Subject: Christmas Cactus

From: gmmurphy (George M. Murphy)
Date: 6 Oct 1995 21:37:32 GMT

Our Christmas Cactus has buds on it and we are afraid it will bloom early. 
Anyone know how we can slow it down.
George murphy

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From: [email-masked] (Keith Lura)
Date: 7 Oct 1995 07:04:45 GMT

>Anyone know how we can slow it down.

    It is completely normal for Christmas cacti and their kin to bloom
periodically year-round-- in fact, many Christmas cacti now sold are
actually not correctly identified.  They do not seem to enjoy blooming
when there is not enough light, so if you were to experiment with
placing it in lower (but still enough for healthy growth) light and
bringing it back to facilitate bud growth you may eventually find a
solution.  Other than the rumor that they drop their buds easily when
moved from their locations, there is not much control over Christmas
cactus habits.  But if you try something like this, be aware that it
may take longer or sooner than expected to see another onset of
flowers.  

                            Stefan Lura
                            [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (dennis goos)
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 1995 17:42:03 GMT

We had two Xmas cacti sitting on the sun deck this summer - one received
lots of sun;the other constant shade. The one in the sun is in flower
now with many flowers 3 inches long - beautiful!:The other plant set no
buds at all.

My experience with this plant suggests it sets buds in response to
shortening day length as well as dropping temperatures. You might try
shining a light on the plant 20 hours a day to slow down the flowering
process although this may only slow initiation of more flower buds.You
would'nt need a grow lamp - just enough light to make the plant respond
to apparently longer days.

BTW, George, I tried to eMail this response the newsreader (Agent)
didn't pick up your mail address. You might want to check your "from"
setting.

good luck.
dennis