Under optimum growing conditions, holiday cactus will produce one tier of growth about every 6 weeks. Plants are leveled by twisting off terminal segments. Plants should be leveled during the first week of starting SD for flower induction. When correctly done, leveling will yield heavily-budded plants that are uniform in height. Flowering Requirements Flowering of holiday cactus is controlled by photoperiod and temperature.
Growers can use natural flowering or controlled flowering for producing holiday cactus.
F. Flower bud initiation will be triggered when the natural photoperiod becomes shorter than the critical daylength. To be exact, it is the long nights that trigger flowering, not the short days. Many growers rely on natural flowering rather than controlled flowering for producing holiday cactus. A grower could have flowering plants from October through early January by selecting several cultivars. Table 2 provides data on yearly variation in the flowering time for several cultivars of holiday cactus.