The buds probably fell off because of the stress and maybe even heat or cold in shipping. Don't worry, it will bloom again, but not sure when, could be soon or in a year.

I've grown these for years, and they bloom well for me. I never put them in the dark, too much trouble. I'm not sure that's worth it. But don't leave it under lights 24 hours.

When you water, water thoroughly letting the water drain out the bottom. Good that you are not letting it sit in water. You said "diluted water." What is that?

For the record, it looks like a Thanksgiving and not a Christmas Cactus.

tj

Agree with tj - it is Thanksgiving cactus, not a Cristmas...blooming time for TC has passed, but they get 'confused' sometimes & could bloom at different times. I don't do dark period at all & it blooms...but some exposure to cooler weather may help. I keep them outside until it gets cooler (5-7 C), & get blooms reliably

I agree with Rina. Without a change in temp mine are reluctant to bloom as well. I don't know if it is simply a change in overall temp or the change in day vs night temps.

You may not be giving it enough hours of darkness. Outdoors, it will be in darkness for more than 12 hours at this time of year ( Northern hemisphere).

The problem is that when you move these Cacti when they are in bloom, they often drop their flower buds. It's happened to me a few times when I have bought them from shops :(. I would put it on a windowsill where it gets indirect light. It will probably bloom again. Remember that it is a (Thanksgiving) Cactus. These live on tree branches in the jungle and they don't get a lot of water, so it's best not to over water them. I give mine a splash of water once a week and they are thriving.

Sold by the millions every year with tags that say Christmas cactus, and nobody having heard of Thanksgiving cactus until they ask in a public forum like this, or similar social gathering, Christmas cactus is a perfectly valid name for the plant. It's Schlumbergera truncata, by any nickname.

To bloom, it needs temps below 85°F, and 12 or more hours of uninterrupted darkness @ night. This naturally happens in a lot of spots where people keep these plants, it's just dark in that room when the sun is not shining, but in a room with bright lights on until 1 AM, or a kitchen where people keep turning on the light in the evening, a plant could fail to bloom. If it gets too dry, buds will fall off, but I also think your buds fell off due to the disturbance.

Manually moving a plant could fail if you're off by more than a few minutes, I'm guessing. Don't have any actual facts about that, but a plant that is "counting the hours" would probably notice.

Is a light your best option? No sunny window? Might it be easier to cover your plant with a box vs. putting it away?

The bloom time for this species is not yet here, in my location. It just stopped being 90°+ daytime, 73° @ night, a couple weeks ago. All of my plants are outside.

Yes, Schlumbergera Truncata (why does it need a common name?). ;-)

Mine bloomed after I had it over a year and didn't start making flower buds until beginning of November with blooms coming about middle of Nov. until middle of December.

I'm in central Minnesota and we get over 13 hours nighttime by Nov.

Mine sits in a south window, getting filtered, sometimes direct window light. Temperatures get down to 66dF at night and about 72 during the day here (inside).

No fertilizer at all in the late summer and fall but mine get just a pinch of magnesium sulphate in the water from Sept. until blooming. Water when needed, about once a week when the plants are inside, forced air heat.

Yours looks very healthy. I don't know about led colored 'grow lights' but I'm a little skeptical about them.

Dec. 5 2021:

It will bloom again. They are very hardy plants. I've had mine for years and it is about 2 ft across and is ignored by me and blooms Iike crazy every November. It's in regular potting soil that i haven't changed or fertized in years. In the spring it is thrown in a shady spot outside and forgotten. Just before first frost I bring it in and sit it in the game room. When it blooms in November it is beautiful and i bring it upstairs to enjoy. After blooming it goes back downstairs.

Schlumbergera bridgesii is a very similar plant, but with scalloped leaves instead of zigzag leaves. It is called Christmas cactus because is blooms closer to Christmas time. Thanksgiving cactus got that nickname because it blooms a little earlier, having different darkness requirements.

Ha.

Tiffany and others hit it on the nose.

I use to have mines in my bedroom and every time I got up at 5 a.m or went to bed at later hours of the nights, my lights would go on. NO blooms for me.

That is until I stuck them in a room with just natural light and every year since they are in bloom.

10-19-2022 Just for the record:

I didn't notice these when I 'top watered' yesterday.

They had a 'bottom water soak' for 2-1/2 hours, about a week ago. (I use 5-1-1 mix which dries out every month or so).

Flower buds appear to have begun.

Buds for the phylloclade's are green so that's not it.

Probably 6 or so in places on various branch tips.

In the past, mine have been on the slow side to develop and there may still be a chance of total failure. :^)

Congrats, Bill!