I inherited this beautiful thanksgiving cactus earlier this year when my father passed. I recently moved it to this window after having it in a nice low lit corner since May. It is growing beautifully with a good amount of new growth. According to my dad it was a gift from my Great Grandfather to my Great Grandmother, and then passed through the family. It has an approximate age of 100. The last thing I want to do is hurt it. I noticed the pot it is in seems to not have much soil, maybe half the pot. Is there anything I should be doing to it?

This window gets early morning sun 8am, then starts to shift away from this window around 11am. The area it was in prior had indirect sun for a little more time each day.

Sue! It looks quite healthy, actually. Were it mine, I'd add a little fresh potting soil to the top of the plant and lift it out of the pot to add some at the bottom as well.

Since this plant has been in the family for so long, you might want to snip the ends of some of the longer branches and root them in their own pot of potting soil. That way, should you (God forbid) lose the original plant in future, you'll have some new ones from it started that will be just as lovely as the mother plant in a couple years. I have rooted this type of plant many times. Snipping cuttings off the longer branches will also allow the plant to make new branches from the center filling out the plant a bit fuller. This is the approach I always took with my most successful Christmas Cactus in the photo below. It lived for about 5 years in an east-facing window with a sheer curtain to filter the sunlight a bit. Then I lost it after a move across town. Movers set it outside where it got rained on for 3 days straight after the move (roots drowned basically). I didn't know where the movers set it in my exhaustion from the move and by the time I thought about that plant it was too late even to take cuttings. Sigh. I was so sad to lose it because the true deep red ones are hard to find. Sadly, I had no cuttings started as I'd given them all away. You never expect the unexpected, which is why I made that suggestion to get cuttings started while it's healthy.
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I'm sure other members will stop by and perhaps offer other suggestions. Only thing I ever did to mine was move it out to my roofed patio in summers and fertilized with all-purpose fertilizer every 1-2 months.

to the forum SueD27!

with Peggy and add my wishes for continued success!

Welcome to the site!

Here is a good article:

Holiday Cacti



Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) and Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) are two beautiful flowering holiday plants. They are often given as gifts during the festivities. Believe it or not, these plants are native to Brazil, but have been a favorite indoor plant in the United States for many years. They can live a very long time (100+ years).


Some people have trouble getting them to bloom and there are a few tricks one needs to be aware of to produce healthy, vibrant blooms. First, holiday cacti like high humidity and bright, filtered light. They need relatively moist soil with 1 part potting soil, 2 parts peat moss and 1 part sand. They do not tolerate standing in water or extreme cold air drafts. Holiday cacti, however, do need shorter days and cooler nights in order to produce blooms. Placing plants in a cool, bright location where daytime temperatures are 65-70 degrees and evening temperatures are 55-65 degrees will encourage bud development after approximately 5-6 weeks. Once the plants have bloomed, reduce the frequency of watering until spring when there is more active growth.


These plants are relatively easy to take care of if you follow these instructions. If you are having trouble with your plants blooming there are usually 3 possible causes (assuming the plant is healthy):

Indoor air is too warm: lower the room temperature to 55-65 degrees at night, 60-65 degrees during the day.
Plant days are too long: this is usually not an issue in Minnesota if near a window but one can put the plant in total darkness for a minimum of 12 hours.
Plant does not have enough nutrients to produce buds. Fertilize the plant at half strength with a fertilizer that is lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus and potassium (0-15-10).

For a more comprehensive article about these plants, check out this website: https://extension.umn.edu/hous....

Hi & welcome, Sue! So sorry about your loss. The spot where the plant is shown looks great.

I'm totally in support of starting some snippings, which I would probably do after it has bloomed. The bloom time is coming up in the next month or two, depending on the individual plant.

But I'm not sure I would disturb the roots or add any more soil. Not that I think it would hurt anything, but this plant looks like it's in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" category. What a beauty! Starting some snippings before disturbing the mama could be prudent. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best!

Peggy, so sorry you lost that gorgeous plant! Were you able to track down a return of cuttings from anyone who had received from you previously? If a store is going to offer this plant for sale, they are usually available from about now through the end of the year, or sooner if they are purchased quickly. Maybe you can spot a replacement out there somewhere.