"A. Turner" wrote:

Hi Fellow Gardeners:

I have 2 Xmas Cactus plants inside my home that are growing wild!
They bloom beautifully, but are really overgrown for the size of the
pot. Very difficult to manage/water them.

What is the safest way to trim these plants? Where should the cut be
positioned? Anything I need to watch out for?

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Instead of trimming them, take cuttings. Cut right at a joint,
taking cuttings that contain at least two segments. You should
take 3-4 cuttings from each plant.

Dip the cut end into rooting hormone powder. Let the cuttings
air-dry for about three days in the shade.

Pot the cuttings in a mix of 3 parts clean sand to 2 parts peat
moss. (In a 4-inch pot, you can put two cuttings.) Keep the mix
moist but not soggy. (If the pots are in saucers, there should be
no standing water in the saucer for more than a few minutes.) Keep
the pots out of direct sun but in strong indirect light.

If you do this now, check for roots after the parent plants bloom
(in about 4-6 months). If you get rooted cuttings, discard the
parent plant, replacing it with one or two rooted cuttings.

For potting, use the same mix as for rooting the cuttings but add a
small amount of bonemeal and a little compost. See my
http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_potting_mix.html; however,
with newly rooted cuttings, do not add other nutrients until after
new growth appears.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that
complies with Web standards. See http://www.mozilla.org/.

In article ,
(A. Turner) wrote:

Hi Fellow Gardeners:

I have 2 Xmas Cactus plants inside my home that are growing wild!
They bloom beautifully, but are really overgrown for the size of the
pot. Very difficult to manage/water them.

What is the safest way to trim these plants? Where should the cut be
positioned? Anything I need to watch out for?

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Adam

They can be separated between any pair of leaves (really leaf-like
branches called "phylloclades") to keep it to a preferable size & to
insure lots of blooms its next flowering season. Ideally one to three
phylloclades are scissored off at the joints shortly after it finishes
flowering, but more can be cut off if its really getting too big, & doing
it later in the year won't hurt it though you will be removing wee starts
of buds by doing it in summer so it will not be quite so full of blooms
that year. The removed phylloclades are exceedingly easy to root, too, so
pot up the clippings & before long they'll be growing fast too, ready to
give to friends or to kids in the family if they've shown even slight
interest in plants.

Pruning causes the tips of the branches to fork, resulting in more places
for buds & flowers. Pruning also stimulates root growth, so eventually you
will have to move it to a bigger pot, though they can stand being
rootbound for quite a long time.

If they've been blooming great for a few years already, I presume you know
about chilling them for a couple of weeks late in autumn. If they're in a
drafty window or unheated plant room or porch, they'll be naturally
chilled enough (a "chill" meaning only about 50 degrees F., though they
can tolerate lower) but in a well heated & well insulated house they may
not experience sufficient chill for them to detect seasons, which they
need to do in order to finish preparing their buds.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

Cut the joints at the nodes.


"A. Turner" wrote in message
om...
Hi Fellow Gardeners:

I have 2 Xmas Cactus plants inside my home that are growing wild!
They bloom beautifully, but are really overgrown for the size of the
pot. Very difficult to manage/water them.

What is the safest way to trim these plants? Where should the cut be
positioned? Anything I need to watch out for?

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Adam

Let me know, and I'll cry we/ you......
Murri

"Volfie" wrote in message
...

"Lady Blacksword" wrote
Why, oh why, would anybody complain about having a Christmas Cactus so
old
it had developed woody stems???!!
Murri ( Very confused & in disbelief. )

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I thought I was confused.

Giselle (when this plant dies I'm going to cry for a year no matter how
many
2nd generation cuttings I have of it)

You sound like my neighbor who has a garage sale every so often to get rid
of plants he's started. I've bought from him several nice cacti and
succulent plants. Got my large pencil cactus from him, growing in a
tupperware cup

Shell


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On 24 Jul 2004 20:37:51 -0700, (Lee) wrote:

"Volfie" wrote in message
...
"A. Turner" wrote in message
om...
Thank you all for the advice!

I'm intrigued by David's idea of new growth from cuttings. FWIW, the
central/original stems of my 2 Xmas Cacti (pardon the layman term)
are
very hardy and woody, so it might not be a bad idea to start a new
growth from tender cuts.

Sent them to me and I'll buy you new ones.

