What kind of soil are you using in the pot?

How often do you water?

Is the plant always inside the house.

If not, how much sun is it getting?

You've given us zero information on what kind of care it gets.

Your plant is Schlumbergera truncata, 'Thanksgiving cactus'.

I have some ideas but would like some answers to the questions above before I attempt any diagnostics.

I apologise for the late response, and for my lack of detail:

1) I don't recall, but I think it's a mix of peat.

2) Every 2-3 weeks.

3) Mostly, yes, but we sometimes take it outside for 2-3 days after we water it.

4) It's getting around 12 hours of sun.

It might have to be a pot change, but I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, do feel free to ask. @BillMN-z-2-3-4

Hi!

Thanks for helping with the information. It really helps.

Schlumbergera truncata, grows in subtropical and tropical climates in its native range of SE Brazil. It's technically an epiphyte because it grows up high in the branches of trees in the jungle. It doesn't feed on the tree like an epiphyte, it finds places in the crotches of the tree where it feeds on whatever collects inside the crotch, like bugs and bird poo etc.

Considering its location, it gets very little direct sunlight, growing below the canopy of the trees. So, 12 hours direct sun a day is way too much for this plant. It actually prefers more of an indirect or filtered sunlight.

When outside, I put mine under my plant table so it only gets a few hours of sun early in the morning, then just spotty, dappled sun throughout the day. And when first putting mine out in the season, I give it a half hour a day for a week just to acclimate it to real sunshine, otherwise sunburn can happen.

Inside, I don't even raise the translucent shade and just let it get the indirect light that come through. ;-)

I thought yours looked a little sunburnt so thought I'd better ask about that.

Next, Peat based potting soils are not ideal for many types of plants. The tend to be moisture retentive and stay wet long after the plant has drunk its fill, leaving the roots sitting in moist to wet soil. Root rot is the end result.

A bark-based mix or a mix that is well draining is what you want. You may have to water more often but a well-draining soil lets air down into the soil along with the water which is what most plants need because roots need air as much as they do water.

You also want to make sure that your pot has drain holes in the bottom, so things don't stay waterlogged.

When the soil is right, you water the plant until the water runs out the drain holes in the pot, then leave it be until the soil dries out on the surface before watering again. Generally a week or so. You just have to get to know your particular soil to know how often. Schlumbergera can take a lot of water as long as the soil is well draining and doesn't stay waterlogged. :-)

One more question: Is that a pot in a pot?

I can definitely do that!

Yeah, I knew it was tropical, but there's still a lot to keeping them I need to learn, despite having owned them for roughly 3 years now, if not 4. They can be a little complicated to handle, but I do genuinely love these species of plant.

Anyways, I can make sure I provide it less direct sunlight, yes. To be fair, this kind of thing has never even occurred beforehand, so I might have just placed it in the wrong position than what I usually would do. I'll be sure to take your tip in mind so I don't accidentally crisp it next time; thank you, again, a lot.

I noticed too with the orange spots, usually a sign (to me).

I'll also be sure to thoroughly change the soil when I get my hands on a slightly larger pot overall (maybe), and I'll see what I can do from there. I'm fine with well-draining soil, and I'll try getting some at some point.

Yeah, I have a drainage hole, and from the looks of it, it seems fine, so it's probably a mix of the soil (more of the moisture content in it, possibly) and the odd sunlight routine I gave it. Usually, even, I don't give them full sunlight, and I must have made a slipup somewhere down the line (sorry, cactus!), but thank you. It means a lot to get pointers on what I'm doing wrong.

I currently have it in a form of "quarantine" - it being put on my windowsill, haha - so I'm hoping it won't waterlog. Just waiting for it to dry to assess any potential root rot damage, if any at all. Then I'll go from there.

Likewise, that's why I did 2-3 weeks, but I'll try giving it fresh soil. Thank you three times!

To answer your question: Yes. Yes it is.

Don't worry, though! The pot underneath just serves to collect any drainage. I'm not burying my plant under 20 layers of soil, haha. I'd cry if that were the case, considering that pot (the one under) doesn't have any drainage of itself. It's mainly just there to stop it puddling back.

Thank you four? times, though!

@BillMN-z-2-3-4

FWIW: Here's one of mine growing in AL's 5-1-1 bark mix. The bark tends to dry out with only regular watering, but I just soak the whole pot, for a few/several hours, occasionally (month or two?) to rehydrate the bark.

3-24-23: The shade was up on this picture so kind of bright.

Sorry for the week late reply! Thank you 5 times, haha!

It looks like the soil has dried out now, but I won't touch it for another week just in case it's still drying out. I have it sat on my windowsill at the moment away from direct sun. I'll try it out when I have the time (I'm a little tight on schedule at the moment) so I'll definitely work on it when possible!

Wow, that's a really nice plant. :) I love the colour on it; I always love the colour diversity with schlumbergeras. I'll keep that link saved and update this. Could be a month or so, but I'll definitely try @BillMN-z-2-3-4 !!