no blooms on Easter Cactus
Quick answer
If your Easter Cactus has no blooms, the most likely cause is: Easter cactus (Schlumbergera gaertneri / Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri) fails to form flower buds when it does not receive a cool, short-day rest period; night temperatures that stay above 13 degrees C (55 degrees F) during winter and day length or artificial light that exceeds roughly nine hours push the plant into continued stem growth rather than bud initiation, and the species relies on that chill to switch from vegetative growth to flowering.
Start here:
- 1. Give the plant an uninterrupted cool rest of four to five weeks with night temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees C (50 to 55 degrees F), daytime below 18 degrees C (65 degrees F), and a strict eight-or-nine-hour day with no artificial light at night.
- 2. Once flower buds are clearly visible at the segment tips, raise temperatures to 21 degrees C (70 degrees F) by day and 16 to 21 degrees C (60 to 70 degrees F) at night, water just enough to keep the stems plump, and resume light feeding.
Why Easter Cactus gets no blooms
Easter Cactus
Easter cactus (Schlumbergera gaertneri / Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri) fails to form flower buds when it does not receive a cool, short-day rest period; night temperatures that stay above 13 degrees C (55 degrees F) during winter and day length or artificial light that exceeds roughly nine hours push the plant into continued stem growth rather than bud initiation, and the species relies on that chill to switch from vegetative growth to flowering.
How to reverse no blooms on Easter Cactus
- 1
Give the plant an uninterrupted cool rest of four to five weeks with night temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees C (50 to 55 degrees F), daytime below 18 degrees C (65 degrees F), and a strict eight-or-nine-hour day with no artificial light at night.
- 2
Once flower buds are clearly visible at the segment tips, raise temperatures to 21 degrees C (70 degrees F) by day and 16 to 21 degrees C (60 to 70 degrees F) at night, water just enough to keep the stems plump, and resume light feeding.
Keep no blooms off this Easter Cactus
Plan the rest period every autumn: hold back water after flowering, keep the plant outdoors in summer, then bring it indoors to an unheated room with no lights at night for 8 weeks before returning it to its flowering position so that bud initiation reliably occurs each spring.