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HOW & WHEN TO PRUNE YOUR CHRISTMAS CACTUS (& WHY YOU NEED TO)

By: Author Tracey Besemer

Posted on December 17, 2021

109334 shares
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Wait, you’re supposed to prune these things?

If you’re a Rural Sprout regular, then it’s probably safe to say you know I’m a
huge fan of Christmas cactuses. And by Christmas cactuses, I mean all varieties
of schlumbergera – no matter when they bloom; Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter.

Many people mistakenly believe these plants to be hard to care for. I find the
exact opposite to be true.



Once you know their preferences, it’s easy to have a thriving Christmas cactus.
If you want the skinny on how to grow a gorgeous schlumbergera that blooms every
year without fail, read our all-inclusive guide:

Christmas Cactus Care: More Blooms, Propagate & Identify Holiday Cacti

One area I didn’t touch on in that guide is pruning, and that’s what we’re going
to cover today.


DO YOU HAVE TO PRUNE YOUR CHRISTMAS CACTUS?

Suppose you’ve got a glorious holiday cactus growing in your living room that’s
been handed down from generation to generation, and you’ve never pruned it. In
that case, you’re probably wondering if it’s even necessary?



And to you, I say, nope, you can keep on with whatever you’re doing. But…


Wow! It looks great, but you still might want to prune it.



WHILE YOU DON’T NECESSARILY NEED TO PRUNE A CHRISTMAS CACTUS FOR IT TO GROW
WELL, THERE ARE BENEFITS TO DOING SO.

Whether you have a newer plant or an older heirloom, we’ll discuss why a good
haircut might be just the thing for your cactus. But first, a little Christmas
cactus anatomy lesson.

Normally, we refer to a plant’s foliage as leaves, but with Christmas cactus,
their ‘leaves’ are segments called cladodes. Each one of these cladodes contains
everything needed to start a new plant.

Pruning a Christmas cactus can help your plant redirect energy where it’s needed
most or conserve the energy it would take to keep growing new segments year
after year and put it into blooms.  


WHY YOU SHOULD PRUNE AN OLDER, LARGER PLANT


My Thanksgiving cactus is around ten years old, and just beginning to turn woody
at the base.


As Christmas cactuses grow larger, the cladodes in the soil from which the main
plant grows become tough and woody. This is a good thing because it allows the
plant to support its own weight while growing larger. As the plant ages, these
woody stems become susceptible to cracking and splitting, and then your cactus
is vulnerable to disease, especially root rot.

Christmas cactuses, in particular, are highly susceptible to root rot. Remember,
they’re epiphytes, meaning they have adapted to grow on another plant.




A QUICK INTRODUCTION TO EPIPHYTES.

We learned in elementary earth science that plants take up nutrients and water
through a well-developed root system. And while that’s the case for many plants,
epiphytes are not dependent on their root system for food and water. In fact,
epiphytes mainly use their roots to hang on to whatever plant from which they’re
growing.


Just hanging out with my tree buddy.


Christmas cactuses take in nutrients and water through their cladodes in
addition to their roots. When found in the wild, the roots are rarely buried in
deep soil; rather, there is a shallow root system clinging to whatever debris
has collected in the crook of a tree or a crevice in a rock.

We come along, plant them in potting soil and treat them like any other plant,
then wonder why our beautiful Christmas cactus is rotting from the roots up.


WHY YOU SHOULD PRUNE THAT BIG, BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS CACTUS

Air and good circulation are just as important to your older Christmas cactus as
water.



So, it’s a good idea to prune a larger Christmas cactus to improve airflow
within the inner parts of the plant. This allows the plant to take in more water
and nutrients via its segments.

You’ll also provide better light penetration. If you want more blooms, pruning
back an overgrown plant can help. Again, you’re making it easier for all parts
of the plant to receive light, water and nutrients, which in the end means more
flowers.

Pruning back a very large plant takes some of the weight off of older, woody
stems, too, making it less likely they will crack.

And the final reason you may wish to prune a well-established Christmas cactus
is to reinvigorate the plant overall. Pruning an older plant will cause new
growth to emerge. The plant will put out new segments wherever you trim. This is
a great way to deal with a leggy plant, as it will fill in, making for a
bushier, fuller Christmas cactus.



Just think how great you feel after a fresh haircut and style!


BUT TRACEY, I DON’T HAVE A BIG OL’ CHRISTMAS CACTUS; MINE IS ONLY A FEW YEARS
OLD.

Great! Believe it or not, you should prune that one too.


GENERAL PRUNING FOR ALL HOLIDAY CACTUSES


Blooms are done, it’s time for a haircut!


Both of the plants I photographed in this article are plants between two to ten
years old. Neither are particularly big. I’ll use them to demonstrate the
reasons to prune your Christmas cactus every year.


PRUNE A SCRAGGLY PLANT TO FILL IT IN

If you’ve got a Christmas cactus that is all legs, you may wish to prune the
plant to encourage it to grow fuller rather than longer. To do this, you’ll
pinch back leggy growth to encourage the plant to grow outward rather than
adding more length.

This is so much easier to accomplish when the plant is young. Once the plant is
as bushy as you like, you can concentrate your pruning efforts on general
upkeep. You can train the plant to grow in the direction and space you choose
while it’s still young.




PRUNE YOUR CHRISTMAS CACTUS TO MAINTAIN ITS SHAPE

Perhaps your Christmas cactus is perfect as it is. Great, it’s a good idea to
trim off extra growth each year to maintain that shape. This is especially
important if space is an issue for you. Trim off longer segments that are
starting to get a little too big for their britches.

