Do Christmas Cactus (Thanksgiving, Holiday) Flower More Than Once A Year? Oh Yes!
Do Christmas Cactus flower more than once a year? My Christmas Cactus is blooming again in February, and I explain how it happened here.
Christmas Cactus are extremely popular when November and December roll around. I happen to like them even when they’re not in bloom and think they make fine houseplants. But wait, did you know that they can repeat flower? Mine started re-blooming in February, so yes, Christmas Cactus do flower more than once a year.
Let’s get a bit technical for those of you who geek out on all things plant like me. The Christmas Cactus that you see here and in the video is actually a Thanksgiving (or Crab) Cactus. It was labeled as a CC when I bought it and that’s how it’s commonly sold in the trade. Nowadays you may see them labeled as Holiday Cactus. Regardless of which one you have, they can re-bloom more than once a year.
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My Christmas (Thanksgiving, Holiday) Cactus in bloom again:
I’ve gotten a few comments on reader’s Christmas Cacti flowering more than once a year and questions as to whether this was “normal” or not. Some people’s flower again and some don’t. What causes them to bloom again? I’ll share with you the conditions mine has been in and what I’ve done.
Here’s how my Thanksgiving Cactus looked last November. This winter repeat bloom is much sparser.
First off, I haven’t purposefully done anything to cause the re-blooming. I’ve found that some plants, like Hoyas, flower when they darn well please. The conditions I’ve had it growing in have most likely caused it. My cactus was sitting on my kitchen counter when it was in bloom for our viewing pleasure.
It stopped blooming in early December and I left it in that spot when I went to San Francisco to do a Christmas decorating job. When I got home in mid-month, I moved it into an east-facing window in my office. Because I live in the Arizona desert, it won’t be growing in that spot much past May – too hot!
There’s copious amounts of sun here in Tucson so the Christmas Cactus got ample light during the day. I’m out of my office by 4 so it received at least 12 hours of total darkness each night. Another factor: I turn my heat down to 65 at night, and because it was on the window sill, the plant stayed cool.
There are redbuds popping their heads out of the leaf sections so I’ll have flowers for at least another month.
So that’s what I think did it – the combo of the almost equal amounts of light/dark and the cooler evening temperatures. I haven’t fed the plant at all but will nourish it my usual blend of worm compost and compost when I repot it after the blooming is finished. I back off on the watering frequency when my Christmas Cactus isn’t in bloom and water it about once a week when it is. They’re epiphytic cacti native to the rainforests and therefore require more water than desert cacti.
As you can see, the bloom at this time isn’t nearly as big as it was around Thanksgiving. The flowering is much more sporadic but lovely nonetheless. There are quite a few buds barely poking their heads out of many leaf sections so it should have flowers on it for at least another month or so. By the way, each flower seems to last 4-5 days. I gently twist them off when the bloom is starting to look bad.
Does your Thanksgiving or Christmas Cactus bloom more than once a year? Please fill us in – inquiring horticultural minds want to know!
Happy gardening,
More on Christmas Cactus:
How To Propagate Christmas Cactus
How To Get Your Christmas Cactus To Flower Again
What Causes Christmas Cactus Leaves To Turn Orange?
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Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.
Oh my goodness Myra! I said CC are long lived & yours really proves it. Mine flowers once or twice a year but I really love it as a foliage plant too. Thanks for sharing, Nell
I have both a Christmas and thanksgiving cactus. The Christmas cactus was given to my mother by her grandmother, my brother and I then split it between us. Mine sits in a SW facing window. It starts blooming in December and is still blooming now. My thanksgiving cactus isn’t as prolific. I bought it 20 years ago. It also has SW lighting but has more shade during the day. I water each when the dirt is dry. last reporting was 6 years ago for both.
Hi Kathy – I just repotted my Thanksgiving Cactus last spring. It bloomed beautifully this past holiday season. They sure are long-lived. nell
So I found this site because I was wondering about my CC. It bloomed at Thanksgiving and then again in January and then again in March! It started blooming at the end of May and is in full bloom now. I am totally stunned! An interesting fact about this is I moved at the beginning of March and probably repotted it sometime in April. It just continues to bloom and bloom! I have done nothing special with it. It was in a west facing window in my other house. Now it is in a southeastern facing window. It is on the windowsill, so it gets some direct sunlight during the day. I live in Pennsylvania and keep my house around 65 in the winter and 74 in the summer. Anyway, that’s my CC story… not even exactly sure if it’s a CC or a TC. hahahaha.
Tina – Thanks for sharing! I’ve only had mine bloom twice so yours must be very happy. And, that’s a lovely CC story! Nell
Our Thanksgiving cactus normally blooms a beautiful deep pink and is always on time for Thanksgiving. However, this year it is blooming now also (June) only the flowers are WHITE! What has caused the change in color?
Debbie – Change in CC flower color is normally due to a change in environmental conditions. Nell
My Thanksgiving cactus blooms at Easter too!
Ashley – Funny how they do that! Mine only bloomed once this year – you never know with plants! Nell
I have a 10 year old cactus that hasn’t stopped blooming in 2 years. I have it in a cool room, no direct sunlight, water it every 2 weeks and fertilize with Miracle Grow every 3 months. It is huge. Wish I could include a pic.