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#1
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Christmas Cactus.
Hello all, a Very happy New Year to you.
Maybe one of you has an idea why my Christmas Cactus (which has flowered faithfully in the same position for about 5 years) changed colour to a pale green and has not flowered at all this year. Some buds did appear about 3 weeks ago but were gone after about a week. Thanks in anticipation, Helicoil. |
#2
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Christmas Cactus.
"Helicoil" wrote in message ... Hello all, a Very happy New Year to you. Maybe one of you has an idea why my Christmas Cactus (which has flowered faithfully in the same position for about 5 years) changed colour to a pale green and has not flowered at all this year. Some buds did appear about 3 weeks ago but were gone after about a week. Thanks in anticipation, Helicoil. There's an informative RHS article on here, about the variables which are believed to affect flowering in Schlumbergera. Where the main determinants are claimed to be temperature and day length. There are some interesting suggestions regarding covering the plant to create an artificial day length, for instance. However a lot of this is still probably subject to experiment, and different authorities may offer conflicting explanations, not least because of ongoing hybridisation among the existing Schlumbergera hybrids. http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...mas_cactus.asp To get to the point... If however you've kept the plant in exactly the same environmental conditions over the past five years - with say thermostatically controlled central heating, and the same position in the room - then it's most likely the cultural conditions are responsible. If you've kept to the same watering regime throughout, then its most likely the plant probably needs feeding and or repotting. A "pale green" colour in a plant is often indicative of lack of nitrogen, and so the plant would probably benefit from a balanced feed at the very least. "Balanced" in the case of houseplants being lowish nitrogen (they all need at least some nitrogen however) and in the case of a flowering plant adittional potash (tomato feed etc) maybe starting just prior to bud formation. A standard liquid feed, easily bought in powder form will do, containing trace elements in addition so long as you avoid high nitrogen mixes. The actual proportions probably aren't all that critical, the point being that anything at all is probably a 100 times better than nothing if you want the plant to perform as it did previously. The plant might also benefit from repotting in a standard potting compost mixed in with a bit of grit for drainage. Although drainage isn't as critical as with desert cacti, as forest cacti mostly grow in moist humid conditions in nature anyway, and are often kept suspended in hanging pots etc. michael adams ... |
#3
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Christmas Cactus.
Now with added curtains. "Helicoil" wrote in message ... Hello all, a Very happy New Year to you. Maybe one of you has an idea why my Christmas Cactus (which has flowered faithfully in the same position for about 5 years) changed colour to a pale green and has not flowered at all this year. Some buds did appear about 3 weeks ago but were gone after about a week. Thanks in anticipation, Helicoil. There's an informative RHS article on here, about the variables which are believed to affect flowering in Schlumbergera. Where the main determinants are claimed to be temperature and day length. There are some interesting suggestions regarding covering the plant to create an artificial day length, for instance. However a lot of this is still probably subject to experiment, and different authorities may offer conflicting explanations, not least because of ongoing hybridisation among the existing Schlumbergera hybrids. http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...mas_cactus.asp To get to the point... If however you've kept the plant in exactly the same environmental conditions over the past five years - with say thermostatically controlled central heating, and the same position in the room - then it's most likely the cultural conditions are responsible. If you've kept to the same watering regime throughout, then its most likely the plant probably needs feeding and or repotting. added: A quick failure of the flowers also brings to mind a sharp drop in temperature - it's the change in temperature rather than absolute values which may be responsible - possibly from keeping the plant on a windowsill between the glass and the curtains, or a similar situation. Just a bit of idle speculation. It's the time this drop in temperature occurs in relation to flower formation and the biological processes responsible - maybe down to the day and the hour quite possibly - which can be especially critical. Although again that's only a guess. A "pale green" colour in a plant is often indicative of lack of nitrogen, and so the plant would probably benefit from a balanced feed at the very least. "Balanced" in the case of houseplants being lowish nitrogen (they all need at least some nitrogen however) and in the case of a flowering plant adittional potash (tomato feed etc) maybe starting just prior to bud formation. A standard liquid feed, easily bought in powder form will do, containing trace elements in addition so long as you avoid high nitrogen mixes. The actual proportions probably aren't all that critical, the point being that anything at all is probably a 100 times better than nothing if you want the plant to perform as it did previously. The plant might also benefit from repotting in a standard potting compost mixed in with a bit of grit for drainage. Although drainage isn't as critical as with desert cacti, as forest cacti mostly grow in moist humid conditions in nature anyway, and are often kept suspended in hanging pots etc. michael adams ... |
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