We know how to grow a wonderful Decembrist at home.

Schlumbergera is the more correct name for that plant, which in everyday life is usually called the Decembrist or Christmas tree. It belongs to epiphytic cacti and is quite unpretentious to growing and propagating at home.

But any, initially wild-growing flower, requires compliance with growing conditions, at least remotely resembling the original natural environment. So how to grow a Christmas flower at home?

How is cultivation carried out correctly?

First of all, it is necessary to determine the possibility of maintaining favorable light and temperature conditions. The Decembrist is very fond of bright sunlight, but not direct and burning, but soft and diffused. The main recommendations are shading from the sun during the hot period and monitoring the plant daylight hours throughout the year. This is done because red color appears on the segments of some varieties with an excess of light.

But with a comfortable temperature, everything is not as simple as gardeners would like. Schlumbergera does not tolerate heat and after 25 degrees begins to lose stored moisture. And although it is recommended to keep the plant in the fresh air for as long as possible, it is better to clean it from a hot balcony in a room with a temperature in the range of 20 - 25 degrees. The lower survival rate of the Decembrist is about 5 degrees.

Attention! Rozhdestvennik is not recommended to be placed near heating appliances and other sources of dry hot air. In such cases, he begins to quickly lose the moisture stored in the joints and they become wrinkled and lethargic.

It is most convenient to divide the year of cultivation into four periods and during each of them maintain the necessary conditions.

Periods

Growth and development

From mid-March to the end of September, the active growth of the Christmas tree begins. The number of segments and their sizes are increasing. At this time, the plant is recommended to be kept in places with constant access to fresh air. It may be a constantly blown balcony or window sill, but the ideal place would be a shaded place under the trees with an average temperature of 20 - 23 degrees.

During the summer, it is necessary to regularly spray the plant with warm water and water it as the earth dries. in the pot. In no case should excessive watering and flooding be allowed due to the high tendency of Decembrist to rot with excess moisture. For more active growth, fertilizing is done every two weeks.

Rest and preparation for blooming

Lasts only one month - October. During this time, growth is inhibited and stunted, and flower buds are laid. The need for moisture and the length of daylight hours of the plant is reduced and the need for access to fresh air and a decrease in ambient temperature to 10 - 18 degrees is growing.

If in the previous period the Schlumberger was in the air, then it must be left in the same place until the end of the month. An indicator for watering in October is a decrease in turgor of segments with shrinking and shrinking.

Important! To increase the quantity and quality of flower buds for irrigation, not water, but brewed tea is used. After such irrigation, even plants that unwillingly do so usually bloom. At the end of the month, fertilizing and fertilizing for flowering plants is done.

Bloom

Lasts from November to January. Schlumberger is brought into a room with a day temperature of 19 - 22 degrees and a night temperature of 15 - 20 degrees. Abundant, but not excessive watering begins, if possible not with water, but with warm tea and potassium-phosphorus top dressing is introduced. Later, for the formation of strong and healthy buds, begin to water with a solution of calcium nitrate or egg water. After the beginning of the formation of buds and flowering, it is better not to rotate the pot with the flower, transfer or wash it.

Peace

It lasts from February to March. Time for the formation of Schlumbergera bush. They do this by unscrewing, by no means cutting off, the upper segments. In the future, this gives a stronger branching and, accordingly, density.

These two months, all care is to ensure that the top layer of earth in the pot does not dry out. When growing at home, there are a number of common mistakes that can lead to such consequences:

1. Loss of turgor segments with puckering. It occurs with insufficient watering or vice versa with excess moisture. It is checked by single watering. If after a day the segments look normal, then the problem was a lack of water. If such a state of the plant persists, then you may have to deal with rotting of the roots.
2. Segment redness. It occurs due to freezing at a temperature below 5 degrees, coloring in red begins. It is treated by transfer to a warm place.
3. Falling unopened buds. The pot was turned relative to the light; the irrigation regime was not respected. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about it.
4. Prolonged lack of flowering. The reason may be a violation of the temperature regime, improper soil composition, small daylight hours.

Landing

1. They put the Decembrist in a wide shallow pot. The diameter of the pot should be about two centimeters wider than the total diameter of the bush.
2. To do this, use sheet turfy soil, to which sand and humus are added (about what should be in the composition of the soil for Decembrist and how to prepare it yourself, you can find out here). For better drainage, brick, expanded clay and charcoal are added, which occupy about a third of the total volume of the pot.
3. Then set the bush and cover it with earth to the point of growth. Easily compresses the soil for greater stability of the bush.

Young Schlumberger require transplant every 2 to 3 years, adults every 4 to 5 years (about the intricacies of the correct transplantation of Decembrist at home, you can find here). If the roots begin to peek out of the drainage holes of the pot, then they begin to plan a transplant. Spend her transshipment of a flower with an earthen lump in another pot.

Details on how to properly plant a Decembrist by the appendix and other methods, read here.

Care

• Watering the Decembrist is carried out regularly to prevent drying of the earth, but also not turning the soil into slurry. Usually watered after drying the top of the earth in a pot. If water remains in the pan, then it is drained after 15 minutes.
• Decembrists are fed during the growth period either with a half dose of NPK 10-10-10 universal fertilizer, or with universal mixtures for cacti (for what to feed and how to care for Decembrists so that it blooms, read here). From the beginning of the formation of flower buds, it is recommended to switch to fertilizers for flowering plants.
• Pruning of the Christmas tree is carried out after the flowering is complete. The extreme segments are simply broken off from the branches until an even crown is formed. Broken joints can be used for propagation by cuttings.

Read more about the rules for caring for Decembrist at home, read in our material.

Breeding

1. Cuttings. Broken segments are dried for 2 to 3 days. Then they simply stick the stalk into the damp ground for cacti or orchids. For better rooting, a small amount of root is introduced. After planting, the pot is covered with a transparent film and, regularly airing, the next segment is expected to appear. After that, the film is removed and looked after as an adult Schlumberger.
2. Vaccinated. To do this, use another cactus. The top is either cut off from him, a segment of shlomberger is inserted and tied (pinned), or a side incision is made and the same procedure is carried out.
3. Seeds. This requires two flowering plants. On the second day of flowering, pollination is carried out with a brush or a cotton swab. Ripening of seeds in fruits lasts 6 - 8 months. After the fruit has become soft, they pluck it and extract the seeds. Treated with a solution of potassium permanganate, the seeds are sown on wet soil. After 6 to 8 weeks of growth, a pick is performed. In the first year of life transplanted every three months, in the second transplanted three times. Thus obtained Christmas tree is considered an adult only after two years of growth.

Important! Starting from the second month of growth, without fail, they feed with a half dose of fertilizers for cacti and spray them with an aqueous solution of ammonia (a teaspoon of two liters of water).

If an amateur flower grower adheres to those simple rules of care and growing at home that Schlumberger requires, then as a result a small cactus from several small segments segments will turn into a luxurious branching plant that will delight with its large flowers every winter. Now you know how to grow a Schlumberger.

To learn about how to propagate the Decembrist flower at home, click here.

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