Hi Kitkat & Welcome, I'm going to assume you don't know about these plants, so if I say something which sounds obvious or that you already know, I ask in advance that you pls. excuse me. Xmas cacti are jungle cacti, not desert cacti (as some folks mistake them), so they want & need water. They naturally grow in the branches of trees in the tropics, so in these branches or crotches of trees as they're called, they don't really have soil, just leaves, debris & animal droppings that collect there. Key is that any water runs right through this debris & doesn't stay in the roots long at all. The roots of these plants can look surprisingly small & indignificant. What do you mean by the soil looks like cinder? I don't know that word, does that mean like burnt ashes of firewood as example, like burnt cinders? I agree with statement above that woody growth can be normal, just a sign of older growth, so pls. disregard that. I suggest you take cuttings & start new ones; then repot the old, original plant as well. The leaves are referred to as segments or stems. It's recommended that a cutting should have 3-5 segments on each one cutting. I'd use small plastic pots, & place a number of cuttings around the outer edge of the pot & one or 2 in the center. I just checked my reference book & confirmed that largish plants can be kept in smallish pots, say a plant 12" wide & maybe 8-10" high, could easily remain in a pot only 4-5" in diameter. The mix should be something like African violet soil readily available at nurseries, box stores, etc. w/ added perlite, say 1/3 perlite to 2/3 AV soil. This will make for light & airy mix, fast draining which is what these plants need. Only water the new cuttings lightly as without roots, they can't really take up the water. Give them bright, indirect light or place them at the edge of a window. Either water lightly every few days or spray the top of the mix w/ a plant mister. Pls. don't tug on the cuttings to check for rooting, just wait to see new growth; when you do that means the cuttings have rooted; then you can you can water more. If the original rootball & its mix are hardened, soak them first, in a basin of warm water & crumble off the old mix w/ your fingers as much as you can & repot in a fresh mix. Hope I've covered everything, you should see new growth in 4 weeks I'm guessing, if not before then. Good for you for wanting to rescue & do right by this plant. May it reward you w/ lots of blooms next year. Are the edges of the stems jagged or rounded? Jagged indicates Thanksgiving cactus, rounded indicates Christmas cactus. Good luck!

Ninecrow, hi there, just checked my TC's out and one out of three has some tiny buds just beginning to develop. It's the one shown in the hanging basket in the first post in this thread. It survives 365 in my g/h. I may treat it and the others to a warmer winter this year by moving them into the bathroom. It's colours nothing spectacular really, but it has sentimental value as it was a rescue from my mums house, so it's a keeper for that reason alone. I've said I'm not going to get any more plants, but there will soon be TC' s of every hue for £1 each in all the supermarkets and markets won't there? Just maybe........ Gill

The ones you sent me Nancy, are not in bloom yet. It might not have gotten cold enough to set blooms its first year here in Ft.laud. Sorry I lost your email address to let you know it is doing well. I still have the card/letter you sent me with the sections you sent me. I have lost a lot of the smaller cuttings over the summer, but the big one is doing well. I am watching for buds, my 'new' style X-Mas cactus' are setting buds, but it is not as exciting as waiting to see if I get any from my Old Christmas cactus. It reminds me of my gram/mom, and Conn. These new varieties don't. I almost bought a few of the newer varieties, on E-bay. But tiny 3 segment cuttings are over $25-50!!! Named ones like 'Samba Brazil', 'Inca Sun' and 'Aspen', and a few are $99!! For tiny segments. That is obscene!! How rare are these?? So...ill never see these in person, in my lifetime, in my collections.

I thank you, BUT it IS rare. It is not the new upright big lobster clawed like stemmed ones.That are at Lowes/Home depot, only places i have scene X-Mas cactus this time of year. And they ONLY sell the NEW types. ***** I went to the Etsy site you recommended, and people that bought the affordable ones all said they got 'JUNK and not to buy', the others listed are either WAY to expensive, add in shipping, or the wrong color. It is better to get or buy from a person that has an old big specimen, and cares about it, and knows how important this plant is to some people.....like me As i just typed to someone else,in the cacti forum, that told me a place called Matts Garden, grows them, I told her that I TALKED to MATT today, out of sheer luck,and he said he stopped growing them years ago, they are to much trouble to grow. They droop to much so shipping is impossible, they rot to easily, and they need to be repotted frequently, mine rotted away but took a long time. Mine rarely needed repotting, it loved to be tightly potbound, and the drooping is the part WE/I love the most, and the flower. Notice the prices of these plants/cuttings, they are all over the place, and dont know if it is the one I had. But notice they come from 120yo plants? NOT new ones?