How to keep your Christmas cactus producing gorgeous blooms every year

How To
By published

Keep your Christmas cactus thriving all year round

Christmas cactus
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Once your Christmas cactus finishes blooming, most people forget about it until next December. That's exactly why so many fail to bloom the following year or slowly decline in health. Christmas cacti need consistent care throughout the entire year to stay healthy and produce flowers reliably every holiday season.

Year-round care requires adjusting a few basics like watering, light, and temperature as the seasons change. Treat your plant right during the off-season and it'll reward you with decades of holiday blooms. Here's what your Christmas cactus needs during each phase of the year.

1. Give your plant a rest after blooming

After your Christmas cactus finishes flowering in January or early February, it needs a rest period to recover the energy it spent producing blooms.

Cut back watering significantly through March and let the top two inches of soil dry out completely between waterings. It's also important to stop fertilizing entirely during these months. Keep it in bright, indirect light but away from cold windows.

This is also the best time to prune any leggy or damaged stems by cutting just above a segment joint. The plant isn't actively growing during this dormant phase, so overwatering will cause root rot. Give it space to rest and it'll bounce back stronger.

2. Water and fertilize for spring growth

Spring is when your Christmas cactus wakes up and starts growing new stem segments. From April through June, increase watering so the soil stays lightly moist — check the top inch every few days and water when it feels dry.

Start fertilizing monthly with balanced houseplant fertilizer diluted to half strength. The plant also needs bright, indirect light during this phase, ideally near an east or west-facing window.

If it's outgrown its pot, late spring is the perfect time to repot into a container one size larger using cactus potting mix. This active growth period builds the plant's energy reserves for blooming later.

3. Keep up consistent summer care

Continue regular watering through July and August, keeping soil consistently moist but not soggy. Higher temperatures mean you might need to water more frequently. Keep up monthly fertilizing through August, then stop in September.

Your Christmas cactus can spend summer outdoors in a shaded spot if nighttime temps stay above 50°F — a covered porch works perfectly. If keeping it indoors, avoid placing it near air conditioning vents.

To remove dust, you can occasionally wipe the leaves with a damp cloth. And keep your eye out for pests such as mealy bugs, and, if you spot any, remove immediately.

4. Trigger blooms with darkness and cool temps

September and October determine whether your Christmas cactus blooms in December. The plant needs 12-14 hours of complete darkness every night for 6-8 weeks to form flower buds.

Place it in a room where the lights won't be on in the evening, or cover it with a box each night. At the same time, nighttime temperatures should drop to 50-55°F while daytime stays around 65-70°F. Reduce watering during this period.

This combination of darkness, cool temperatures, and drier soil mimics the plant's natural environment and triggers blooming. After 6-8 weeks of this darkness treatment, you should see tiny buds forming at the tips of the stems.

5. Maintain stable conditions during flowering

Once buds appear in November, move your plant back to normal display location with bright, indirect light. Resume regular watering to keep soil lightly moist — drying out now causes buds to drop.

Keep temperatures consistent and avoid heat sources or drafts. Don't move or rotate the plant once buds form, as this also causes bud drop. Stop fertilizing during blooming.

The flowers will last 4-6 weeks through December and into January if you maintain consistent moisture and temperature. Once blooms fade, the cycle starts over with the rest period.

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Kaycee Hill
Kaycee Hill
How-to Editor

Kaycee is Tom's Guide's How-To Editor, known for tutorials that get straight to what works. She writes across phones, homes, TVs and everything in between — because life doesn't stick to categories and neither should good advice. She's spent years in content creation doing one thing really well: making complicated things click. Kaycee is also an award-winning poet and co-editor at Fox and Star Books.

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