Margaret King with her giant Christmas cactus. Picture by Peter Boam.
GARDENINGCHRISTMAS comes but once a year but the so-called Christmas cactus often blooms twice — and not always during the festive season.
November and Easter are favourites.
It can be encouraged to decorate our Christmases but, as Margaret King has proved, schlumbergera can also be left largely to its own devices and flourish, if not in a timely fashion.
Margaret’s magnificent specimen started flowering a full month-and-a-half early and it will certainly have finished by the holiday season.
It reacts to lengthening, cooler nights and can be held back from flowering by keeping it warm and bright.
But it is too big for Margaret to move from her Wootton High Street porch so there it stays, happily, sheltered from the worst of the summer heat and cold of winter.
Judging by the flourishing result, Margaret is obviously doing much right.
When the leaves start to wilt a little, Margaret waters it and feeds once a fortnight as it builds up strength ready to flower. But, for the most part, the biggest pink Christmas 'cracker' I have ever seen just sits there under a table.
It was propagated by Margaret more years ago than she cares to remember and every now and again she takes the odd cutting.
Pruning after blooming will encourage the plant to branch out.
Simply remove a few sections of each stem by pinching them off with your fingers or cutting with a sharp knife. These can be rooted easily in almost any compost.
Just one hint — before potting, allow the cut end to dry for a couple of hours on a not-too-sunny window sill to seal the wound.
There is also no need to use rooting hormone. They root readily — and you will probably find evidence of aerial roots already forming.
Schlumbergera can also be grown from seed with a variety of pinks and reds available.
As a succulent, it can store a lot of water in its leaves and most problems with them occur through over-watering.
Water thoroughly when the top half of the soil in the pot feels dry to the touch and repeat when it dries out.
Well-drained soil is essential for the proper care of Christmas cacti.
Use a commercially packaged potting mix for succulents or mix your own by combining two parts soil with one part grit or vermiculite. While the plant roots do not need too big a pot, a heavy, container is desirable to stop it toppling over.