I repotted my Christmas cactus almost a month ago, and these past two days it suddenly started dropping leaves. What should I do?

A reader asked: I repotted this Christmas cactus almost a month ago, and I feel like it hasn't settled into the pot. These past two days two segments broke off, both breaking off at the base for no reason. Why is that? Can the two broken-off pieces be directly cuttings right now, and how do I take the cuttings? See the picture.

Let me answer your second question first, which is what you should do right now.

The two stem segments that fell off this Christmas cactus are still alive and can be used as cuttings, no problem. But you need to remove the top leaf segment. Just look at it, it's too thin and definitely won't produce new shoots.

How to take the cutting: choose a healthy Christmas cactus with thick leaves, take 1 to 2 mature stem segments, and twist them off by hand. Then leave them in a cool, ventilated place for two to three days. The cutting bed or potting soil must be disinfected in advance. After planting, keep the soil moist, and roots will form in one to two weeks.

OK, that's the cutting covered. Now for the first question: why does this happen.

This Christmas cactus was just repotted last month. If nothing unexpected happened, the roots probably haven't made contact with the new soil and can't properly absorb water and nutrients. To save itself, it had no choice but to drop some branches. If this had happened during the flowering period, the result could have been worse, and it might not have been as simple as losing a few stem segments.

What you need to do now is dig the root ball out of the pot. If you find no new roots, break up the old root ball, clean off the dead roots, and replant it. After half a month, if new leaves grow, that means it has successfully settled into the pot. After that, it is all about fertilizer and water management.