Do you want a more lush Christmas cactus and with more flowers? Pruning is essential to stimulate growth and guarantee abundant flowering every year.
Il Christmas cactity (Schlumbergera) is a fascinating plant, loved for its spectacular winter blooms and its falling bearing. This plant, if well cared for, can live over a centurybecoming increasingly luxuriant over the years. However, without a regular pruning, it can grow in a disordered way and produce less flowers.
Proping Christmas cactus is essential for several reasons: It helps the plant to maintain a balanced shape, promotes the growth of new segments and stimulates a more abundant flowering. In addition, pruning allows you to remove weak or damaged branches, guaranteeing a healthier and more vigorous plant. Another great advantage of pruning is the possibility of propagate new plants from the cuttingsgetting others Christmas cactity to give or cultivate. Following the right adviceyou can enjoy a more compact plant, rich in flowers and in perfect health.
When to prune the Christmas cactus
The ideal time to prune the Christmas cactus It is immediately after flowering before the new spring growth begins. After the splendid winter floweringil Christmas cactity Enter a rest phase. This is the perfect time to intervene, because the plant is not engaged in the production of flowers or in active development. Cut the branches in this period It allows the plant to renew and prepare for future growth.
If you expect too much and intervene in late spring, you risk removing the new buds, compromising the next flowering. On the contrary, pruning immediately after floweringyou will stimulate the growth of new strong and healthy branches, which will bring even more flowers the following year. If yours Christmas cactity It has an unbalanced or too expanded form, well -performed pruning will help it remain more compact and tidy. Do not fear to cut: the plant will react with an even more vigorous growth!
How to pruning Christmas cactus
Pruing your cactus is not complicated, but It requires attention and delicacy. Before starting, observe the plant and decide which branches to shorten or eliminate. Here are the fundamental steps for effective pruning:
- Evaluate the shape of the plant: do you just want to blaze it or reduce the size?
- Identify the branches to be pruning: Choose those too long, crooked or damaged.
- Use clean and sharp tools: sterilized garden scissors or simply fingers to break the segments.
- Make net cuts between the segments: gently detaches the branches without tearing.
- Do not overdo it: you can remove up to A third of the plantbut avoid cutting excessively not to stress it.
After pruning, the plant may seem a little bare, but in a few weeks it will produce new stronger and more compact segments.
How to propagate the Christmas cactus with the cuttings
After pruning, do not throw the cut branches! The cuttings They can be used to propagate new plants, both in water and directly in the ground. Here you are How to propagate your Christmas cactus in a few simple steps:
- Choose the right cuttings: take branches at least Two segments For better rooting.
- Let the cuttings dry for two or three days: This avoids the risk of rot and promotes cutting the cutting.
- Propagation in water: Dips only the base of the cutting in a jar of water and wait for it to develop roots at least one centimeter long before planting it in the soil.
- Propagation in the ground: Use a well -drained soil And place the cuttings in a bright place, avoiding direct sunlight.
- Water in moderation: Keep the soil slightly humid, but without excesses of water to prevent rot.
After a few weeks, if the cuttings are healthy, new segments will begin to grow. This is the signal that the propagation took place successfully and that you obtained a new plant!
Now that you know all the secrets of pruning, You are ready to take care of your Natal cactusAnd in the best way? Start today and prepare for extraordinary flowering!
Photo © Stock.adobe
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