More popularly known as the holiday cactus, Christmas cactus is wonderful plant that blooms during Christmas time. It is easy to grow the plant in your own backyard and it gives beautiful flowers during the holiday season. Christmas cactus does not require much of care and effort once when it grows. In fact, it even resorts to self-pruning sometimes. In case your plant has grown unmanageable and you want to prune it, do not get tensed. Pruning Christmas cactus is a very easy process. Read on to know how to prune Christmas cactus.
Pruning Christmas Cactus
- The best time to prune Christmas cactus is summer. During this time, pinching off at the joints will encourage more branching.
- The stem cuttings that are the by-product of the pruning process can be rooted and started as new plants.
- If necessary, you can remove some of the stem segments at the end. This will make the plant smaller, if it is large enough to be unmanageable. Pruning in this manner will not harm the plant. Just cut the stems between the "joints."
- Whether you remove some stem segments or they fall naturally, it is advisable to allow some of them to root, in order to start new plants. This is because with time, the large plant might suffer root rot and need to be replaced. If you allow some stem segments to root, you will have a new plant ready to grow, by the time the large plants needs replacement.
