variety at HD last year. It isn't as floriferous, and currently just has buds. It lightly blooms sporadically more than the photo plant.

I have one that's over 40 years old. It was a gift I gave my mom from my first job in a flower shop. It's been close to death on more than one occasion. The last time my mom had repotted it in some very heavy potting soil and it stayed too wet. I was surprised it survived. Thanks for a reminder that i need to bring it inside tomorrow.

I have one that's probably 30+ years old. My MIL gave me a cutting, I think before I was married. I call it my MLK Day cactus, it usually blooms in January. I just brought it in yesterday, it's been on the deck all summer. Green and healthy, but not a bud to be found. When it does bloom, it's the hottest hot pink.

I have an "EPI", so called Mexican Orchid that DSIL left on the side of the house when he & family went to Okinawa.....I didn't want it. It is beautiful and in California Central Valley it thrived, outdoors in a covered screened patio. It has been here in So. Or now for 12 years and it has survived, but only on its' own terms. It used to bloom on Mothers' Day.....and today it (needs to be put in the garage) has 24 buds that need another warmer month to bloom. Every year it has been more prolific and I think we have 4 huge cocoa baskets that cascade a couple of feet. When we move it for winter, we usually lose some of the growth that I can't throw away, so every year I have many new starts to share. We leave it in the garage winters, with only light from the windows in the garage doors, and it survives our long absences while we do our snowbird thing, being gone 6 to 8 weeks with no water. It turned out to be one of my favorite things...and yet I don't really "know" much about it.

I found one at my Mom's while clearing out her house the other day. It was in the bedroom on a table in front of a window. I remember thinking how dry as a bone it was, so I watered it and moved it to the kitchen. Then yesterday I stopped in to do some more work and ended up bringing the plant home with me.

I don't have house plants, never have, except for over wintering geraniums in the pantry that sometimes can live for 2 - 3 years - and bloom. Anyway, the Christmas Cactus looks like it has little buds on the tips. Currently I have it in the library in front of a window. Good to hear I placed it in an appropriate place!

So how often do I water it? I mean the soil was hard as a rock and still is kind of.

I tend to overwater mine - I am trying to control that by giving mine a handful of ice cubes every two weeks or so, instead of watering. It's high up, on top of a highboy, so tossing in ice cubes is a lot easier than getting out the stepstool and the watering can. For scale, the pot is about 6" or 8" at the widest.

It's hard to say how often, schoolhouse, but these plants do like more water than regular succulents and cactus. It depends on how warm your house is, the kind of soil, how much light it's getting. They are jungle plants which grow in trees. Your plant could still be bone dry in the center. When I repotted mine this summer I was very surprised that they were so dry in the rootball. Take a skewer or thin pencil and stick it in the soil for 20 minutes or so. When you pull it out you can tell if the soil is damp.

I have two Thanksgiving cactuses which are full of buds. I'm looking forward to their bloom and hope the weather cools so the flowers last longer than in the heat.

gyr--that's a beautiful flower, just as beautiful as any orchid.

Both Gazania and Gyr, your flowers are so pretty!! I agree, pretty as any orchid!! Gyr, do you live in a year round warm climate?

Yes, murraysmom. I live in Southern CA (Orange County). Great climate for some plants; alas, not great for beauties such as Japanese maples, or most autumn color plants.

I was given a christmas cactus that for awhile did well downstairs but then had to go away and asked parents to come downstairs to water them and said no and so brought it upstairs then. Came back home and it no longer liked it downstairs so gave it to parents then and my mother it blossomed plus hers christmas and easter, huge ones, it did so well, then it was dying due to lack of looking after it.

Aldi's had them for $3.99, I was going to buy one while there but did not notice them, Cheryl remembered and bought it for me. It is really full of blooms and is a deep rosy pink color. It is a nice sized one. Maybe mine is a Thanksgiving one, although they advertised it as a Christmas cactus.

Thanks for posting the pictures of your plants.

Sue

I love house plants of all kinds, so do my cats! I have tried over the years to have them and I either find dirt all over the place and the poor plant somewhere on the ground or the tips of the leaves are chewed off to the point the plant looks very sad.

They love flowers too. If someone sends me flowers they will jump up and smell the flowers for hours, then when I go to bed and wake up said flowers have been stolen out of the vase and end up somewhere in my house. I have tried putting them up high and in places they can not get to but they just see it as a challenge and usually things in the way get broken or knocked down so I have just given up and have them outside.