What to do if your Christmas cactus won't bloom? A few practical care tips
The Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) is a cactus-type flowering plant, and the flowers it produces are very red and vivid, appearing deep red. However, this plant is rather difficult to grow, because the reason for its flowering troubles many flower lovers. Many flower lovers have grown Christmas cacti for several years without ever seeing theirs bloom, so why is that? Below, Shuai Shuai will explain what to do if your Christmas cactus won't bloom!
Reasons why the Christmas cactus won't bloom and how to solve them
1. Light
Anyone who has grown a Christmas cactus knows that it has very low light requirements. It is not a full-sun plant. If it receives too much light every day, this will affect its flowering and make it difficult for it to form flower buds, so it cannot bloom. This is not only about sunlight outdoors; even indoor lamplight shining on the Christmas cactus will have the same effect as sunlight. Some growers like to place the Christmas cactus near a light at night, and because the light period is too long, the differentiation of the Christmas cactus is affected, so it cannot bloom. We should place it in an environment that has light during the day and darkness at night, so that it can bloom.
2. Temperature
The optimal temperature for the Christmas cactus to grow is between 18-25 degrees, and the flowering temperature is between 10-15 degrees, and it must not exceed 25 degrees; keeping it at 15 degrees is best. In winter, the growing temperature for the Christmas cactus must be kept above 10 degrees for it to bloom normally, otherwise its flower buds will be frostbitten, and it is very easy to cause the flower buds to become blind buds. So when the temperature is too low, move the Christmas cactus into a warm room, and move it out again after it blooms. After moving it out of the warm room, you must also observe the temperature at all times; once the temperature is not up to standard, adjust the temperature immediately to prevent the flowers from being frostbitten.
3. Watering
The soil in the Christmas cactus's growing environment should be semi-shaded and on the moist side. In the rainy summer season, put the Christmas cactus back indoors to ensure its flower buds are not damaged by rain. Usually water it less, because the Christmas cactus will not die from lack of water; it does have some cold tolerance, but waterlogging will cause it to die, so watering must be done carefully and delicately. During the flower bud period, be sure to spray it with a fine mist from time to time and keep the environment slightly moist.
4. Fertilizing
When choosing fertilizer for it, you can choose phosphorus and potassium fertilizer and fertilizer containing a lot of nitrogen, such as horse hoof pieces and ammonium sulfate, and you must control a certain amount. Many people may fail to control the amount when fertilizing, which leads to over-fertilizing and inhibits its development, so it cannot bloom. Therefore, nitrogen fertilizer should be applied a little less.
The above are the reasons why the Christmas cactus won't bloom and the solutions. After reading this, do you know how to solve it? In most cases, the Christmas cactus not blooming is closely related to light, because the Christmas cactus is different from other plants; it is not a full-sun plant, so we should reduce the light time as much as possible while also ensuring that the amount of light it receives is sufficient.