Christmas can come early with this 'cactus'

Q: We have always hosted Christmas at our home, but this year we’re changing things up. We will have Thanksgiving here. The biggest attention getter has been the Christmas cactus in full bloom, especially since you taught us how to convince it to come into that riot of bloom. Our question, can we treat the cactus now to get it to come into bloom for the hosting of the Thanksgiving festivities? — Mr. & Mrs. A.C., Albuquerque

A: The process you speak of is called triggering and if you start now, today, don’t wait any longer, you could at least have the cactus wearing a lot of buds and maybe some bloom.

Here’s the how-to for those who don’t know nor haven’t tried this triggering process. First, you’ll need a space that will offer 12 hours of dark and 12 hours of light daily for the next 30 days. If you have a room that isn’t occupied and can be made dark and then has light every day, that’ll be the ticket.

If the cactus lives in a spot and the pot is too heavy to move, then you need to find a larger box that you completely cover it with. Make sure that the box doesn’t rub or beat up the plant. Every day, at let’s say 7 a.m., uncover the pot and throw open any curtains so the cactus is bathed in good bright light. Then at 7 p.m. close the curtains and cover the plant again with the box. If it lives in a dark room, close the door and do not enter and turn on any light fixtures.

The triggering process requires 12 and 12 hours daily. No cheating.

Since the plant is resting, you don’t keep it as well watered as usual. Certainly don’t stop watering, just don’t offer nearly as much water for those 30 days. You should be as faithful and consistent as you possibly can for the next 30 days of covering and uncovering for the triggering process to take hold.

After the thirty days are done, bring the plant back to where it usually lives, or don’t be concerned with it getting light. Get it back into its usual watering schedule and be patient. Within 7 to 10 days, I’ll bet you’ll see wee buds forming and starting to show on the edges of the plant.

Now, I’ve been told that there are some that put their plant in a closet and forget about it for a period of time. I don’t believe it. You still need to be a caring soul and tend to the health of the plant.

So, by starting your triggering process today, faithfully, for the next 30 days, you should have a Christmas cactus that will be wearing buds and maybe some bloom by Thanksgiving. If you’ve never triggered one before and want it in-bloom for Christmas I’ll recommend you start the triggering, cover and uncovering, the first weekend, no later than the second weekend of November.

After the triggering of the 30 days, early- to mid-December, the process will be complete, and the plant should start growing the buds, creating a grand display in time for the Christmas season. It’s a relatively easy process to trigger a Christmas cactus to come into bloom, but you need to be consistently faithful with the process.

Q: I have two mums that have done well, but one wasn’t blooming as well as the other, so I moved it to get more sun. I placed it on a retaining wall and last Saturday the high wind blew it off and broke off some branches of the plant. I have placed the parts in plastic cups with water, hoping they will root. I have not grown mums before and wonder if this is doable, or is it too late in the season? — A.F., Albuquerque

A: I’m not sure if the pieces will root or not. I will suggest that you keep the water in the cups fresh, meaning drain the cups and offer fresh water, perhaps weekly, to keep it from getting funky. I hope you snipped off the ends, so that they aren’t ragged. A clean cut end should be much more viable to keep the pieces drawing up water.

When offering the freshwater to the cups, make it tepid in temperature. Cold water could be too much of a shock to the pieces. While you’re at it, snip off any buds or flowers so the pieces are more able to concentrate on the rooting process rather than supporting bud and bloom.

If the pieces do root out, I’ll suggest you get them planted. When do you plant, dust the pieces with rooting powder so they are assisted in settling in.

I’d cover the pots at night and uncover every morning to offer a bit of protection from the weather. Make sure that the pots are kept watered so the baby roots aren’t ever allowed to dry out. Since the pots are above ground, they’ll be more susceptible to the weather.

I am not sure if you’ll be able to save the pieces, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. I hope you’ll be able to get them to grow for you and will set them in places where they won’t be so buffeted by the wind from now on.

Here’s to the propagation of the mum pieces while you’re out there Diggin’ In!

Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Digging In, Albuquerque Journal, 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.