How to care for Christmas cactus during its summer dormancy? Keep these precautions in mind
The Christmas cactus has beautiful, brightly colored flowers, and many people like to keep one at home, but it is important to note that the Christmas cactus does go dormant, and we need to take good care of it during the dormancy period so that it can produce beautiful flowers when it blooms. The Christmas cactus has two dormancy periods, one after flowering and one during the high temperatures of summer. Let us take a look at both of these situations.
1. Dormancy after flowering
The Christmas cactus usually flowers in winter and spring, and flowering consumes a large amount of nutrients from the plant, so after flowering it needs to go dormant to store up more nutrients.
2. Dormancy during summer high temperatures
Because summer temperatures are high, the Christmas cactus needs to enter a dormant state for self-protection during high temperatures, reducing nutrient loss. This is because the Christmas cactus normally grows at a temperature of around 20 degrees, and temperatures that are too high or too low are both unsuitable.
We need to take careful care of the Christmas cactus during dormancy, otherwise it will affect its flowering the following year.
1. Repotting. The Christmas cactus is suited to being repotted during its dormancy period. Of course, when repotting, do not dump out all the potting soil, because part of the original soil needs to remain on the roots. We replant it in the pot with fertile soil, which allows the roots of the Christmas cactus to get more nutrients.
2. Pruning. After the Christmas cactus flowers and the blooms fade, if they are not pruned in time, a lot of nutrients will be wasted. We need to prune away the faded flowers and the withered branches and leaves so that no waste occurs. This not only allows nutrients to be concentrated in supplying the strong remaining stems, but also increases the ventilation and light penetration of the Christmas cactus plant crown.
3. Watering and fertilizing. During the dormancy period of the Christmas cactus, the nutrients and water it needs are very little, because its life activities slow down. We should reduce the frequency of watering, pay attention to observing whether the surface of the potting soil has dried out completely, and water thoroughly each time, never watering in dribs and drabs. As for fertilizing, we generally stop it, and can use rice water for watering instead of fertilizer, just once a month. A Christmas cactus cared for in this way will be very beautiful when it blooms in winter.
Not only the Christmas cactus is cared for this way during dormancy; most plants can be cared for in this way. We need to pay more attention to plants at this time so that they can produce beautiful flowers later.