The holiday season has here, which not only calls for decorations but also festive plants! At this time of year, there are many lovely holiday plants to pick from, whether they are bought from a florist, nursery, or are grown at home. The Christmas cactus is one of the most popular plants to give or receive at this time of year. Or is it a Thanksgiving or Easter cactus?
The three cacti differ from one another in terms of how their leaves are shaped. The edges of the leaves of the Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumgera truncata) are very sharply pointed and shaped like claws. The leaf projections of the Christmas cactus (Schlumgera bridgesti) are more scalloped or teardrop shaped. The edges of the leaves of the Easter cactus (Rhipsalidopsis gaertnerrii) are extremely rounded and centered.
These three cacti are all classified as short-day plants. Therefore, the plant needs low temperatures and 12–24 hours of darkness in order to bloom. If you overwintered your plant outside or bought it from a florist or nursery, you should keep it in a cold, dark place until the buds appear. The optimum location is an infrequently used bedroom or lower level. The Easter cactus gets its name from the fact that it takes 8–12 weeks of short days to bloom as opposed to the Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti’s roughly six weeks. It can be brought into a warmer environment once the buds start to form for your enjoyment. At this stage, a plant may occasionally start to lose its buds. That might be caused by air currents, warm temperatures, an abundance of water, or direct sunlight. Bright light is good for the plants, but not direct sunlight. Before watering, the soil should be completely dry to one inch below the surface. Fertilizing or repotting shouldn’t be done when the plant is in bloom. The plants appear to thrive when they are root-bound.
You might see the Christmas and Thanksgiving cactus bloom once more in the spring, though perhaps not as lavishly as over the holiday season. Simply restore the plant to its short day settings to promote springtime blooming.
Unless they are overwatered, these plants are generally disease-free. If the plant turns crimson, there is either too much sun, not enough phosphorus, or not enough water. There are rumors of plants that have been passed down from generation to generation for more than a century. Take advantage of these easygoing holiday plants and establish a new gardening custom. Call the Linn County Master Gardener Hortline at 319-447-0647 with any and all of your gardening inquiries.
What kind of cactus celebrates Thanksgiving?
They look like a long tube, like a flower inside a flower. They normally bloom around Thanksgiving and come in a variety of hues, mostly pastels, such as red, pink, peach, purple, orange, or white. With yellow pollen-bearing anthers, the flowers on a Thanksgiving cactus come in a variety of hues.
How can I determine the type of cactus I have?
The physical characteristics of each cactus should be used as a starting point when distinguishing one from another. Some distinguishing physical characteristics to watch for are:
The Leaves
One essential aspect you may want to consider is the cactus plant’s leaves. Do your plants have any spines? You can determine this by examining their leaves. A leaf with spines will have needle-like, sharp edges, while a leaf without spines will have rounded edges. The color and shape of your cacti plant’s leaves can also provide useful information.
Chlorophyll and carotenoids, which are photosynthetic pigments, can be used to determine the color of leaves. Carotenoids give the plants their characteristic colors, whereas chlorophyll is in charge of receiving light energy from the sun and storing it as chemical energy.
Your cactus plant type may also be determined by the shape of the leaves. Succulent plants often have spines and needle-like leaves, whereas flat-leaved plants are typically stronger in nature since they can endure severe situations better. For instance, the leaves of a barrel cactus grow straight, whereas the leaves of a saguaro cactus are flat.
Similar to the shape and color, the different needle styles can also be used to identify the type of cacti you have, albeit the results are not always reliable. The more hardy and leafy kinds will typically have flat spines, whilst the more succulent and squishy forms would typically have needle-like spines.
How high can they grow?
When determining the type of cactus you have, you might also want to consider its height. Because plants that thrive at higher elevations typically have longer roots than those that do not, height and altitude can be utilized as a determining factor when choosing your plant type. The Saguaro Cactus, which may often reach heights of 50 feet, is the tallest of all succulents. Hedgehog and pereskia, on the other hand, are little kinds that rarely grow taller than six inches. You can tell what kind of cactus plant you have by just measuring the height of the plant.
Shape and coloration
When there are no spines or leaves to go by, a cactus’ shape and color can also be utilized to determine its type. Shape typically gives some hints about the plant’s requirements for the climate, which in turn may give more information about the nature of the plant.
Although there are so many different kinds of cactus that you can identify, you might not be able to do so just by looking at it because of its color. Another spiny variety may have a green-brown body, whereas a white-spined barrel cactus may have green. The dwarf saguaro’s yellowish hue stands out sharply from, for example, the brown spines on a barbed wire cactus.
As you can see, there are a lot of physical characteristics to watch out for that could reveal what species of cactus plant your plants are. One piece of advice is to explore further if you notice something peculiar or unusual about a particular species because it might be what you’ve been looking for.
How are its flowering style and pattern?
The way a plant blooms is another physical characteristic that will reveal whether it is a terrestrial or epiphytic plant. While terrestrial plants have roots and require direct connection to soil, epiphytes are plants that thrive in humid regions with little soil contact and depend on other plants for nutrition.
