Hello! I ordered this one online and it arrived 4 days ago in this condition (I assume due to the transport process taking longer than expected) so I am looking for ways to revive it.
Since it arrived, I did not water or repot it in order not to shock it. Yesterday I noticed the soil was bone-dry so I soaked it, draining the excess water. It has been in the same "bright indirect light" spot all these days.
Should I check the roots? Remove the flowers, or trim it some other way? What do you suggest? It is my first time owning a christmas cactus.
Thank you!
by Scary_Position9017
6 Comments
In my experience, they bounce back pretty good, mine looked almost like yours after some neglect due to life happening, but just adding some regular care, it bounced back well.
I have heard that flowers take up most of the energy that a plant puts out and mine were not budding when they bounced back so I’m not sure if removing those would help or not, but I’m sure there are plenty more educated than me with the answers
Give it full sun and it’s okay for it to fully dry out. Leave the flowers, they are pretty and they’ll dry off soon anyway. If you want a fuller bushier plant then twist off the end buds frequently. And it doesn’t look at sad as you think it looks lol
I’m not sure what the problem is…it’s in bloom and looks good from where I am. Since it’s in bud, disturb it as little as possible. Otherwise it may drop the buds.
Edit…iirc, it requires a rest period after blooming.
Those blooms are beautiful – do you know what kind that is? I havent seen that one before.
I think it’s fine. The problem is probably that it was thirsty, because they really don’t like to go bone dry. You can’t treat these like a normal cactus… They like water because they’re a tropical cactus. And maybe there’s some sadness just from shipping.
All in all, it does not look that bad to me. Especially when they’re on the younger side like this one, they can look like this. Just keep it hydrated and give it light and resist the urge to keep messing with it, because that’s what’s going to make it the most upset. I would not mess with the flowers, because it’s really awesome that it’s blooming and when they get unhappy, they can just drop the buds and you won’t get flowers at all.
For future reference, watering a plant will never shock it. Especially if they’ve just come out of the mail, if they need water then water them. It does more harm not to. And if there’s something causing it to need repotting, it’s going to hurt the plant more to not do that promptly.
yeah it definitely looks stressed from shipping limp segments and dried tips are pretty classic signs. You made the right call not repotting right away and giving it a good soak yesterday. I’d leave the flowers and buds for now so it can finish blooming if it has the energy, but go ahead and trim anything that’s completely shriveled.
I wouldn’t check the roots yet unless things really go downhill better to give it a couple of weeks to settle. Keep it in a bright, indirect spot with no direct sun and only water when the top inch of soil is dry. These guys recover slowly but they usually do bounce back. I’ve had one look almost identical and it perked up just fine. Those healthy ones you’re seeing are definitely achievable with a little patience.