Much like a haircut, regular pruning will lead to a healthy and robust plant.
You’ll end up with more blooms, too, as the plant can redirect energy into
making buds rather than expending more energy on new stems.


WHEN TO PRUNE YOUR CHRISTMAS CACTUS

All schlumbergera should be pruned within a month after they have finished
blooming.

Christmas cactuses go into a period of growth shortly after they have flowered,
so you want to make any cuts before they start putting out new growth. And by
pruning, the plant will redirect energy into putting out new segments where it
has been trimmed.



If you miss this one month window, you can still trim the plant, but it may
affect new growth and possibly blooms for that year.


HOW TO PRUNE A CHRISTMAS CACTUS

It’s not a necessity, but now is also a good time to wipe the dust off of your
plant. As these plants take in moisture in the air through their cladodes, I
like to wipe them down now and again to remove the dust and make it easier to
absorb water.


Use a slightly damp piece of cloth and gently wipe down the segments.


Pruning these segmented plants is incredibly easy, and unless you’re cutting
into older stems, you don’t even need any special equipment.

Wash your hands first, then twist off the cladode where you want to prune the
plant. Be sure you grasp both segments, close to the joint where they meet, then
gently twist until they separate.


Grasp firmly near the joint…


…and twist until it separates.


TA-DAH! YOU’VE JUST PRUNED YOUR CHRISTMAS CACTUS.


The segment will come away cleanly, leaving the node intact at the bottom.


If you’re taking off some length near older and thicker stems, you’ll need to
use a clean and sterilized knife or scissors. You can see in the photo below the
joints where this would be necessary. Basically, anywhere where the cladode has
started to grow thicker than normal.


All of the arrows point to joints that would require scissors or a knife.


You don’t want to twist off these thickened cladodes as you risk yanking the
whole segment out of the dirt or tearing the plant.


WHERE YOU TAKE OFF SEGMENTS AND HOW MANY, THAT’S UP TO YOU.

It all depends on your pruning goals. The general rule of thumb is that you can
remove up to a third of the plant without causing it stress.


Hmm, it looks pretty crowded in there.


Much better!

As you can see with my true Christmas cactus, it was very crowded in the
interior. I’ve had issues with fungus gnats, so I wanted to thin out this plant
a bit to improve airflow by the soil. I took out quite a few tiny segments.




EPIPHYTES, AM I RIGHT?


Everything from that first joint down was in the soil.


I even removed one of the original cuttings I had planted when I started this
plant two years ago. It’s got plenty of new cladodes, but you’ll notice how
scraggly the roots are. Again, epiphytes don’t generally need large root systems
to thrive.


Overachievers get to stay, slackers are being pruned!


For my thanksgiving cactus, I decided to concentrate on the canopy as I had
plenty of airflow at the base of the plant. I wanted a bushier top, so I started
looking at spots where segments branched out.

I didn’t prune segments that had two or more new segments growing from them, but
I trimmed back leggier segments that weren’t branching out. This will hopefully
encourage the plant to create new cladodes on those spots as it enters the
growth phase.




POST-PRUNING CARE

Wait a few days after you’ve pruned the plant, then mist it well. This will
allow the plant to scar over any areas where you removed segments. The moisture
will help to refresh your plant.

Of course, once you’ve pruned your Christmas cactus, you’re left with a bonus –
cuttings to make new cactuses!


My neighbors have called dibs on all these cuttings already.


And schlumbergera is one of the easiest plants to propagate. You can read how to
grow new plants from your pruned cuttings here:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How To Propagate Christmas Cactus + 2 Secrets To Big, Blooming Plants

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


RECOMMENDED READING:

Christmas Cactus Not Flowering & 12 More Common Holiday Cactus Problems



10 Things Every Christmas Cactus Owner Needs To Know

African Violets: How To Care, Get More Blooms & Propagate

109334 shares
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By Author Tracey Besemer

Tracey Besemer

Hey there, my name is Tracey. I’m the editor-in-chief here at Rural Sprout.

Many of our readers already know me from our popular Sunday newsletters. (You
are signed up for our newsletters, right?) Each Sunday, I send a friendly
missive from my neck of the woods in Pennsylvania. It’s a bit like sitting on
the front porch with a friend, discussing our gardens over a cup of tea.

Originally from upstate NY, I’m now an honorary Pennsylvanian, having lived here
for the past 18 years.

I grew up spending weekends on my dad’s off-the-grid homestead, where I spent
much of my childhood roaming the woods and getting my hands dirty.

I learned how to do things most little kids haven’t done in over a century.

Whether it was pressing apples in the fall for homemade cider, trudging through
the early spring snows of upstate NY to tap trees for maple syrup, or canning
everything that grew in the garden in the summer – there were always new
adventures with each season.

As an adult, I continue to draw on the skills I learned as a kid. I love my
Wi-Fi and knowing pizza is only a phone call away. And I’m okay with never
revisiting the adventure that is using an outhouse in the middle of January.

These days, I tend to be almost a homesteader.

I take an eclectic approach to homesteading, utilizing modern convenience where
I want and choosing the rustic ways of my childhood as they suit me.

I’m a firm believer in self-sufficiency, no matter where you live, and the power
and pride that comes from doing something for yourself.

I’ve always had a garden, even when the only space available was the roof of my
apartment building. I’ve been knitting since age seven, and I spin and dye my
own wool as well. If you can ferment it, it’s probably in my pantry or on my
kitchen counter. And I can’t go more than a few days without a trip into the
woods looking for mushrooms, edible plants, or the sound of the wind in the
trees.

You can follow my personal (crazy) homesteading adventures on Almost a
Homesteader and Instagram as @aahomesteader.

Peace, love, and dirt under your nails,

Tracey




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