Actually it's not a CC, it's a Thanksgiving cactus, care is the same though. TC's have points on their leaf sides and ends, CC's are more rounded/scalloped. It's been labelled wrongly so not your fault!

Soil mix looks very damp and peaty and it seems overpotted to me, and I would repotbut I'll leave it to someone else to advise.

Gill

Ok, thank you!

Care is the same (for CC &/or TC).

The pot is too big for it now (it may have been much bigger & needed that pot when it was).

I'd pot that down smaller & put it in a 3" pot, either plastic or clay.

That mix looks problematic, too water retentive. If you must keep that mix, pls. buy some perlite, unpot the plant & combine the mix w/ the perlite (50/50% of each) for an more appropriate mix which will drain properly. The current mix is not draining right, hence, the rotting portion on the plant.

You may remove those dry, crunchy leaves (segments) as they're dead (sorry) & will not recover.

Ok, thanks for the advice. There are no crunchy parts of the plant, it's all very soft, so hopefully a smaller pot with better drainage as you said will help it along.

Sorry, but those brownish, faded leaves look dead. Pls pinch them off as they can help spread rot & again, are unlikely to recover & can sicken the remaining plant we're trying to save.

Those faded leaves look like dried up flowers. Just wondering - can old flowers which remain attached to the plant but have died off also promote rot?

Yeah, those actually are flowers, not faded leaves. It produced a lot of flowers but as soon as they opened they wilted. I just got back from a business trip and hadn't pinched them off yet which I suppose I should.

Naturally, no, dried up flowers will not promote rot.

I don't really have anything to add to the discussion except that next year (or next time it decides to bloom), it may be wise to pinch of the buds before they open. That way, you can help the plant conserve the energy it needs (flowers use a LOT of energy) to become healthy again.

There are both spent flowers & dying leaves present. Lena is suggesting taking off the fading leaves, she said nothing abt the flowers; they are irrelevant in this respect. They usually fall off on their own after they're spent.

Next year & blooming is pretty far away Palms, I'd keep focus on next 6 months.

Definitely rot and root issues, which is probably from the soil and large pot. Probably for some time now because of the long aerial roots.

I'm not the best with these, so I think the others have better advice other than that. =)

Hi Ewwww,

Aerial roots aren't necessarily indicators of problems, they can be perfectly normal.

I grow mine in orchid bark mix. They love it. Fall through winter they get watered once a week. They are epiphytes after all.

Really, doing well, Tommy? That's interesting. I originally had mine in cactus mix, where they did very well in New York. I moved to a high humidity (86%) zone and had to change to 50/50 African Violet mix & Perlite. They are much healthier now but I still lose a few stems here and there.

Maybe i should try orchid mix. Mine are on a porch and receive light morning sun. I water sparingly because they seem to get most of the water they need from the air. I fertilize all my C&S once a month w/tomato food during spring/summer/fall, then let them rest. Of course, they won't bloom in our 86ºF temps, but at least they're alive & well.

Maria Elena

Karen - I agree but usually aerial roots are not quite that long. The CC looks dehydrated, is not responding to water, and is in a big pot with a challenging mix.

Just my opinion though!

Maria, My thanksgiving cactus just finished blooming a few weeks ago. I also grow Easter cactus in the same mix. I find African violet mix too thick/heavy for AVs and the holiday type cactuses love the orchid mix. Hard to over water with that stuff!

My TC has been in a regular cactus mix for 4 years now and it is perfectly healthy. My orchid cactus however was just recently moved from a large pot into a slightly smaller one with 50% for bark, 25% granite chips and 25% regular potting soil. it already looks happier, and i am considering trying it with my TC too. a soil change and pot downsize is definitely necessary in this case, maybe try an orchid mix too

Hi, Alyssa -

Good to see you here. Regional climate is always a key factor in selecting / mixing a substrate. In this case, what worked 20+ years in NY, just does not work in the Caribbean. In fact, I had to add Perlite to ALL my C&S ... I actually saw my first cactus blooms last summer!!

Even with 50% Perlite added to the chunkier African Violet mix, I find it staying wet a little longer than I would like. My TC are fine & thriving, even though we don't have the required cold to create blooms ;-( However, because I don't just want 'fine,' I'm going w/Tommy's recommendation to use Orchid mix. I'm going to repot my Queen of the Night while I'm at it.

Tommy, any specific type of Orchid mix? I have a very chunky mix of fir bark, hardwood charcoal, and course perlite.

Juliboggs, forgive me for hijacking your thread. Please do update us on your repot.

Maria Elena

I have a question on my Cactus that is about 50+ years old. My mom started it by sticking a piece of a cactus into some sand. A few months back I added some cactus potting soil. Didn't mix it in just poured it on top. Is this good for the cactus or should I have not done this?

Hi!

It depends when the last time you repotted/replenished the soil? If it was hard and crunchy beforehand then fully repotting would of been a good shout!

But Christmas cacti only need to be repotted once every few years so if you have done it recently then adding some fresh cactus soil on top will be fine.

Regardless, some fresh soil to your plant will only ever do it some good :)

You can also try adding cold coffee to your Christmas cactus as well - I found this really useful blog which helped mine bloom!

https://succulentcareguide.com/christmas-cactus/coffee-grounds-on-christmas-cactus/

Hope you found this helpful!