Another sign of a cactus’ kind is the way its flowers are arranged. The saguaro and barrel both feature radial patterns, while the hedgehog is another plant with radial patterns but more elongated ones. A species that forms columns, like the cardon, may have vertical stripes or zigzags with contrasting color patterns.
The most likely form of cactus you have is a cardon if it is columnar and has vertical stripes of contrasting colors. On the other hand, if your cactus has radial patterns and spines, it is probably either the barrel or saguaro type.
Although it’s not always reliable, the color of the flowers might also give you a hint about what kind of cactus your plant is. For instance, a hedgehog may have yellow blooms, or a kind of flower with a red top may be a cardon.
What about the seeds?
Depending on their environment, different cactus species generate different seeds. For instance, the Saguaro cactus produces smaller, fleshier seed pods, whereas the hedgehog produces much larger, spiky fruit. While the cardon is known to produce seeds that are round and glossy, some varieties, like the barrel cactus, will have a more oval or spherical appearance.
These various seed pod varieties can provide you hints about the kind of cactus you might grow in your garden. Perhaps after a lengthy development period, your plant that you’ve had for a while isn’t blossoming or generating any flowers? Even before planting, it may be quite beneficial to look at the seeds, since they might provide important details about the type of plant. If your cactus isn’t flowering or generating any flowers over a lengthy time of growth, it may not be blossoming due to its type or the climatic circumstances that type loves. Different cactus species generate different seed pods.
What three varieties of Christmas cacti are there?
Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus, and Easter cactus are the three popular holiday cacti, each of which is called after the season in which its blooms occur. All three are straightforward to cultivate and have comparable growth patterns and maintenance needs.
Today’s holiday cactus variations are available in magenta, pink, scarlet, as well as yellow, white, orange, purple, salmon, and apricot, however these well-known cacti are typically only available in red-hued hues. The Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti are tropical rain forest species, while the Easter cactus is indigenous to Brazil’s natural woods. All three are endemic to Brazil.
Is it an Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas cactus?
Did you know that there are Thanksgiving Cactus and Easter Cactus variants in addition to the Christmas Cactus, which is a low-maintenance house plant with festive green and red colors?
These colorful cacti’s differences are so minute that they are frequently mistakenly sold as the same thing. Fortunately, the upkeep for each species is the same: moderate light and weekly watering.
The Schlumbergera genus includes all three varieties, according to Erin Marino, editorial director at The Sill. The true key to distinguishing between each species, according to her, is to look at the shape of the stem segments and pay attention to what season they are flowering. They are recognized by their leaf-like pads, or stem segments.
Their flowering season is referenced in each of their common names. Due to their back-to-back blooming times, the Thanksgiving Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) and Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesi) kinds are the two most frequently confused. Christmas Cacti bloom from January to February, while Thanksgiving Cacti usually bloom between November and December. Though some Thanksgiving Cacti will bloom closer to Christmas, Marino notes that houseplants can be pushed to bloom at any time. Early spring is when the Easter Cactus (Schlumbergera gaertneri) blooms, and it possesses the three plants’ most pronounced stem segment form differences.
The simplest way to distinguish between each variant, according to Marino, is to look at the shape of the stem segments rather than the blooming season due to the widespread confusion between the Thanksgiving and Christmas Cacti.
Thanksgiving cacti feature stem segments with pointy edges, but Christmas and Easter cacti have stem segments with rounded edges. Only a slight rounded border can be seen on Easter Cacti. | Photo: courtesy of The Sill
Of the three kinds, the Thanksgiving Cactus has the spikiest stem segments. The Easter Cactus has modest rounded edges on its stem segments, while the Christmas Cactus has less spikey pads with rounded edges. According to Marino, Easter Cacti occasionally have tiny hairs on their leaves.
Some retailers might name a Schlumbergera cactus as a “Holiday Cactus” to protect customers from mistaking the plants’ flowering seasons. The Thanksgiving Cactus is the species of Holiday Cactus that The Sill lists on its website.
How often does a Thanksgiving cactus bloom each year?
A Thanksgiving cactus will bloom once a year in the late fall if the appropriate circumstances are met. Thanksgiving cacti: How Long Do They Live? Holiday cacti are frequently handed down through the generations due to their extraordinarily long lifespan. With the right care, a Thanksgiving cactus can live up to 100 years.
Can you cut a Thanksgiving cactus for cuttings?
Around the time of year they are named for, holiday cactus bloom. That the Thanksgiving cactus blooms around November is not a surprise. The Thanksgiving holiday cactus is a simple indoor plant to grow. The Schlumbergera genus contains the Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti, which are both indigenous to Brazil’s tropical jungles. They are gorgeous plants that are frequently bought and given as gifts throughout the Christmas season, and stem cuttings make them simple to grow.
Continue reading for tips on cultivating and giving away cactus plants for the Thanksgiving holiday.