If you have a Christmas cactus, it’s important to keep it watered. But you need to know before you start watering as it can easily get underwater or overwatered easily.
So, how often do you water a Christmas cactus? When growing indoors Christmas Cactus should be watered once in 2 to 3 weeks. When growing outdoors, Christmas Cactus should be watered once in 1 to 2 weeks. It should be only watered once the top third of the soil feels dry.
So, It will depend on where you put it. You should consider what the temperatures are, what size of the pot it’s in, and what time of the year it is.
Do make it a habit of checking the soil every week; what’s important is to allow the soil to dry in between each watering.
Let’s get started!
How often do you water a Christmas cactus when it is Blooming?
How often you water your Christmas cactus when it’s blooming would depend on the moisture of the soil.
If the soil is dry, water the soil to keep the moisture at an optimum level; overwatering will lead to a growth of spots on the leaves, which will cause them to fall off.
How often do you water a Christmas cactus in the winter?
Christmas Cactuses require less water during the winter as compared to hotter seasons. Cactuses during this season typically need to be watered every 3-5 weeks.
How often do you water a Christmas cactus in the summer?
Hotter seasons entail faster evaporation. You’re going to want to check the soil every week.
Christmas Cactus in the summer typically need to be watered every 2-3 weeks depending on how hot it gets.
How much should a Christmas cactus be watered?
As a general rule, to achieve the proper water level in your pot, the top third of your soil should be moist.
If you’re using a 6-inch pot, dip your finger in the first 2 inches of the soil; if it feels dry; water the soil until you achieve the desired moisture.
Do you water Christmas Cactus from Top to bottom?
Most experts recommend watering your Christmas Cactus from the Bottom.
This will allow for a more even distribution of water as well as stronger roots since roots generally grow towards moisture.
Tips to water a Christmas Cactus Properly
Fill a sizeable basin with enough water. If your pot is filled with just soil, then any water level will suffice.
However, if you have drainage rocks in place at the bottom of the pot, the water level needs to be higher than the rocks to allow your soil to absorb the water.
Likewise, always make sure to take out the water from your drainage pan to avoid a situation where your cactus is sitting in water. This is detrimental to its growth.
Here are the important tips to water your Christmas cactus:
Tip #1. Don’t Over-Water Or Under-Water
Both overwatering and Underwatering are detrimental to your Christmas Cactus. Both should be avoided.
To avoid over-watering your cactus, water it only from the bottom. This ensures a more even absorption throughout the pot.
Only water from the top when the top third of your pot feels dry to touch.
Tip #2. Consider Transplanting Your Cactus
Once the roots start poking out of the pot, it’s time to consider transplanting your cactus to allow it to continue to grow. Transplanting encourages root expansion and overall plant growth.
If your Christmas Cactus is not transplanted to another big planter at right time it may remain root bounded.
However, you should typically move your Christmas Cactus after flowering as moving before flowering can cause issues in blooming.
Tip #3. Consider The Humidity Around Your Cactus
Depending on the humidity around your cactus, you will have to water the cactus a little bit less.
If you live in a place with a humid climate and you will have to water it less often than if you live in a dry place.
Should I mist my Christmas cactus?
Other than just watering which you can do only once a while the soil is dry, but it is not the same case for misting.
If you’re looking to keep your Christmas cactus healthy and blooming, misting it is a key part of the care process.
The frequency with which you mist your cactus will depend on the climate where you live, but as a general rule, you should mist it every other day.
If it’s particularly dry or hot outside, you may need to mist it more often. Generally once in a day or once in two days is a good frequency to mist your Christmas Cactus.
Misting vs Watering your Christmas Cactus Frequency
Misting is the sprinkling of water on the Christmas Cactus which is safer for the plant and can be done more often as compared to watering the plant.
Watering of the plant involves directly adding water to the soil of the Christmas Cactus plant. Watering more frequently than the required amount can cause your Christmas cactus to show Overwatered symptoms.
So, it is better to water less and once in 2-3 weeks and meanwhile, you can mist the plant regularly with a water spray.
Conclusion
Let’s conclude the post on how often do you water a Christmas Cactus!
Christmas cacti do not require a lot of water. Overwatering can be very detrimental to the plant. It is best to water the cactus when the top few inches of soil are dry to the touch.
I hope you enjoyed reading the post.