Mountain Gardener: Christmas cacti are a perfect plant for the season

Every year, I’m amazed how many flowers appear almost overnight on my Christmas cacti. They bloom their heads off, despite little care on my part. The show will continue for a month or more. They are the perfect plant, in my opinion.
What’s my secret? Well, I don’t use any of the heroic moves some garden books recommend, like giving them 12 to 14 hours of total darkness each night from September through November. Nor do I lower the temperature of my house to a brisk 55 degrees or colder each evening.
I do fertilize them every couple of weeks during the summer with a liquid fertilizer high in phosphorus (the middle number). I use one of those fertilizers with a dropper. It’s easy, and I don’t have to drag out a spoon to measure. I’m all for convenience.
I grow mine under a small florescent plant light, but a bright window would also be good. Let the soil dry a bit between waterings from spring though September. They thrive on neglect.
Christmas cactus and its relatives, Thanksgiving and Easter cacti, live in trees in their native Brazil. They are true cacti, but the spines are so tiny and soft, you never notice them. They prefer rich, porous soil, like what may accumulate in the crevices of tree branches. Re-potting is only necessary if plants become top-heavy. Use a coarse, fast-draining mix, such as one that’s suitable for orchids. I haven’t transplanted any of mine for many years. Nearly every outer leaf makes a flower, so the bigger the plant, the heavier the bloom. Next spring, I’m going to transplant mine to the next-size pot, I promise.
Now that the plants have set flower buds, though, I don’t let them get too dry. That could cause them to drop their buds. Use room-temperature water for all your houseplants. Don’t put a Christmas cactus near ripening fruit, as the ethylene gas could cause bud drop.
Christmas cactus plants are incredibly forgiving. They can live for 25 years or more. Pick one up this season, and you’ll see why gardeners often treat them like favorite pets.
Have raspberries year-round
None of us has much time to fuss over the garden this month, but here is an easy thing to do that won’t take very long.
Many popular raspberry varieties are ever-bearing types. These bear fruit in September from the top half of canes, which grew during the summer. Then, those same canes follow up with a smaller crop on the lower half in the following May, June and early July.
After they produce in late spring and early summer, the canes die back and have to be cut off. You can remove the top half of the canes when the fall harvest is over, then wait to cut the canes the rest of the way to the ground after the spring harvest. This is a difficult task, because new canes have already started to emerge, and you need to pick through the new ones to find the old ones to cut down.
A much easier way is to cut the canes right down to the ground after the bushes stop producing in fall. You’ll sacrifice the spring crop, but still get the long late-summer crop. If you plant a summer-fruiting variety, too, you’ll have the best of both worlds.
• Jan Nelson, a California certified nursery professional at Plant Works in Ben Lomond, will answer questions about gardening in the Santa Cruz Mountains. E-mail her at [email protected].