Let’s face it. Most all of us sometimes forget to water our indoor plants. But you shouldn’t be too hasty to throw it out! There could be life in there… and you might can revive that neglected plant. Like that Christmas Cactus from last year that you forgot about all summer long. Can you revive a neglected Christmas Cactus? Let’s see what we can do with it.
I’m guilty. As much as I love plants and growing things, I don’t do well with houseplants. I love houseplants, but ones that are virtually carefree are my go to. I just know how I am. But every once in a while I give in to the urge and buy a pretty blooming houseplant.
It doesn’t take long before I remember WHY I don’t have a bunch of houseplants.
*This post contains affiliate links to products or companies that I truly love and believed in before I joined the affiliate program. If you use these links to make a purchase, I will be compensated at no extra cost to you.*
In fact, you might like to read about how to revive an overwintered wandering jew also.
So. If your Christmas Cactus looks anything like mine, let’s see if we can bring it back to life, instead of having to buy a new one.
FIRST: Water the plant
Watering the plant is the first step to reviving it. Be sure you have something under it to catch the overrun and water it good! When water runs out the bottom, pour it back into the plant, making sure it is watered thoroughly.
SECOND: Inspect the plant
Take a good look at the plant. Inspect each and every leaf and stem. If it’s crunchy, throw it in the compost pile.
If it is soft and pliable, LEAVE IT.
If part is crunchy and dry and part is soft and pliable, pinch off the dry crunchy part, leaving the soft pliable part.
THIRD: Inspect the dirt
Now let’s look at the dirt. Is it hard and crunchy on top? Use a spoon or a small hand trowel to remove the top layer. If the dirt is better underneath, add some new potting soil to the top. If it’s no better underneath, see Step 4.
Or is it soft and crumbly? That’s good! Just leave it as is.
FOURTH: Repot if needed
In step 3, if the dirt seems hard, you should probably repot your plant. You don’t have to change pots, but you can if you want.
Using your spoon or small trowel, carefully scoop out your plant, leaving a good amount of dirt around the roots. You will hopefully have several pieces to dig out.
Empty the dirt from your existing pot into your compost pile. Refill the existing pot, or your new pot, with good fresh potting soil.
Place your scoops of Christmas Cactus that you removed earlier into the new potting soil.
FIFTH: Water plant and new potting soil
Water well.
LAST: Place near a window
Indirect light is best. Bright sunlight can burn the leaves.
SIDE NOTES:
- If a leaf breaks off, PLANT IT! Just stick it into the moist dirt. You can start a whole new plant this way.
- If you see a leaf that is not in the dirt and it has tiny “hairs,” those are roots. PLANT IT! You can start a whole new plant this way too!
- Most people, including me, call all these plants Christmas Cactus, but actually some are Easter Cactus, and some are Thanksgiving Cactus. You can find out which you have in this article from World of Succulents, and also in this post from Crazy Organic Mama.
Okay… now that we’ve given our poor neglected cactus some much needed TLC… we simply CANNOT forget to water it. Keep the soil slightly moist. So, that’s probably every 3-4 days or so, depending on your home temps and conditions. You can even set your flower pot on a tray of wet pebbles to increase humidity, which the plant likes.
Once your plant starts growing again, you might like to read Advice for Christmas Cactus Care for more detailed care tips.
PIN the image below to your favorite gardening board, because, if you are like me, you KNOW you will need it sooner or later!
Happy new year! Do you make house calls? I have some succulents that are struggling. I hope to keep them alive til they can be back outside but they are looking poorly. Suggestions? Should I be feeding them? Your Christmas cactus sure looks better after your TLC.
I would LOVE to make a house call Leslie!! It would be so much fun to chat with you in person! You always make me laugh. As far as the succulents go, don’t over water!! That’s usually the problem. But if you aren’t overwatering… take a look at this article. It even has pictures to help you identify your problem. https://www.succulentsandsunshine.com/help-my-succulent-is-dying/
Great advice! It might not hurt to give the poor thing a little shot of (very diluted) fertilizer as well, just to help it get going again.
Hi Dawn. I do plan to fertilize, but I thought I’d wait until it’s had a chance to “catch it’s breath” and isn’t so stressed. 🙂
I have an Easter cactus (original was from grandmother’s who died 90 years ago). There are some broad segments but most of plant has grown very long and spindly. What can I do to broaden leaves and how should I trim it.
I would prune right after it finishes blooming. If you have long spindly stems, I would cut them back by about half. Cut at a joint. Then start you a NEW plant with the pieces you have cut off. All you have to do is stick them in a pot of moist dirt and keep it moist until roots have time to grow.
As far as broading the leaves…. I’m not real sure what you mean. Possibly it needs some fertilizer. The pruning will produce a fuller plant.
I used to have a little house plant business with a variety of succulents. They really can take a licking and hang in there.. I love the Christmas Cactus .. I had some beautiful varieties.
Oh I’d love to have a plant business!!!
This is so interesting! I didn’t know you could push that leaf in and it would grow. My Christmas Cactus is actually ok. But … do you have advice for a peace lily? I have the WORST luck with them inside. They do OK on the porch in the summer. But I can’t leave them out there. Also if you have any hints on getting parsley to grow well inside! We’re trying to keep a couple plants growing for our guinea pigs. But they just won’t thrive …
Ah… the peace lily! Mine did great on my front porch too, but when I bring ANYthing inside…. Usually the problem is too much water. I think any plant that is moved from one location to another is going to be stressed. What is it doing? dropping leaves? drooping? turning yellow?
All herbs need lots of light. So you may have to either move the parsley from window to window, following the sun or put it under some lights. The lights don’t HAVE to be specifically grow lights. That would help, but regular lights will help too.
The peace lily is drooping and much of the plant has died. I’ll try moving the parsley around – right now it gets lots of afternoon sun. But morning would probably help. Thanks Nikki!
My thanksgiving cactus was severely overwatered (by me, it was hanging in a decorative pot for years, the small pot it was actually planted in ended up sitting in water whenever I watered it, unbeknownst to me). It was always putting out new growth so I assumed it was fine. I took out the pot recently to inspect it and saw the bottom of the stems were brown and all the leaves were super fragile and limp. I ended up repotting it and breaking off some of the ends to try to establish new growth in the pot. The leaves are still pretty limp and very light green in color compared to my other thanksgiving cactus. What else can I do to help revive it?
I think you did the right thing. But it will take some time. I see you posted this on the first of July and now its near the end. Has it recouped any?
Great article. Here’s an amazing story: We moved last August, and our medium-sized Christmas cactus accidentally got put in a box that went into storage. Our storage space is not air conditioned, and outdoor temperatures climb into the 90’s and low 100’s, so I’m sure inside the storage was even hotter.
About EIGHT months later, while sorting boxes, I came upon the cactus. It looked mostly dead; mostly dried branches with only a few sections that weren’t completely dry…but even these didn’t look like they had much life.
I clipped all the clearly dead branches, the re-potted the plant with the remaining branches and watered it carefully.
Now, it’s healthy and growing!
Thanks for your tips. My wife didn’t believe I could bring it back, and she is pleasantly surprised that it is now going through it’s second life (we joke that we should now call it an “Easter cactus”).
Isn’t that amazing! They truly are forgiving.