Product Description

The Christmas cactus (Zygocactus) is native to the South American jungles. The flowers bloom once a year and come in shades of fuchsia, yellow, salmon, pink, white, orange, red and sometimes will even have a combination of the colors. The Christmas cacti are tropical plants. They require sunlight and the blooms last longer with cooler temperatures. Keep them away from heaters, fireplaces, radiators, furnace ducts, and other heat sources. Place in a sunny location while indoors and if outdoors during the summer, find a place that has a sun/shade mix to prevent the plant from getting burned. The best way to be sure your plant is getting just the right amount of water is to wait until the soil is dry on the top and still a bit moist toward the bottom. Then water the plant until the soil is saturated. Drain off any excess water that accumulates on the bottom. Then do not water again until the top half of the soil feels dry to the touch again In order to insure your plant will bloom in time for Christmas, you will need to give the plant a rest period. Cut back on the watering leaving the soil only partly moist. Allow at least 14 hours of total darkness for the plant at night and sun during the day, until the buds begin to form. Start the dark period in early September. Once the buds form they can take from 10 to 12 weeks to fully bloom. After the Christmas cactus is done blooming you can prune it to incourage new growth. You'll also find that the plant will bloom better next year if it is trimmed. As new growth appears in the spring, put a diluted solution of liquid houseplant fertilizer 2 to 3 weeks after the start of the new growth. The cactus should be repotted every 2 to 3 years depending on how depleted the soil is. Repotting should be done in the spring.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #100 in Lawn & Patio
• Brand: Hirts: Cacti & Succulents

Features

• Plant is growing in a 4 inch pot; there are multiple plants per pot
• With proper care, will bloom for the holidays
• Well-drained soil is very important; high quality cactus mix is great
• If you can't find any soil made for cacti, mix two parts regular potting soil with one part coarse sand

Customer Reviews

Christmas Cactus
All of my 6 Christmas Cactus arrived in good shape. A few broken tips, but I replanted them for extra plants. They are beginning to bloom already. Peaches and Cream is true to name. Very pretty. Packed very well. Would buy from this seller again.

Easy to grow plant
This is a super easy to grow plant. Just put it near a window with some light and water every 2-3 days. I received mine somewhat small and now it's filled the pot into which I first transplanted it. I hope it will bloom, if not for this Christmas, maybe next. This is my first Christmas cactus plant so I've never seen its blooms before! Unlike most plants, the Christmas cactus produces oxygen, instead of carbon dioxide, at night so it balances out your other indoor plants.

Would not buy from them again...
I placed 3 different orders with them, for a variety of Christmas Cactus plants. Here is the summary of what happened:

Order 1: I ordered a yellow Christmas cactus. I received a white one. Hirt's responded and wanted ME to pay to send the plant back to them, so they could refund my money. So, basically, I would have paid around $15 - 20 in shipping for NOTHING. They also put so much masking tape on the plant, it was damaged when the tape was removed.
Order #2: I ordered 2 yellow cactus. Again, they sent the wrong plants. The leaves on the plants matched the EASTER cactus plants they sell, not a yellow Christmas cactus.
Order #3: This is the third order they messed up. They only sent 1 yellow cactus, though I ordered two. They sent an extra peach cactus instead. Several of the plants were damaged by the tape put on the pots and several of them were not labeled to show which plants they were. Will not order from them again.

In addition, ALL of the plants I ordered from them had weeds growing in the pots. Not something I would want to deal with when it comes to my houseplants.

Customer service FINALLY responded to my emails...only after I had emailed 5 times. They sent one sentence - "Send them back for a refund." When I wrote back that I was not going to pay to ship back their mistakes unless they were going to refund me the original shipping costs as well as my return shipping costs, I did not hear from them again, and it has been almost 3 weeks now.