Heidi,
Without seeing it,its hard to say.But sounds like its not getting enough water.
How is the main stems? are they woody looking? I would at least mist it now. there are others on this forum a lot more knowledgeable than me. hopefully someone can help you out. but just in case i would take a few cuttings.
cliff

How long has it been in the soil it's in? Was it really peaty soil (heavy in peat, which would look really dark and dense when wet, rather than well-draining and gritty) that is perhaps old and has gotten to the point that it has become dry and hard as a rock? Peat-heavy soil can get old and get to the point that it's so hard that it no longer absorbs water; the water just goes around the old brick of peat and out the bottom of the pot, not reaching the roots.

I would take a few cuttings just in case, yes. Snip several significantly long segments and keep them in slightly moist soil that contains a lot of bark. It's not uncommon for a few cuttings to not take and rot out instead, so don't worry too much if a couple don't take and just don't be too skimpy with the number of cuttings. Take from the healthiest-looking parts of the plant. If I have a cutting start to mush/rot where it meets the soil, I'll often just snip off the mushy portion and try again to root the remainder of it to the soil.

Can I add my opinion - when you take your cuttings, make them at least 2 segments long, 3 is better and best of all is to take a Y, where it branches. The roots form at the end of the segment, and also between the segments. So it helps to bury the cutting past the join of the first segment. Just my opinion, more food for thought.

Hi Everyone, and thank you!!

I'm still trying to figure out how to reply on this list (hence the delay in replying)...

Let's see:

Water: I was wondering if it was thirsty too, but I've been watering it about 2x week now which seems like a lot to me. My understandings is that cacti don't need/like a lot of water.

Stems: Yes, they are very woody looking. Very tough feeling. Is this good or bad?

Soil: Yes, it looks very peat-y (from your description) but it never got old and rock solid. After about four years, I replanted it about a year ago and the plant thrived, in the same spot, until recently.

Cuttings: This SCARES me. I'm so afraid I will cut and then kills the only stems that are healthy right now.

Thank you for any additional insight!!! I"m so nervous.

Heidi

Don't be nervous. You're not going to hurt the main plant by taking cuttings from it. A cutting or two might not take, but it's not going to damage the plant you took them from. If the main plant is ill, what are now healthy portions would eventually become sickly as well, so snip from those healthy portions now because ill cuttings are not going to root and survive; they should be healthy cuttings to begin with.

It's normal for the stems, especially the innermost and older ones, to become woody as the plant gets older. It's to be expected and just fine. And you should water before the plant is bone dry; it shouldn't go awhile dry because the holiday cacti are tropical plants. Tropicals need regular water, unlike the type of cactus you'd mentally picture. The word "cactus" scares some of my family members into not watering enough, and they leave the soil dried out and their plants wither. Tropicals need their water intake, but just not so it's sopping wet all the time and not with the plant in peaty soil that stays wet way too long. Bark is what you wanna go for, and then water when or right before dry.

In the soil it's in, if it's high in peat, is it wet a long time after you water? When you water, is the soil dry? The plant can go limp if it's being overwatered and the roots have rotted. If the soil is not drying out well/stays pretty consistently wet, and if the leaves still look wimpy and withered, I would guess it's probably bad soil and rotted out roots. At that point it would need a re-pot into better soil and light watering to keep it just slightly moist while healthy roots redevelop. Or so I've done it in my personal experience. My mother had a Thanksgiving cactus that just had rotten roots this past month. I'd never gotten it out of its peaty soil it was in, and when I went to see why it was withery and I yanked it out of its pot, the soil was wet and the roots were almost nonexistent because they'd mostly rotted. I snipped a bunch of cuttings from the healthy parts of the plant, and the main plant has been recovering since its care was fixed. I think all you can really do is unpot your plant and see what the roots look like, and get it in the right soil in order to be sure you're doing the right thing for it. The roots may give a big clue as to what's going on.

Cuttings: Don't be it's better than waiting to long. As seen in pic this is what happens in a peat compacting soil

Note the missing base roots compacted (pinched) off by a peat based soil

And by "overwatered," to be clear...with my statement, "The plant can go limp if it's being overwatered and the roots have rotted," I should have worded that differently. I do mean that if the soil is too consistently wet/isn't drying out fast enough, you could get rotted-out and nonexistent roots eventually. I would blame the soil for that issue, not how often you physically are watering the plant. You could be on a watering schedule that would normally suit the plant very well, if you had the proper soil, but the dang peat will retain moisture and turn the roots into a sopping-wet mess.

I'd check what you've got going on with those roots.

Oh yeah...that picture shows it. The roots just will disappear entirely.

Watering : At 2 X a week could be to often and probably is at any time of year for the Epic type plants Agree the foliage would go limp if over watered but as the roots aren't taking the water up is because there are no roots to take the water up.

Stems: Woody stems are not bad they just take longer to root out again. Which is what has happened in the prior pic I posted. A fine sand and peat based soil water sat perched at the top soil line and decayed the root so they rotted.

X-mas type cacti Also known as Epic type cacti grow in tree branches and tree trunk sides explaining why you may want to consider an entirely peat free soil when you re-pot the rest of the old one and cuttings for rooting.

Soil: Airy and free draining and still able to keep moisture for the roots suggesting a re-pot using small size orchid bark and perlite some grits can be used for cuttings and root restoration as well.

Timely: Cuttings perhaps next year for flowering
Wooded one: In pic I suspect it will be at best two-three years before flowering

Thank you AGAIN, Everyone.

Let's see:

1. Cutting: I'm not as nervous about taking a cutting and harming the plant, as I am having it die and then having the plant die, too. I will try it though, first thing tomorrow. after I get up enough courage.

Watering: Thank you! I was imagining that they didn't need as much water.

So here's what I have done watering-wise: For years I've usually watered 1x/a week or 1x/a week and half, and it's been fine. I have tended to let the soil dry out completely and then give it just a little water, wait until the soil has absorbed it, and give it a little more. I do this, off and on, over the course of 10 minutes or so (NOT constantly). When I water it too fast, the water just runs right out the bottom of the pot and I worry the soil isn't really absorbing the water. What does happen however, is that the water that does run out the bottom sits in the pan under the planter. It's about 1" and I tend to let the plant reabsorb it over time.

Now I wonder if this is dumb. I guess my thinking has been to water the plant a little, over time, but that it could absorb the extra water was needed, though the bottom. Is this is stupid mistake?

I'm so confused as to whether I might be under or over watering now.

Lately, since it started to wither, I've stepped the watering up to 2x a week. But maybe this is exactly the wrong way to go. (I'll try to send a picture.)

Soil: The soil seems pretty peat-y from the description (looks dark after watering). But, it does dry out pretty quickly - and can get pretty hard. If I change the soil, do you recommend that I wait until the plant is more stable?

Planter: Any recommendations on size relative to the plant?

Roots: Do I dare pull out a section and check?

Thank you all so much for holding my hand.

Will try to post a pic tomorrow (If I can borrow my daughter's digital camera...)

Heidi