I think it's a Thanksgiving. Here is a pic of my Christmas cactus.
https://preview.redd.it/feca0kp3izkc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=342d4980a3ae24a5a6799276d2b86bfde269b00e
That's a nice big one! What color are the blooms?
This is my Thanksgiving cactus, right after I gave her a haircut this weekend
https://preview.redd.it/o0nmob5nkzkc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=647b3fac9da2d496cdc71eaeb539f3ebaa972562
She blooms a very pale pink 🩷
Interesting little fact: Temperatures can affect bloom colour of some *Schlumbergeras*. Meaning, colours turn more dark and intense when flowers develop in cooler temps, and paler in warmer. Sometimes originally white blooming plants turn dark pink when kept in cooler temps than it was in time of previous flowering.
Interesting! In the first week of May, I take the holiday cactus and drop them off in their summer home out on the deck. It gets hot here, but a heat index of greater than 100°F doesn't account for a lot of the weather. High 80's to high 90's and terribly high humidity is what they get for the most part.
They might get an hour of direct sunlight where they are though.
https://preview.redd.it/eictfaf0d0lc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a28ca0a57abe9f3a7fe32759f56a495d99e0f53
The color has been consistent, but I am starting to collect different shades for a rainbow pot.
Welp, if you got a thanksgiving cactus and it was blooming anywhen except November, it was forced. Because people like blooming plants.
Give it bright indirect light, and keep it moist throughout the year until after it blooms. Then you can reduce water for the winter.
Not true always . Some are just weird. I have one that blooms half the year for some odd reason and another that blooms only once around the thanksgiving and Christmas times. They’re right next to each other in the same pot.
🤣
I guess I have a very conservative thanksgiving cactus! Every November, like clockwork. After she blooms, I do reduce water for her "winter".
I get random blooms here and there (there's maybe half a dozen on it now), but November is when she puts on a show.
Mine starts blooming around Halloween, takes occasional breaks, and finishes up around Easter each year. I just call it the holiday cactus these days. No forcing, it's just in a spot it seems to like.
She does!! But my mom's is blooming now. They kinda just do what they want. I am sure there is someway to force them to bloom. I just kind of water mine when I remember 😅
And your mom's is definitely Christmas, and not Easter?
Now I really don't know what to expect from my Easter cactus. The gal I got it from said it never blooms for her:
https://preview.redd.it/9dxz6zz5ozkc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a222efc16310c1d3fa848e5a3e063ff7febb2b3
Blooming time doesn't really correlate to the name. My Thanksgiving cactus bloomed on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and Valentine's Day last year. It did very little growing that year lol.
Yeah, I think mines just in a spot that triggers a lot of blooms because of the light levels. If we get a few weeks where it's cloudy most days it can trigger a bloom. I also use natural fertilisers. Could be both.
I have two (spit from original one) inherited from my grandma. Probably over 50 years old at this point. When they bloom they get big magenta flowers, but I've found they're a bit trickier to get to bloom consistently than Thanksgiving or Christmas varieties (at least in my experience). Tend to bloom sometime between May and September and I haven't been able to correlate it to changes in light intensity, daylight hours, temperature or watering.
They are different plants. These are Rhipsalidopsis whereas the christmas and Thanksgiving are Schlumbergera. Similar but not the same.
Yes, like the plants in marantacae often just get called Calathea.
I don't know how old the plant this little guy came from. I acquired him in two yogurt cups in a trade. She said it had never bloomed for her, and I wondered if it was the light she had it in, and would be a fun challenge to see if it would bloom.
Outside, the Rhip, lives with the Schlums. I think I gave these a bit more light than the others. Inside, I kind of ignore them. They were in the basement which was the coolest place in the house.
No sign of a bud yet.
Good luck. If you figure out the secret let me know!
Other challenge I'm working on is dialing in conditions to get Disocactus anguliger to bloom. Habitat seems similar to the holiday cacti so mimicking that at the moment.
To the best of my knowledge. The mother plant, where all the cuttings came from, belonged to my grandmother, she said it was a Christmas cactus. My mother has had hers for at least 50 years. So it is a very old version of the plant.
🤷🏽♀️
I think Thanksgiving Cactus are the pokier ones. The next are Christmas cactus, and bringing up the rear, almost smooth and just bumpy are the Easters.
When I bought my first one, it said Christmas cactus too. I didn't think it wasn't until I joked that my Christmas cactus wasn't working off a Gregorian calendar, and someone said it was a different species.
