Content
- Do not fertilize Christmas cactus too much and too often
- When should you fertilize a Christmas cactus?
- Do not fertilize after purchase or repotting
- The right fertilizer for Christmas cacti
- Tips
The Christmas cactus does not necessarily have to be fertilized
Do not fertilize Christmas cactus too much and too often
The Christmas cactus is not very demanding in terms of nutrient supply. As a child of the rainforest, he gets along well with nutrient-poor substrates. If you want to fertilize it, you should be careful and not do too much of a good thing. How to fertilize Christmas cacti.
When should you fertilize a Christmas cactus?
Christmas cacti are at home in humid rainforests. There they thrive with little nutrients. This fact should be considered when fertilizing Christmas cacti. Less is often more here.
As a rule, you do not have to fertilize a Christmas cactus at all, as you should repot it annually.
If you still want to fertilize, make sure that you avoid over-fertilization. Fertilization takes place throughout the year. Only during the short break after flowering you have to do without fertilizing.
Do not fertilize after purchase or repotting
Immediately after buying or repotting a Christmas cactus you should completely abstain from fertilizing. The substrate is so nutrient-rich that additional fertilizer inputs would simply be too much. In the worst case, the Christmas cactus comes in.
You do not have to fertilize until the cactus has grown in the same substrate for one year. If you have to repot it anyway, you can do without fertilizer altogether.
It may be useful to immediately repot a Christmas cactus immediately after purchase. Often the soil is very compact, very nutrient-rich or completely soaked. In this case you should pot the cactus, rinse the old substrate and put it in fresh soil.
The right fertilizer for Christmas cacti
To fertilize a Christmas cactus you can use normal cactus fertilizer. But it is also sufficient liquid fertilizer with a high Kalianteil.
Reduce the quantities indicated on the package by a third to a half. This way you avoid over-fertilization of the Christmas cactus.
Tips
If the Christmas cactus loses its flowers, it is not due to nutrient deficiency. This is due to too frequent a change of location. The flowers always turn to the light, so you should move the plant as rarely as possible.