Just received this as a present but no idea what it is or how to properly care for it? Any ideas please

by A_ShotInTheDark

6 Comments

  1. ohdearitsrichardiii

    These are rainforest cactuses that grow in the shade and high humidity in the wild. They want pretty much the opposite care of desert cactuses, so keep it in indirect light and water fairly often.

    It looks like they’ve crammed several plants into that pot. They don’t like to be crowded so after they’ve finished flowering you should repot and separate them so that they’re three or so in tbe same pot with some space between them.

    Compact soil will suffocate their roots, they don’t even grow in soil in the wild but bark, moss, dead leaves, etc. Repot it in a mix of compost, bark and pumice. Vermiculite is great if you have that because it prevents the soil from becoming too dense and it retains water

  2. Dull-Garage6233

    I have several of these ‘holiday’ cacti all of different colours/shades), plus a related ‘Easter and Xmas. Be aware they are often forced to bloom around a certain date but once at home they will adjust to their local environment although it may take a couple of years to settle fully.

    – for mine at ~45drg North ‘Easter’ =March>June, ‘Holiday’ = Oct>Jan, Xmas = Nov>March. The more reliable your climate the more reliable the flowering date.

    Care is easy. Avoid too much heat and full sun (i can grow then outdoors but they need to be watched for burns) plenty of water in summer, occasionally in winter avoiding frosts. They will appreciate feeding with flower fertiliser (any type really, but you buy then for flowers not foliage).

    They are easy hybridised so are often sold with a general name and flower colour. Dorget the usual species names unless you can spin DNA.

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