Growing Christmas cactus in autumn: no matter what you skimp on, you cannot skip this step

In summer, my Christmas cactus stayed silent for months, with almost no flower buds appearing, though the leaves did grow a few more segments. Now that the Start of Autumn has finally arrived, I need to seize the time and give it a good nudge, at least to make up for the regret of having no flowers to enjoy in summer.

When growing Christmas cactus, many people know about watering, which means using little water, because this plant is fairly drought-tolerant and can still survive without water for half a month. It also needs light, but it does not need 6 hours of full sun a day like roses. What it truly needs is fertilizer and nutrients.

Many Christmas cacti survive through grafting, so if you only water without fertilizing, the grafted rootstock will become thinner, and for the Christmas cactus to grow, it must absorb enough nutrients from the rootstock. Therefore, when caring for a Christmas cactus, you can add a few drops of organic nutrient solution to the water. The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium it contains can effectively supplement the nutrients the Christmas cactus needs for growth, and if you want it to bloom in autumn, potassium fertilizer is absolutely indispensable. You can use a diluted monopotassium phosphate fertilizer once every half month, preferably mixed with water at about 1000 times dilution.

After supplementing the Christmas cactus with enough fertilizer, its root system will grow quickly, and the terminal buds will keep sprouting small buds that are both green and thick. If fertilizer is lacking, the leaves will gradually become thinner as well, and growing flower buds will be almost impossible.

When fertilizing a Christmas cactus, absolutely do not use chemical fertilizers, hormone fertilizers, or fertilizers containing irritating effects, because the Christmas cactus itself is fleshy. Suddenly giving it this kind of harsh feed makes it very easy for the plant to fail to adapt, leading to poor health, and if it cannot recover, it will simply die. Usually a mild organic fertilizer or a slow-release fertilizer is also acceptable.

Besides fertilizing the Christmas cactus, in autumn you must generally control the light well. Just after the Start of Autumn, it should be properly shaded, but about a month after the Start of Autumn, based on the climate conditions, you should appropriately supplement the Christmas cactus with light. Otherwise, if photosynthesis is not strong enough, nutrient transport cannot proceed well, flower buds will not develop properly, and naturally it will not be easy for it to bloom.

Generally during the flower bud stage, we recommend using phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, which can promote the Christmas cactus to differentiate flower buds and form flower buds. By the bud stage, we can lightly prune the Christmas cactus by trimming stem segments that are too dense or growing unevenly, and at the same time appropriately supplement water. Do not go a long time without watering and then suddenly water heavily. The flower buds that were finally grown will be washed away.

In short, when caring for a Christmas cactus, no matter what you forget, you must not forget fertilizing in autumn. With enough fertilizer, the branches and leaves will be lush, and only then can it bloom abundantly.