Make Christmas Cacti bloom faster?

[shelilla]

My little brother got me a Christmas Cactus for my birthday. We recently went to a neighbours' house as we were invited for a birthday, and I noticed they had two incredibly large Christmas Cactuses that were basically "flowing" over their pots. My brother got me this one because he noticed I liked them. It's quite beautiful and blooming fast and plentifully. It's got as many as two flower buds on a lot of the leaves.
We also have another one that we've owned/neglected for a long time that's survived well, but while it's the same size as that one, is quite different.
For one, the leaves on the new one are much lighter green in color, compared to the darker old one- what does this mean? Does it need more light, or fertilizer or what?
Also, I want to produce seeds between them, but the new cacti is blooming and developing flowers at a far faster rate than the other one- is there a way to speed up its blooming time that anyone knows of? Or if not, a way to preserve the pollen or whatever for when the other blooms?

I've put them in plastic bags so it's more like their natural environment- I didn't know Christmas Cacti were one of the few succulents that grow in rainforests and enjoy average to high humidity. I am also hoping it might encourage the other cacti to bloom faster?

 

[Jbron]

I've found that different clones will produce flowers a little later or earlier depending. Also where you have them in the house plays a part too.
I've got white, pink and orange ones. They all start blooming at different times, pink comes first, white second and orange last. Also I have them in two different spots, the ones near the south facing window bloom first and then the ones on the northwest facing window bloom a little bit later.
It looks like your first cacti is starting to bloom though, you could for next year move it to a spot where there's a little bit less light and that will trigger blooming so it will flower the same time at the new one you bought.

 

[shelilla]

Thats very interesting, thanks for the info

 

[krizz]

Seeds? Wouldn't it be easier to propagate them?

 

[shelilla]

Seeds? Wouldn't it be easier to propagate them?

Yes maybe, but I want to try producing seeds because it will be my first time doing that with any of my plants. Plus they're easier to ship if I want to give them away

 

[jeff]

have you try the leaf cuttings (here the racket)

it is very very easier to have new plant with this method on this specie.

jeff

 

[shelilla]

Not yet, no. But I want to try seeds because it will have been my first seed propagation (if it succeeds). I'm also curious to see what baby Christmas Cacti look like

 

[Samskwatch]

I think they're sad in their plastic prison...

 

[shelilla]

I think they're sad in their plastic prison...

Lol they do look that way, don't they? I might release the blooming one, but I'm hoping some humidity might help the other, it's been neglected for so long...

 

[WillyCKH]

Here's my mom's...
I've read that you shouldn't water them when they bloom, otherwise they might drop the flowers.

 

[shelilla]

Beauty! Huh, really? Good thing I haven't yet and thanks for letting me know before I did because I was starting to think the soil was looking dry...
I wonder why that is? You would think forming SO many big flowers would take up a lot of energy, so it would want more if anything....well that's succulents 101 I suppose; less water is always better than more.

 

[WillyCKH]

It's my own theory:
when they flower it's like 'oh no we are gonna die, we gotta bloom! More flowers!'
when they get water or longer photoperiod, they will be like 'Yay! we won't be dying, let's just chill and grow leafs.'

 

[shelilla]

That is true lol, poor plant. I also read somewhere that they bloom more often if the plant is root-bound, which would be the same sort of thing.

I think the saddest example I've seen of that was when I left my flytrap to my cousin to "care" for while I was on vacation...when I came back, the thing that upset me the most was seeing how it had tried to form a flower stalk in last desperate attempt to live, and even that died. I don't know what the heck happened to it, but damn I love that plant. It's recovered completely. (Below is how it looked in June-July. The flower stalk is in the middle of the green patch. Amazingly enough, the other division- the one that looks completely dead- survived)