Christmas Cactus Woes!

[Mapleminx]

Hey fellow tree huggers,

Figured I would ask here as so many of us have cacti and succulents. Basically all but 1 of our Christmas cacti are bud dropping this year and I’m at a loss as to what’s going wrong.

Most of them are in a cactus/succulent substrate to keep them moist but not soaking. I’m concerned it could be the daylight as it’s been very dark and dull here the last couple weeks when this started. One of them is under my grow lights as a “test” to see if he fares better than the other.
I’ve made sure they are away from any heating systems so that they are not being blasted by warm air. They are all (exception is the one under the light) now in a room where the temperature is fairly consistent to avoid any shock and they are on a window to get what daylight there is.

So far the one under the grow lights hasn’t bud dropped yet but that could just be due to the fact the buds are still small. Everyone has stopped flowering, even those with large buds have completely paused and not progressed to blooming.

This is their first winter in this home so I’m sure it’s probably an environment issue but I am lost as to what.

Any ideas?

 

[Colorado]

My first assumption when cactus is having issues is that it is (1) too wet and/or (2) not enough light. These are of course related factors. Good luck!

 

[Flowerhouse]

A couple of years ago mine aborted all flower buds when we had a sudden extreme temperature drop. My bud drop could have been caused by something else, but that was the only factor I could pinpoint. Sounds like you have control over the temp shock factor. I hope @ABCarve will come in here and give us a lesson in Zygo care.
I keep mine near a south-facing window with a sheer curtain. (This is where I admit that one of mine is in the pot and soil it was purchased in 12 year ago )

 

[leatherback]

rotating the plant may cause them to drop their buds too.

 

[ABCarve]

I had a lot of problems with mine last year. Most of the time when there is a problem on top it relates to problems on the bottom. Mine in fact was severely root bound and I couldn’t get enough water through the root ball. Mine is in APL(used). When I divided it in the spring all the problems went away. If everything else hasn’t changed from previous years might be a good place to start.

 

[Mapleminx]

rotating the plant may cause them to drop their buds too.

Right so no touching then. I had no idea these “easy” cacti were so finicky when it comes to flowering. Never had this issue with them before.

 

[ABCarve]

Right so no touching then. I had no idea these “easy” cacti were so finicky when it comes to flowering. Never had this issue with them before.

I rotate mine weekly. They also tolerate low light... that’s why they’re good house plants.

 

[Mapleminx]

I had a lot of problems with mine last year. Most of the time when there is a problem on top it relates to problems on the bottom. Mine in fact was severely root bound and I couldn’t get enough water through the root ball. Mine is in APL(used). When I divided it in the spring all the problems went away. If everything else hasn’t changed from previous years might be a good place to start.

They were repotted earlier in the year. All I can put it down to was they were in a room that had heating right below the window and perhaps that heater switching on somehow pissed them off. I don’t put that heater on now in case that was the key, instead that room gets warmed from heaters in the hall through an open door.

 

[Mapleminx]

I guess time will tell over the next few days if it was the heater. Also waiting to see if the one under the grow light does better but that’s only been a couple days so it’s far too soon to tell if light is the issue.
Kinda annoying as we have a couple that grew from seed and this is their first year of flowering, wanted to see what colors they are

 

[Mapleminx]

Ok just a quick update, it’s been a few days and the bud dropping seems to have slowed in some and stopped in others. The one under the grow light hasn’t dropped anything but no one has yet resumed blooming. I suspect it was the heating in the end but I have no idea if the remaining buds will eventually bloom or just expire.

I don’t want to jinx it but on the plus side, one of the ones we cross pollinated still has the withering flowers attached and thus a potential future seed pod if lucky. The other one we pollinated dropped everything including the open flowers so no chance of seeds from that one.
Still 3 “mystery colors” who’s buds are refusing to open and show us what we have!

 

[rorror]

They start blooming when they start getting less then 13hours of sunlight, and temps get a bit chiller.
If you have them in a room, and you have lights turned on there in the evening, or have them undergow lights, they might even drop there flowers, or opening there flowers, or totally not bloom at all. So to get them to bloom, give them a room with less light, and some chiller room tempratures. And they will bloom at there own.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@rorror and @ABCarve have given excellent advice. The older more "pure species" of genus Zygocactus and Schlumbergera cactus were much more day length sensitive. The more modern hybrids are less sensitive to hours of day length.

They all like moisture available, except during the 2 months prior to blooming, where they want it a little cooler and less frequent watering. They do not want to be bone dry, but watering should be less frequent during the chilling to set blooms.

Here's a factoid. Probably has nothing to do with your current problem.
I always have orchids, and other blooming plants around the house in bloom. Anytime flowers would suddenly wilt and drop on everything in the dining room and the kitchen, I knew the pilot light on the stove had blown out. Small amounts of ethylene gas in the air will cause flower buds and flowers to drop off. A bushel basket of ripening apples will release enough ethylene to cause flowers in the same room to drop. A quick check, and I would relight the pilot on the stove. Have since gotten a more modern stove, with electronic ignition, and have ceased to have this problem. Just a little factoid.

 

[Mapleminx]

That is a very strange but interesting factoid indeed @Leo in N E Illinois

Well there is good news, no more bud dropping and one of the mystery plants is starting to open. Its the one that had been under the grow light but I moved it out to join the others on the windowsill now. Another on the window looks like it’s starting to think about blooming. A few others have some small buds remaining that might still progress.

Still think it was the heating below the window that was the culprit.

 

[Shibui]

Anytime flowers would suddenly wilt and drop on everything in the dining room and the kitchen, I knew the pilot light on the stove had blown out.

I understand that ethylene can actually stimulate some orchids to flower but I was not aware of it aborting buds.
My question is what has the stove pilot light got to do with all this?

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Ethylene gas is signals a plant to drop flower buds, signals to ripen fruit. It stimulates the formation of abscission layers. It does not (to the best of my knowledge) stimulate orchids to bloom, it stimulates orchid blooms to abort, or fall off prematurely.

But there are 13,000 orchids species, there might be an exception I don't know about.

 

[Mapleminx]

So one of the mystery cacti is now blooming. Unfortunately it’s a rather boring red/white hybrid petal combo, I get the feeling at least one other is the same color due to the buds looking the same. But we still have 2 others who don’t share that bud color about to bloom this year for the first time.
It can be fun to grow them from seed but honestly the waiting to see what you get can be such a task. Any duplicates or disliked colors are sold to keep us from being overrun

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Photos of the blooms please. They are eye candy, even the "boring ones".

A tip I got long ago, from an orchid hybridizer. Bloom at least 6 of any cross you make or buy. With six, the odds are better that at least one of them will be significantly different than the "average". Hopefully the "different" will be better, not worse.

If you are making your own crosses, if room allows, bloom 10 or more of each cross in order to have a change at finding a good one.