Homer's Travels: A Late Holiday Start On A Gifted Clone

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

A Late Holiday Start On A Gifted Clone

First bloom of the season.
Every year I report the start of the Holiday season when one of our Christmas cactus blooms.  We have two growing at the moment - one fairly young and one older and a bit sickly looking.  I have to admit that I have been unlucky at keeping them alive lately.   I used to be able to propagate them easily but over the past year many of my starts have died.  This year I was gifted one from Mom.  It was grown from a clipping of one of mine so ... technically ... it is the same plant as the two I have ... a clone you could say.

Today, the plant gifted by Mom, bloomed.  It was about a week later than last year's first bloom but sooner than the year before that.  For some reason it really felt late this year.  I guess time is just moving differently than it used to.

As for my own Christmas cactus, the younger one is too busy putting out new leaves while the older, sickly one, is starting to make its first bloom.  We'll see if it survives as some blooms fall off before the reach maturity.

I am considering trying to make starts off the sickly cactus and put it in a smaller pot but I'm afraid I will kill it.  Afraid to even touch it as my green thumb has turned brown lately.

If you're interested in some of the history of this Christmas cactus and its descendant clones, check out this post: "Blooming Old Lady".

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