Not Daily, Not Every Few Days: Here's How Often To Water A Christmas Cactus To Keep It Thriving

Christmas cacti (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) are one of the best type of houseplants to add greenery to your home during the holiday season. For Christmas decor ideas and inspiration, consider its beautiful pink or red flowers for brightening up your home throughout the dreary winter months. If you want to keep them in peak condition and enjoy their flowers for years to come, you'll need to know how to water them properly. 

Christmas cacti aren't as drought tolerant as true cacti, but they don't tolerate overwatering, either. Their blooming schedule — from November to January — also throws a wrench into things. Many common houseplants need less watering during fall and winter due to their dormancy and usually need more water while they're blooming. For Christmas cacti, it's a little bit of both.

During fall, after the growing season but before they begin blooming in winter, your Christmas cactus needs less frequent watering. Water your Christmas cactus every couple of weeks, and test the soil first to ensure it's dry. The top inch or so of soil should be dry to touch, otherwise you risk overwatering it. You should also follow this schedule after they finish blooming, but before spring fully arrives. During this time you can even stop watering them entirely if you prefer. This gives them time to rest before they start to grow again.

During growing season, your Christmas cactus will need more water in order to flourish. However, it's still sensitive to overwatering. Check that the soil is dry first, and avoid watering an outdoor-growing Christmas cactus if rain is on the way. Depending on your local weather and temperatures, and if your Christmas cactus is indoors or outdoors, you can water it every one to two weeks. You may not even need to water it at all if you're growing the plant outdoors (which you can do in hardiness zones 9 through 11) in a particularly rainy area.

Actively blooming Christmas cacti also need to be watered more frequently during winter months. If the plant dries out, it may lose flowers. However, overwatering can also lead to blossoms falling. To keep the balance, take the amount of water you typically give your fully bloomed Christmas cactus and split it into smaller amounts. For example, if you give your blossomed Christmas cactus one cup of water every two weeks, instead, give the actively blooming Christmas cactus half a cup of water every week. The exact amount of water will, of course, depend on the size of the Christmas cactus. By following this method, your Christmas cactus will receive the same amount of water over time, but the soil won't dry out quite as much. Now that you know how to care for a Christmas cactus and keep it watered properly, you can enjoy your beautiful winter flowers all season long.