Christmas cactus is often received as a gift over the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter cactus have regained popularity due to the vast array of bloom colors ranging from yellow, salmon, pink, fuchsia, and white to various combinations of those colors

Native to Brazil, humidity is very important requirement for proper growth and development. Locate your Christmas cactus in a room with high humidity. Make sure the room is cool with bright, indirect light.

The plant should be allowed to rest after bloom by reducing water enough to just keep the plant alive and avoid fertilization at this time.

Move the holiday plant outdoors when danger of frost is over for maximum growth and to locate the plants in a location with bright filtered light. Treat the plant as you would a normal houseplant by feeding on a regular basis for good growth and development.

These plants need cool temperatures to induce blooms. The Christmas cactus bloom cycle is very similar to a poinsettia, with long periods of darkness to induce bloom.

When flower buds start to form, limit fertilizers, but continue to water the plant sufficiently to keep the leaves from shrinking.

The Christmas cactus flowers best if it is kept in a pot bound container. It is very possible for the plant flower several times throughout the year if the plant has proper care and placement for light.