Product Description

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: #3638 in Lawn & Patio
• Brand: Hirts: Cacti & Succulents

Features

• Well-drained soil is very important; high quality cactus mix is great
• If you can't find cactus mix, blend two parts regular potting soil with one part coarse sand
• Native to the South American jungles
• Flowers bloom once a year and come in shades of fuchsia, yellow, salmon, pink, white, orange, red, and sometimes a combination
• Plant is growing in a 4 inch pot

Customer Reviews

Do not buy from Hirts
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.

Terriable and False Advertising
I ordered two yellow cactuses, two orange and two purple cactuses none of which were the color advertised. The yellow ones appear to be white, but it is too soon to tell since the buds are not open. The orange and purple ones are without fail red. I contacted the seller and informed them of the error and they told me that next year's buds should be the correct color because there green house conditions cause false colors on the buds. Sounds like bull crap to me and of course they won't offer a refund when next years buds come in the wrong color. Terriable experience and waste of money. I could have bough red cactuses at another store for half the price. Huge disappointment. I am planning on reporting this vendor to amazon for fraud.