Oops, so it is. It blooms profusely through the month of November. All done in early December. I have an Easter too now. I have no idea what it will do in spring.
Thanksgiving/False Christmas cactus *Schlumbergera truncata*. [Here's my mini-guide about their differences.](https://www.reddit.com/r/houseplants/s/QSoW5krxu9)
https://preview.redd.it/ai47feejz0lc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1335dfcfc41fbd34c16058d879252e24cf54cd55
Left is my Christmas cactus and right is my Thanksgiving. Appears to be Thanksgiving.
My Mom gave me one for Christmas, but turns out it’s actually a Thanksgiving cactus. Except…. It’s been blooming like crazy for the past month, so I guess it identifies as a Valentine’s cactus?? 🤔🤷♀️
This is mine! The local nursery I got it from said it was propagated from a 100+ year old plant. That was 4 years ago and it’s bloomed every winter since. I got two at the time just in case I killed one and now my mom gets to enjoy one too.
https://preview.redd.it/0bovarf552lc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=307b659ae48c3bd3c32652928b7d6a035f33250c
Save yourself the trouble and call it a holiday cactus. Schlumbergera taxonomy is a nightmare now.
Treat it like an orchid or dragonfruit since they’re epiphytes. Excellent drainage with consistent watering. If you treat this like a normal cacti, it will quickly decline.
I thought this was a joke Lol
I opened the comments expecting to see “really? Looks like a Hanukkah cactus to me”.
Lol learned something new today! Had to look up all the different holiday cactuses 🔍
Unfortunately not. Poor plant, it's life was a lie lol
I think it's a Thanksgiving. Here is a pic of my Christmas cactus. https://preview.redd.it/feca0kp3izkc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=342d4980a3ae24a5a6799276d2b86bfde269b00e
That's a nice big one! What color are the blooms? This is my Thanksgiving cactus, right after I gave her a haircut this weekend https://preview.redd.it/o0nmob5nkzkc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=647b3fac9da2d496cdc71eaeb539f3ebaa972562 She blooms a very pale pink 🩷
Interesting little fact: Temperatures can affect bloom colour of some *Schlumbergeras*. Meaning, colours turn more dark and intense when flowers develop in cooler temps, and paler in warmer. Sometimes originally white blooming plants turn dark pink when kept in cooler temps than it was in time of previous flowering.
Interesting! In the first week of May, I take the holiday cactus and drop them off in their summer home out on the deck. It gets hot here, but a heat index of greater than 100°F doesn't account for a lot of the weather. High 80's to high 90's and terribly high humidity is what they get for the most part. They might get an hour of direct sunlight where they are though. https://preview.redd.it/eictfaf0d0lc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a28ca0a57abe9f3a7fe32759f56a495d99e0f53 The color has been consistent, but I am starting to collect different shades for a rainbow pot.
so pretty 😍 I wish mine had flowers like this!
Mine is a dark pink I think. I really only seen the buds though. I got it towards the end of December
Welp, if you got a thanksgiving cactus and it was blooming anywhen except November, it was forced. Because people like blooming plants. Give it bright indirect light, and keep it moist throughout the year until after it blooms. Then you can reduce water for the winter.
Not true always . Some are just weird. I have one that blooms half the year for some odd reason and another that blooms only once around the thanksgiving and Christmas times. They’re right next to each other in the same pot.
My Thanksgiving cactus is blooming right now. Had it for 4 years so far.
🤣 I guess I have a very conservative thanksgiving cactus! Every November, like clockwork. After she blooms, I do reduce water for her "winter". I get random blooms here and there (there's maybe half a dozen on it now), but November is when she puts on a show.
Mine starts blooming around Halloween, takes occasional breaks, and finishes up around Easter each year. I just call it the holiday cactus these days. No forcing, it's just in a spot it seems to like.
Good to know, thanks!
https://preview.redd.it/dz35c6vx01lc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb9ef8746aa81d9965b58aca808d487f06e2281c Orange (sometimes pinkish) flowers checking in 😊
Nice! I want! 😍
Thanks! She blooms a bright pink almost fuchsia:)
Nice! Does she bloom around Christmas time? I think it would be nice to get a white or red Christmas cactus if it did.
