Bring Your Plant Inside
Now that your Schlumbergera has enjoyed its summer holiday outdoors, soaking up as much light as possible, it’s time to bring it home.
Bring your plant back inside at the very end of August. Place it somewhere away from other houseplants for a week or two. I know we’ve checked for stowaways, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Ensure your Christmas cactus is somewhere in your home where it will continue to receive bright, indirect light.
We’re not trying to kickstart the short-day photoperiod that will cause bloom set just yet. We’re simply allowing our plant time to acclimate to its new environment beforehand. It’s just like you returning from vacation, only your Christmas cactus doesn’t have an inbox full of unread emails.
Start Slowing Down on Water
We’re doing all of this in August because this is when your plant’s normal growth cycle begins to slow down in preparation for bloom set. To help with this transition, you’ll want to start easing up on how often you water.
As the plant slows its growth in time with the shortening days, it will naturally use less water. If we continue watering the way we did in the summertime, we’ll end up giving our plants root rot.
Now, we’re going to go from weekly watering to every other week.
Keep an eye on your plant; you don’t want the cladodes to start looking thin and wrinkled. They should remain plump between watering. But between being indoors, where the water will evaporate more slowly, and your plant using less water, you’ll naturally water less frequently.
