If you ’re look for a plant to get you into the holiday spirit , you may have heard of a Thanksgiving cactus , the slenderly less well - known cousin of the popular Christmas cactus . Withlow - maintenance care essential , beautiful flowers , and a endearing shape , it ’s no wonder Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti are so well like . These beautiful , easy to care for cacti are indisputable to brighten up a Thanksgiving dinner party , especially as a tabular array centerpiece . Our helpful guide to Thanksgiving cactus aid will help you meet all of this vacation plant ’s indigence .

What is a Thanksgiving cactus?

If you plan on giving this plant as a endowment or you ’ve received one , you ’ll want to be sure you knowhow often to water itand care for it otherwise . These middling cacti are native to the tropic climates in Brazil and are n’t your distinctive cactus . They favour higher humidness levels and dirt moisture and do n’t wish unmediated sunlight . However , they produce beautiful efflorescence that derive in a range of colors , including pink , purple , snowy , and peach .

regrettably , Thanksgiving cactus often get confusedwith Christmas cactus . This is mainly because they look so alike and also because they ’re mislabeled in stores . The best way to tell if you have a Thanksgiving cactus or a Christmas cactus is by looking at the leaves . The Thanksgiving cactus will have sharp and pointy side on its segmental foliage , while the Christmas cactus has more rounded sides . Luckily , even if you mislabel these plant , they thrive in like stipulation .

How to care for a Thanksgiving cactus

Here is how to manage for this plant so that it can dwell its good life and provide you with peck of pretty bloom . Just remember that the Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti like similar conditions , so if you have falsely identified which one you have or you just are n’t sure , these care tips will work for both plants .

pace 1 : Light .

Unlike most cacti , the Thanksgiving cactus prefers partial light to louche spots . Too much sun can cause the leafage of this plant to wash out and finally break down off . However , when fall rolls around , move the cactus to an area with bright indirect Inner Light to help oneself encourage it to bloom .

footprint 2 : water supply .

Although it does n’t like its roots to seat in water , this cactus does want to be in moist soil . Therefore , it ’s of import not to permit the soil dry out in between waterings , and be certain to thoroughly saturate the soil when you do water .

whole step 3 : Soil .

The Thanksgiving cactus is adaptable to most ground type but prefers soil that entertain wet a small more than your typical cactus . You could add a bitof peat mossto your generic potting admixture to help the grime retain more water . Just be sure that there is a drain hole in the lot and that the territory is n’t hold onto too much piss .

Step 4 : Fertilizer .

fertilize this cactus during the grow time of year with a piddle - soluble or chondritic fertilizer . Without enough food , the cactus wo n’t be able to bring out those pretty flowers it ’s so famous for .

Step 5 : Humidity and temperature .

Ideally , the Thanksgiving cactus likes the humidness level to be above 50 % . This is much gamey than desert cacti , but call back , they ’re aboriginal totropical and semitropic climates . The closer you may mime those conditions , the happy your plant life will be .

They also choose red-hot temperatures , but they can plow with temperatures as low as 60 arcdegree Fahrenheit . To assure your works is n’t too cold or too dry , you ’ll want to obviate put it near a drafty door or windowpane and steer decipherable of air release as well .

FAQs

Is the Thanksgiving cactus an indoor or out-of-door plant ?

Although it ’s principally grow indoors , the Thanksgiving cactus can boom out of doors in zone 10 to 12 .

Is this cactus toxic ?

These plants were once guess to be highly toxic to dearie ; however , more recent studies show that they ’re only a low perniciousness terror to PET . This means it ’s secure to keep them out of orbit of pets , but if your furred pal takes a snack from it , there ’s no want to panic .

Encouraging your Thanksgiving cactus to bloom

Proper care will go a farsighted mode to see your Thanksgiving cactus blooms every year , but there are extra steps you may take to encourage your Thanksgiving cactus to produce more flowers . Thanksgiving cacti bloom between the middle of fall and the beginning of winter , so mimicking those atmospheric condition will signal to your Thanksgiving cactus that it ’s time to begin blooming .

take down the temperature in the way your cactus is in until it is in the mid-50s or 60s ( Fahrenheit ) . Make certain your Thanksgiving cactus stupefy plenty of hopeful , indirect luminance during the morning and early good afternoon , followed by darkness . This copy the early sunsets and tenacious nights of fall and wintertime . Before long , you should start to see bud form .

How many times per year do Thanksgiving cacti bloom?

Thanksgiving cacti are fuck for their efflorescence during previous fall and winter , but is that the only clip they flower ? Some Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti will in reality flower a second fourth dimension in spring . This is because the plants flowers are bring on by a drop in temperature , specially during the Nox .

Although spring is warmer than wintertime , the nights are often still nerveless , and the temperature difference between 24-hour interval and night can bring about a 2nd efflorescence . However , this is not a surefire thing . Some plant will react to the shift temperatures , and others wo n’t . So do n’t panic if your Thanksgiving cactus only blossom in gloaming and winter !

Now you have the tools you necessitate to care for your Thanksgiving cactus , and you ’ll be able to civilise acquaintance and family on how to care for theirs . Be certain to look for the pointy edges on the folio to name it as a Thanksgiving cactus correctly , and remember that it ’s aboriginal to tropical climates and will flourish with more water supply and humidness than desert cacti .