To make your Christmas Cactus thrive, you need the right soil. The soil for your cactus should be well-draining. This helps prevent overwatering, a common problem for many plant enthusiasts.
Let’s dive into the essential Christmas Cactus soil requirements to keep your plant healthy.
Why Choosing the Right Soil Mix is Important for Christmas Cactus?
Just like any other plant, a Christmas cactus will only grow well in specific soil mixes. That’s why it’s essential to know and understand the Christmas cactus soil requirements if you want your plant to grow healthy and strong.
If you fail to give your plant the proper soil mix, it will undoubtedly face a ton of problems. And in worst-case scenarios, your Christmas cactus might even die.
Things to Consider While Choosing a Soil Mix for a Christmas Cactus
You now know the Christmas cactus soil requirements for your beloved cactus plant. And as stated above, choosing the right soil mix for your Christmas cactus is essential if you want your plant to grow well.
So, if it’s your first time caring for one, don’t worry! Here are important things you should consider when picking soil mixes for your plant below:
1. Ensure that the soil drains well
One of the most important factors to consider when choosing soil mixes for Christmas cacti is to ensure that the soil is well-draining. Even though Christmas cacti need to be watered more than desert cactus plants, it still doesn’t require much watering, unlike other plants.
So, it’s vital to pick a soil mix that will drain water properly and dry up quickly. That way, the water won’t pile up in your cacti’s pot. Without well-draining soil, your cactus will be prone to overwatering, leaving its leaves and branches to become soggy.
Your plant’s roots will also be prone to rotting this way, eventually leading to your cactus plant’s death.
2. Determine if the soil is Adequately Aerated and lightweight
Your soil should be lightweight and aerated to guarantee the healthy development of the Christmas cactus. Lightweight and aerated soil will provide enough breathing room for your cactus’ roots.
Furthermore, such soil characteristics also guarantee that air and water can flow freely within the soil.
3. Find out if the soil is rich in nutrients
Of course, it goes without saying that many plants require nutrient-rich soil to ensure optimum growth and development. And this is much more important to consider if you’re gardening indoors and planting your Christmas cacti in pots.
After all, outdoor plants are more likely to receive nutrients through decomposing leaves and other debris in their natural surroundings.
Unfortunately, potted plants won’t receive those nutrients naturally, so it’s vital to get nutrient-rich soil for your cactus. That said, you’ll know that the soil is rich in nutrients and organic matter if the soil exhibits a rich, darker color.
What Soil is Best for a Christmas Cactus?
Now that you know what characteristics to look for in a soil mix for Christmas cacti, here are some of the best types of soil you can use for your cactus plant.
Here they are:
1. Regular Garden soil
Garden soil that’s used as potting soil is shown to be a great choice of soil for Christmas cacti. After all, it’s a mixture of natural topsoil and other affordable, bulky organic substances.
It also contains plenty of micronutrients and organic matter, ensuring that your Christmas cacti will thrive in this type of soil.
2. Succulent soil
Also referred to as cactus soil, this type of soil can be readily purchased in various garden centers and is made specifically for succulent plants.
Unlike other types of soil, succulent soil is known for its reduced moisture content, making it a great soil variant for Christmas cacti that don’t rely on a lot of water.
3. Commercial potting soil
Commercial potting soil provides plenty of drainage and aeration to Christmas cacti. Since your indoor Christmas cacti will be placed in a pot, the soil around it will be much more compact. This results in the restriction of water and airflow.
Too much water also gets retained with confined soil, which is bad for a Christmas cacti’s roots.
For that matter, commercial potting soil provides the best of both worlds in terms of providing moisture and drainage for Christmas cacti.
However, since commercial soil doesn’t contain enough nutrients, it is often recommended to add other types of soil with commercial potting soil to compensate for their lack of high organic matter.
Does Christmas Cactus Like Acidic Soil?
Yes, Christmas Cactus definitely prefer to grow in acidic soils, but only if its pH ranges from neutral to slightly acidic. In the pH scale, these refer to the 5.5 to 6.0 scales.
After all, Christmas Cactus is known for growing on the sides of trees where decaying leaves are often located.
These fallen leaves contain a pH scale of less than 6, which classifies them as moderately acidic. And upon breaking down, the pH level of these decomposing leaves falls to neutral levels.
This leads the upper soil surrounding Christmas Cacti to become moderately acidic to neutral. Having said that, planting your Christmas Cacti in the soil with these pH levels is undoubtedly a good choice.
Do Christmas Cacti like Cactus Soil?
Yes, Christmas Cacti indeed like cactus soil. The Cactus soil is known for its reduced moisture content. Besides that, this soil also contains plenty of soil amendments that improve the soil’s drainage and aeration.
When to Repot Christmas Cactus?
Before anything else, you should note that you should not repot your Christmas Cactus during its blooming stages. You will end up damaging your plant if you do so.
For that matter, you should wait for your cactus’ blooming stage to finish and until its flowers have drooped, which usually takes place during the end of winter or the beginning of spring.
You should also allow the cactus’ roots to be slightly crowded since they tend to grow well with such roots.
So, ideally, you should only repot your Christmas cacti after three to four years. Another sign indicating they’re ready for repotting is when the cactus’ roots are poking through your pot’s drainage hole.
What Pot Size is the Best for Christmas Cactus?
Aside from soil, pot size is another critical requirement you should be taking into consideration for your Christmas cacti. Choosing the best pot size ensures that your cactus has enough room for its roots to flourish in your pot.
Bigger pots also guarantee that your plant receives plenty of water and nutrients it needs to survive.
To be on the safe side, the size of your cactus’ pot should be two inches bigger than the pot your cactus came in.
For instance, if your Christmas cactus came in a four-inch pot, you should repot it in a six-inch one. As your plant grows and ages, you can add an extra two inches upon repotting, and so on.
Also, ensure you don’t get a pot that’s too large for your cactus. As stated above, Christmas Cacti thrive on crowded roots, unlike other plants.
Christmas Cactus Soil Mix Recipe (DIY)
Choosing to make your own soil mix is highly recommended if you want the ideal growing medium for your Christmas cacti. That said, there are different types of Christmas cactus soil recipes that you can use for your plant.
To begin, you can combine equal parts of soil and compost in your pot. From there, you can add an equal portion of a soil amendment of your choice (e.g., perlite, gravel granite, or milled peat) to further aerate your soil.
Conclusion
Let’s conclude the post on Christmas Cactus Soil Requirement!
As you come this far, you must now have clarity on which soil you would choose for your Christmas Cactus. Also, I would encourage you to join our newsletter to stay updated with Gardening Tips and Tricks.
I hope you enjoyed reading the post.
