On Fri, 2 Dec 2005 19:01:55 -0000, "Spider" wrote:


William wrote in message
.. .
Hello all. I've inherited a Christmas cactus, and for the second year
running
it's come into a lovely pink blossom during this month. To keep it
blossoming
for as long as possible, will I need to dead-head the dying blossoms
similar to
dahlias?

Hi William,

I've never had to - they're usually self-cleaning (fall off when withered).
I will occasionally pull off withered blooms when I see them, before they
fall on the floor - which isn't self-cleaning! I've never gained the
impression that Xmas Cacti repeat flower in response to dead-heading, and
I've had mine for about twenty years.

Spider

I've no idea how old my one is because I sort of inherited it from
my neighbour after he died. It's quite large and looks quite old, and
as you can imagine, being a parting gift from a old friend I want to
look after it as best I can. I normally let the blossoms wilt and fall by
themselves like you obviously do, and this year I've been especially
successful with my dahlias by dead-heading regularly, so I was
wondering if the same might apply to Xmas cacti as well. Thanks
for your advice and 20 experience; if I'd known he was going to
give it to me I would've asked him how to look after it.