Giselle (I like the old ones)

When i pinch off i can hardly toss the pieces away, like the Xmas
cactus, pencil cactus, Jade plants et..etc.. i just stick them in a
pot or even in the garden and let them grow and when someone comes by
needing one, there is one for them. right now i have an extra
Artemesia about ready for someone, several jades, monkey or Spider
plants, Jews, have several Latanas rooting, oleanders, rabit ear
cactus, begonias, ... ice plants.. i think i am going to have to have
a sidewalk sale to get rid of them as i am running our of space. most
of my family and friends are already well supplied by now. what to
do??? I am a compulsive propagator! I swore that this next winter i
would not have so many potted plants to move into the garage... duh!
lee h

I like to propagate my plants too. I use Dixie cups, peat pots,
yogurt cups, or anything I can find and punch holes for drainage.
When my church has a plant sale, I donate the plants and they make a
lot more money from that than my miserable $5 weekly donation.
However, I do enjoy trading plants and cuttings! (Maybe someday
Madgardener and I will get together.)

You sound like my neighbor who has a garage sale every so often to get rid
of plants he's started. I've bought from him several nice cacti and
succulent plants. Got my large pencil cactus from him, growing in a
tupperware cup

Shell


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On 24 Jul 2004 20:37:51 -0700, (Lee) wrote:

"Volfie" wrote in message
...
"A. Turner" wrote in message
om...
Thank you all for the advice!

I'm intrigued by David's idea of new growth from cuttings. FWIW, the
central/original stems of my 2 Xmas Cacti (pardon the layman term)
are
very hardy and woody, so it might not be a bad idea to start a new
growth from tender cuts.

Sent them to me and I'll buy you new ones.

Giselle (I like the old ones)

When i pinch off i can hardly toss the pieces away, like the Xmas
cactus, pencil cactus, Jade plants et..etc.. i just stick them in a
pot or even in the garden and let them grow and when someone comes by
needing one, there is one for them. right now i have an extra
Artemesia about ready for someone, several jades, monkey or Spider
plants, Jews, have several Latanas rooting, oleanders, rabit ear
cactus, begonias, ... ice plants.. i think i am going to have to have
a sidewalk sale to get rid of them as i am running our of space. most
of my family and friends are already well supplied by now. what to
do??? I am a compulsive propagator! I swore that this next winter i
would not have so many potted plants to move into the garage... duh!
lee h

I like to propagate my plants too. I use Dixie cups, peat pots,
yogurt cups, or anything I can find and punch holes for drainage.
When my church has a plant sale, I donate the plants and they make a
lot more money from that than my miserable $5 weekly donation.
However, I do enjoy trading plants and cuttings! (Maybe someday
Madgardener and I will get together.)

On 23 Jul 2004 11:15:45 -0700, (A. Turner) wrote:

Hi Fellow Gardeners:

I have 2 Xmas Cactus plants inside my home that are growing wild!
They bloom beautifully, but are really overgrown for the size of the
pot. Very difficult to manage/water them.

What is the safest way to trim these plants? Where should the cut be
positioned? Anything I need to watch out for?

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Adam

I have several varieties of zygocactus. Mine become lop-sided if not
pruned. At the end of the rest period, I cut back the plant perhaps 3
or 4 nodes and make the plant symmetrical. That is a good time to
repot the plant, if needed. I would not trim the plant at this
(actively growing) time. I don't understand how a plant can be
difficult to manage or water (?)

On 24 Jul 2004 20:37:51 -0700, (Lee) wrote:

"Volfie" wrote in message ...
"A. Turner" wrote in message
om...
Thank you all for the advice!

I'm intrigued by David's idea of new growth from cuttings. FWIW, the
central/original stems of my 2 Xmas Cacti (pardon the layman term) are
very hardy and woody, so it might not be a bad idea to start a new
growth from tender cuts.

Sent them to me and I'll buy you new ones.

Giselle (I like the old ones)

When i pinch off i can hardly toss the pieces away, like the Xmas
cactus, pencil cactus, Jade plants et..etc.. i just stick them in a
pot or even in the garden and let them grow and when someone comes by
needing one, there is one for them. right now i have an extra
Artemesia about ready for someone, several jades, monkey or Spider
plants, Jews, have several Latanas rooting, oleanders, rabit ear
cactus, begonias, ... ice plants.. i think i am going to have to have
a sidewalk sale to get rid of them as i am running our of space. most
of my family and friends are already well supplied by now. what to
do??? I am a compulsive propagator! I swore that this next winter i
would not have so many potted plants to move into the garage... duh!
lee h

I like to propagate my plants too. I use Dixie cups, peat pots,
yogurt cups, or anything I can find and punch holes for drainage.
When my church has a plant sale, I donate the plants and they make a
lot more money from that than my miserable $5 weekly donation.
However, I do enjoy trading plants and cuttings! (Maybe someday
Madgardener and I will get together.)