Buds Dropping From Your Christmas Cactus? Here's The Cause (And The Cure)

When the colder months arrive, and most plants slow down, there are certain beauties that spring into life. One amazing winter bloomer is the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii). This plant gets covered in bright flowers during the colder seasons, with the blooming process starting when the nights become cooler and the days shorter. However, although the Christmas cactus is relatively easy to take care of, it can run into problems. It is always super exciting to see tiny buds appear on the plant, and seeing them fall off before flowering is incredibly disappointing. Bud drop can happen to Christmas cactus, and to understand why it is happening to your plant, you need to reflect on the environment it is in and what triggers the blooming process in the first place.

Christmas cactus plants usually drop their buds because of extreme environmental changes. So, if your cactus is placed somewhere near heat sources or in a draft, it may drop its buds. As we often put our heating on over winter, the fluctuations in temperatures in our home can cause issues if the plant is placed near a radiator. This light sensitive plant will only bloom during dark winter, so changes in the light can also cause the buds of your Christmas cactus to fall. Flowering is triggered when the nights get longer, with Christmas cactuses needing 13 hours or more of continuous darkness per day for their buds to set. If this darkness is interrupted, their buds may fall before flowering. 

If the buds are falling off your Christmas cactus, don't panic! You can make some changes to ensure that the flower will grow beautifully indoors during winter and provide you with gorgeous blooms. To save your flowers, have a think about where your plant is in your home. If it is somewhere near a heat source that turns off and on or in a drafty location, see if you can reduce the environmental changes. For example, can you turn the radiator down or place something in front of the draft? Ideally, you shouldn't move your Christmas cactus during the flower bud development. However, if you can't fix the issue, you should move the plant to a place that has a stable temperature. 

You also should reflect on the lighting in the room where your Christmas cactus is. You need to keep it away from artificial lighting at night from October to December to help it flower. However, if this is difficult, there are other things you can do to ensure it is getting the 13 hours of darkness it needs to bloom. You may want to cover it with a blanket for those hours, or place it in a closet or box. By making these small changes, your Christmas cactus will hopefully recover and produce some flowers before the season is over.