Can't keep your Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) alive? Try this method

Hello everyone, today is a brand new day again, but it's cloudy here on our side. I don't know what the weather is like on your side, but remember to take good care of the flowers at home. I'm still the same technical writer who specializes in potted flower gardening, and every day I bring you all a solution to a home flower-growing problem along with tips, and to thank you all for your quiet support and attention, I want to write the best articles to give back to you all, so your flowers keep getting better and better. I hope you'll keep supporting me, and I'll keep working hard! Growing flowers is a discipline, and you won't learn it just by hearing a few superficial tips from others. You need to gradually build up experience through growing flowers, and you have to be patient. Flowers are like people, each with its own living environment; go with nature and you'll grow flowers and trees well. The Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) is a flowering plant much favored by flower lovers, but beginners often complain that they've killed the plant, or that before it even bloomed, the buds dropped off. It's no exaggeration to say that 80% of flower lovers kill their plants because they don't know how to water them.

There are quite a few varieties of Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera), and new varieties keep being bred. Common white varieties include: Christmas White, Snowflake, and Dorsey; yellow varieties include: Christmas Flame and Cambridge; there are also orange, purple, pink, and brilliant red varieties in various colors. Winter is the season when the Christmas cactus blooms, and because the weather is cold, you shouldn't water too much, generally once a week. For indoor growing in the north, where there's heating indoors and the temperature is higher, you can appropriately increase the watering frequency.

In spring, the temperature is neither too high nor too low and everything grows, so you can appropriately increase the watering frequency. Flower lovers suggest watering once every 3-4 days. The Christmas cactus likes a cool, warm environment, and in summer, when the temperature is high and sunlight is strong, you should pay attention to shading and avoiding the sun. In this season, increase the amount of water and water once every two days, and it's best to choose the time after the sun sets to water. Autumn is the same as spring; at this time the temperature gradually drops, and you can also choose to water in the early morning.

So-called "dry through" means the surface soil in the pot is dry through, but the lower layer of soil is still visibly moist; so-called "water through" means watering until water comes out of the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot. One point must be stressed here: because the potting soil becomes compacted and separates from the pot wall, often as soon as you water, the water runs down along the edge of the pot and out the drainage hole at the bottom, while the potting soil is actually still very dry. When this happens, you can use the sit-pot method (putting the flower pot into a larger basin filled with water) to water, so the water soaks up through the potting soil from the bottom up.

If you still can't manage the method above, here's another simple test method: in the middle part of the flower pot, grab a handful of soil, put it in the palm of your hand and squeeze; if no water marks appear in your hand and the soil forms a clump that breaks apart with a light flick of your finger, then the soil's moisture content is about right. If when you squeeze it you see free water in your hand and the clump won't break apart when flicked, this means the soil is wet and you must not water; if the soil simply won't form a clump at all, then it needs watering. Water your Christmas cactus like this, and even without much fertilizing, it will stay full of blooms and lush leaves for 10 years!