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I was working outside this past weekend, cleaning up the yard and had been helping my son with a project on his car. It sure was hot. When I went into the house to get more water and cool off a minute, I found that my daughter and wife were having a Christmas in July movie party. They were on their second movie when I came in. While it was hot this past weekend, I did not seem to feel any relief from the Christmas in July.

Speaking of Christmas, I had a sample come into the office this past Monday, from a Christmas cactus. A little note about Christmas cacti, they are not all the same species. This particular sample came from one that also has the common name Thanksgiving and/or Easter cactus (Schlumbergera truncata).

The common names are synonymous because there are over 200 hybrid cultivars of S. truncata and S. russelliana. They are widely bred for their beautiful showy flowers in shades of red, pink, purple, orange, yellow, and white. The main way to tell is by looking at the cladodes. These are the leaf-like flattened stems of the plant. They do not actually have leaves. The cladodes of the S. truncata will have two to four spikes on them while the S. russelliana will be more rounded with no spikes. Another way to tell the difference is when they are in flower, true S. russelliana plants have purple to brown anthers and the S. truncata has yellow anthers. Of course, there is some bleedover in hybrids so you may have a little of each.

So why am I talking about a Christmas cactus in July? While they are beautiful during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, many of us keep them year-round. They prefer to be outside in the summer and fall seasons if it doesn’t get below 50°F. Unlike most other species in the Cactaceae family, they require more abundant moisture much like a succulent. They can be planted in light soil in containers or hanging baskets. However, they do not like to be in direct sunlight. Place plants outside under larger trees in dappled shade for the best results.

These beautiful plants have few issues. The issue I run into most often is under or overwatering the plants. They are also susceptible to mealy bugs and scale insects. This can be easily fixed with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. There are very few other problems that are associated with these plants.

This brings me to the question of the week, “What happened to my Christmas cactus?” In conversation with an Extension Master GardernerSM Volunteer, the caller indicated that the plant was recently moved to a sunroom, but they thought it had scale. Looking at the sample under the dissecting scope, it was clear that it had spent too much time in the sun. Like many of us, this time is year, it had blistered.

If you are having an issue in your home garden or landscape, send your questions to Gene Fox, Consumer Horticulture Agent with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, please email Gene at gene_fox@ncsu.edu or call at (252)946-0111. You can also ask to speak to a Master Gardener! On Mondays and Wednesdays between 10:00 and 12:00, they are on the Greenline to answer all your home horticulture questions. Check out our Facebook page, Beaufort County Master Gardeners, for The Plant of the Week and Food Garden Friday! Until then, Happy Gardening