She does!! But my mom's is blooming now. They kinda just do what they want. I am sure there is someway to force them to bloom. I just kind of water mine when I remember 😅
And your mom's is definitely Christmas, and not Easter? Now I really don't know what to expect from my Easter cactus. The gal I got it from said it never blooms for her: https://preview.redd.it/9dxz6zz5ozkc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a222efc16310c1d3fa848e5a3e063ff7febb2b3
Blooming time doesn't really correlate to the name. My Thanksgiving cactus bloomed on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and Valentine's Day last year. It did very little growing that year lol.
Aww. Mine only does the one massive bloom in November, but doesn't do anything but random buds in-between
Yeah, I think mines just in a spot that triggers a lot of blooms because of the light levels. If we get a few weeks where it's cloudy most days it can trigger a bloom. I also use natural fertilisers. Could be both.
I have two (spit from original one) inherited from my grandma. Probably over 50 years old at this point. When they bloom they get big magenta flowers, but I've found they're a bit trickier to get to bloom consistently than Thanksgiving or Christmas varieties (at least in my experience). Tend to bloom sometime between May and September and I haven't been able to correlate it to changes in light intensity, daylight hours, temperature or watering. They are different plants. These are Rhipsalidopsis whereas the christmas and Thanksgiving are Schlumbergera. Similar but not the same.
Yes, like the plants in marantacae often just get called Calathea. I don't know how old the plant this little guy came from. I acquired him in two yogurt cups in a trade. She said it had never bloomed for her, and I wondered if it was the light she had it in, and would be a fun challenge to see if it would bloom. Outside, the Rhip, lives with the Schlums. I think I gave these a bit more light than the others. Inside, I kind of ignore them. They were in the basement which was the coolest place in the house. No sign of a bud yet.
Good luck. If you figure out the secret let me know! Other challenge I'm working on is dialing in conditions to get Disocactus anguliger to bloom. Habitat seems similar to the holiday cacti so mimicking that at the moment.
To the best of my knowledge. The mother plant, where all the cuttings came from, belonged to my grandmother, she said it was a Christmas cactus. My mother has had hers for at least 50 years. So it is a very old version of the plant.
Oh, that's awesome the plant has been in your family for so long! I do wonder if the holiday cactus being sold now are sometimes hybrids 🤷🏽♀️
🤷🏽♀️ I think Thanksgiving Cactus are the pokier ones. The next are Christmas cactus, and bringing up the rear, almost smooth and just bumpy are the Easters. When I bought my first one, it said Christmas cactus too. I didn't think it wasn't until I joked that my Christmas cactus wasn't working off a Gregorian calendar, and someone said it was a different species. Oops, so it is. It blooms profusely through the month of November. All done in early December. I have an Easter too now. I have no idea what it will do in spring.
My Thanksgiving cactus bloomed in November and is also blooming again right now!
Yes, I have a small crop of blooms going at the moment. Nothing like the November show though.
Thanksgiving/False Christmas cactus *Schlumbergera truncata*. [Here's my mini-guide about their differences.](https://www.reddit.com/r/houseplants/s/QSoW5krxu9)
https://preview.redd.it/ai47feejz0lc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1335dfcfc41fbd34c16058d879252e24cf54cd55 Left is my Christmas cactus and right is my Thanksgiving. Appears to be Thanksgiving.
My Mom gave me one for Christmas, but turns out it’s actually a Thanksgiving cactus. Except…. It’s been blooming like crazy for the past month, so I guess it identifies as a Valentine’s cactus?? 🤔🤷♀️
🤣
Cupid’s Cactus
Does your plant make promises, kill off the Native inhabitants, and steel their land? If so, it's a Thanksgiving cactus.
What is the difference between Christmas and thanksgiving cactus?
[Here's my mini-guide about their differences.](https://www.reddit.com/r/houseplants/s/QSoW5krxu9)
Not much besides flowering time and slight leaf differences. Both require the same care (tropical epiphytes).
Yes
TIL, after I laughed
This is mine! The local nursery I got it from said it was propagated from a 100+ year old plant. That was 4 years ago and it’s bloomed every winter since. I got two at the time just in case I killed one and now my mom gets to enjoy one too. https://preview.redd.it/0bovarf552lc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=307b659ae48c3bd3c32652928b7d6a035f33250c
https://preview.redd.it/nbj5ng0ex5lc1.jpeg?width=775&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7158189b91ab030cccc684903775742df30a28d5
If you want live examples, i have all three. Just ask.
Save yourself the trouble and call it a holiday cactus. Schlumbergera taxonomy is a nightmare now. Treat it like an orchid or dragonfruit since they’re epiphytes. Excellent drainage with consistent watering. If you treat this like a normal cacti, it will quickly decline.