Christmas Cacti

Are quirky things, not really cacti, but more like succulents, and notoriously hard to coax into repeated bloom. When we were kids grandmas stuffed them in closets to sequester them from the light. Seemed like an awful lot of work to me and it only worked sometimes.

Supposedly the faintest bit of light outside the normal hours of cactus operations would doom them to eternal leaf-full-ness, devoid forever of bloom. 14 hours of darkness is said to be ideal, hence the season when they bloom if indeed they do.

When my mama gave me my first one when I was somewhere under18 I despaired of ever seeing a flower. Then I inherited some from my grandma, bought a few, and was given others. I discovered that if you live in a cold, dark, creepy old farm house they will bloom their little hearts out nearly every single year.

With the sunrise cacti added in there are some in bloom almost year around. Hummingbirds love the sunrise cacti btw. 

However, I did discover, somewhere in a long since lost article, that there is one trick to keep them flowering that is often overlooked. When you move them, keep them oriented the same way towards the sun. I have followed this faithfully and they sure do seem to like it. I found another article that says if you turn them once they are in bud, the buds try to turn toward the light, weaken and fall off. 

I dunno. I think maybe they just like cold, dark farmhouses, but anyhow, above is one I was given a couple of years ago that has decided to delight us again this year....ps, since they are not cacti they need regular watering too.

A bud on the one mama gave me when I was still living home
It has been with me at least 46 years.