My holiday cactus, I think thanksgiving I'm not sure. Are so wide! They are throwing out new leaves and bloom all winter long they are just growing out wide, is this how they are meant to look? Should I be pruning them? It's hard to find spaces for them to fit with the rest of my plants due to their awkward shape.
you can definitely trim them back if you'd like to. it's not necessary but if you're looking for a certain shape, a chop won't do them any harm
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That’s how they’re supposed to look. When they’re more mature, they start leaning over the sides and become trailing plants in their natural habitat. The biggest key with them is not to be too aggressive with repotting them whenever you need to. Cover their roots liberally with rooting powder, don’t touch the roots at all unless there’s root rot, and don’t remove the previous soil. Add some new soil where you can to give it new nutrients to work with. Each leaf segment can detach and self-propagate, and these are epiphytes, so once these guys go into shock, it can literally detach itself from its entire root system if it wants to. 😬 If you want to make it a little bushier in less time, gently twist a few leaves off right at the line sectioning them off from each other. Just keep gently turning and twisting them and they’ll come right off. Let the piece callous over for a few hours, then make a shallow hole to stick it in beside the current branches. Repeat until you’ve gotten it set to be as bushy as you’d like. This’ll also help tell the plant to grow new leaves or branches back where you twisted them off. It’s best to do this when it’s not the blooming season, actually, so you don’t risk disturbing the blooming process in the fall. Hope this helps 😊
2 likes Here’s some examples of what it can look like once it matures. The leaves will start to weigh themselves down and “tip over” to start trailing over the sides of the pot. It’s not a sign of underwatering, overwatering, or distress. They often act to shade the trees they grow on in Central and South America by covering them in this way. 🌸
