Talk:Holiday Cactus

This article covers several species in more than one genus, all used similarly in horticulture, so a taxobox would be inappropriate. The linked genera have taxoboxes, and were the species to have their own articles, they would also have taxoboxes.

Life span

What is the average life span of a holiday cactus? LegalTech (talk) 15:52, 30 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know about the average life span, but my grandmother had a Christmas cactus that was decades old. Känsterle (talk) 09:44, 30 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

My grandmother passed hers on - she had it for more than 60 years and had received if from her grandmother who had cared for it as long as my grandmother can remember. While my grandmother passed away 7 years ago, her plant lives on. We estimate it to be nearly 100 years old. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.66.79.79 (talk) 12:08, 1 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The very old plants called "Christmas cactus" are almost certainly specimens of the plant now called Schlumbergera × buckleyi or Schlumbergera Buckleyi Group, if not the actual cultivar S. 'Buckleyi'. See the article Schlumbergera. I guess it's not yet known how long the modern cultivars, which are somewhat different and are mostly in the Truncata Group, can live. Peter coxhead (talk) 14:19, 1 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Blooming?

How does blooming know to occur each year around the Holidays? Other perennial bloomers are triggered by hot weather, presumably, so this would be interesting to expound upon.

I found this article which says that whereas Easter Cacti are sent into bloom by a dry period, Holiday Cacti are sent into bloom by cool temperatures and short days (low light?). http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/state/newsdetail.cfm?NewsID=8570

Can some with a horticulture background provide a definitive answer with reference?

--1000Faces (talk) 18:26, 22 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The information re the Thanksgiving or Christmas Cactus is correct; see Schlumbergera#Care_of_cultivars. Don't know about the Easter Cactus which is not closely related. Peter coxhead (talk) 14:22, 1 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Merger/Split

I am currently expanding the Schlumbergera article. When I have finished, I would like to move the material here which refers to Thanksgiving Cactus/Christmas Cactus/Crab Cactus/etc. to the Schlumbergera article, and either move the material relating to Easter Cactus/Whitsun Cactus to the article on that genus (Hatiora) or to a new article on Hatiora gaertneri.

Comments please. Peter coxhead (talk) 10:13, 30 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

As no-one has objected, I have already incorporated almost all the accurate material which was here (i.e. the information which I have been able to source) into the expanded Schlumbergera article. There are only a few issues to be checked, e.g. which of the inter-wiki links should used. Accordingly I am making this page into a re-direct. Peter coxhead (talk) 13:52, 1 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]