I put mine in a room that is not used in the evening such as a spare bedroom. They set in the window & get light during the day. I close the door so that when the sun goes down they get no light until the sun rises in the morning.

My thanksgiving cactus is blooming now all on its own. It was outside for the entire summer. Started setting buds just before I brought it inside for the winter. I guess it is a bit too early for the holiday. But I don't care!

Jason, I’d really like to know the sources that told you to keep your plants in total darkness! When, in truth, the light cycle is just as important as the darkness. They are much easier to force into blooming than poinsettias, I think.

Haha, @rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7, I wish I could find it! I've had these for a few years, and it feels like EVERY source said to keep them in the dark for 4-6 weeks. And at least one said that any amount of light would break the cycle.

But, ya know, ya can't believe everything you read on the internet :-P

Based on the information here, though, I'm gonna put mine in the basement tomorrow. It's a finished basement, but a bit cooler and darker than the rest of the house, so it should be appropriate.

I'm in Florida and mine live outside year round in full sun. They bloom their pretty heads off around Christmas.

When I lived in NY mine were moved in when temps dropped near freezing and I moved them to my living room..it had floor to ceiling windows facing west.

Leave them alone. Plants respond to shorter days. You don't need to put them in a dark closet. Leave them in the light outside, if possible.

Well. They've been in my dining room all year, near the North facing sliding glass door. So they've never been in anything like full sun! Just the same reflected light that makes my Wandering Jew and a small aloe plant happy.

I've only ever had a holiday cactus bloom one time, several years ago. I had kept that one as a centerpiece on the dining room table, and then through November I kept it in the basement under a box 24/7. I was top-watering it and accidentally killed it, though, so when I got these new ones I've been following the same routine that worked with that one with the exception of bottom watering. It's been YEARS, though, with no blooms :-/

They're under the dining room light that's on for most of the day, though. Does that count? If not, then theoretically they're already getting 12-14 hours of dark.

this is another common name issue..

there are a multitude of plants sold under the name XMAS cactus... they are not the same.. and they dont all bloom during the same period...

one of mine just bloomed all by itself.. in a south facing door wall.. as the sun started declining... the others show no inclination to bloom right now.. seems i recall those might bloom more around easter.. which would be when the sun.. start climbing in the sky again ...

always fall back to general plant culture rules.. to figure out what going ton.. in this case sensitivity to light or sun ....

ken

btw: when i was a kid.. in the 70s.. we were also told to put the poinsettia and the cactus in the dark closet to trigger such.. frankly.. i dont recall it ever working... im wonder of your out wives tale is confusing cactus with old poinsettia rules... many a plant was found years later in the same closet.. lol ...

Are you sure you weren’t reading something about Poinsettias? There is a strict rule about blocking all light during the night hours but growing them in good light during the day. Holiday cactus are MUCH more relaxed! My best results with Xmas cacti was when I lived in a sub tropical area where I could grow them all year on my screened back patio where it got down to the thirties in the fall. They had lots of sunlight on the patio. gardengal is correct in that lower temperatures can induce flowering.

I've never actually had a poinsettia, so I'm pretty sure I was reading about holiday cacti. But at this point, who knows? I've developed a taste for 16 year Lagavulin (Scotch) to pair with my reverse seared prime cut steaks, so God only knows how many brain cells I have left... LOL

I just leave my Thanksgiving cacti out all Spring, Summer and a lot of Fall, they are still out in NJ (Zone 7a/b). They will come in before a frost covered in blooms. We have had TONS of rain here, as long as the soil drains, they will be fine. They are triggered to bloom by the longer and cooler nights.

Mine are still out, these are from last year.

Mine have been sitting indoors on the sunny window sill in Miami Fl at 75F for most of the year and now they are blooming! quite early: last year they started at Xmas.

it’s about 12 hours of darkness now.

Dam! deer ATE my Christmas cacti this year!

I can’t be bothered with the ”dark” treatment, and they always bloom They are outside.

"I can’t be bothered with the ”dark” treatment, and they always bloom They are outside."

Yes, if you can leave them outside, that WILL DO IT, but not everyone can leave them outside in North America into September, October and November due to heavy frost. If you can, the shorting days, and cooler nights will always trigger the bloom cycle.. I cannot imagine how to do this indoors though.