The traditional holiday cactuses you can buy are a cross between a few different types: Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus and the Easter cactus, which all bloom at different times.
If you have one blooming now, then yours probably has a little more Thanksgiving cactus DNA in it.
You can also take a look at the clads, which is what those little leaves, or segments, are called on a holiday cactus. If they're really pointy, that tends to mean that the plant has a lot more Thanksgiving cactus genes in it than if they're rounded— which tends to be more of a Christmas cactus gene.
The bottom line is, if you have the Thanksgiving one, it's going to bloom earlier. The Christmas one will bloom somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
They bloom in response to the short day length. When we get around 13 hours of darkness, which is what we have now, they'll start blooming.
The same will happen going into spring. They will start reblooming in the spring, when you have those 13 hours of darkness again. So, if you have a holiday cactus that is blooming, enjoy it.
If it's not blooming, there are a couple things you still can do. One is put it in a cool, dark room. Make sure the room doesn't get a lot of ambient light from street lights or indoor house lights. That way, it'll get the amount of darkness it needs to set its flower buds. Once it has its flower buds set, then you can bring it out into a regular room and just enjoy the flower show.
The other thing you can do with a holiday cactus is repot it. This is a nice thing to do every couple years or so. The best way to repot it is to put it in a mix of potting soil and orchid mix, because holiday cactuses are actually not cactuses — they're succulents. They grow in the Brazilian rainforest, where they just hang on trees. They get a lot of moisture, but it's very well-drained, and that's really what holiday cactuses like. So, if you have cactus that's struggling, it could be the soil mix. Adding bark from an orchid mix can really help.
Other than that, just enjoy those holiday cactuses. And remember, they're easy to propagate — you can take cuttings, root them and give them away for holiday gifts.
A question about a cauliflower-like growth on bushes
Q: I was pruning back one of the Japanese Barbary bushes in my garden today, and I came across what looked like a tiny head of cauliflower. Maybe two inches across, wedged in between a couple of branches. It's mostly white, tinged around the perimeter with shades of red. I touched it thinking it would be soft like an odd mushroom, but it was rock hard. What do you think it is? — Lauren, Manchester
A: It could be a leaf gall. A leaf gall is something that grows on the leaves of many types of plants. Sometimes they're white, and sometimes they can look like a little ball. Once the leaves drop and the galls drop, you can remove them — they're generally not harmful to plants.
A question about a creature hanging out in tomato vines
Q: I found two of these while I was pulling out all my tomatoes because they never ripened and had like a funky rot to them. I know it's late in the season, but I live in South hero — right on the lake. My Garden was still producing at the time when I wrote this note. The photos are of giant caterpillars, about two to two and a half inches long. Hmm, I wonder what they could be? — Annie, South Hero
A: Those are tomato hornworms. Believe it or not, they're still around. Well — some of the last ones are. There's no tomatoes left, but the hornworm is still hanging out there. I wouldn't worry too much about it at this stage. A bird, mouse or other animal will probably eat it, so you can leave it as is.
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