Some plants are primarily adorned with pretty foliage, others with colorful flowers. The relatively easy-care Christ thorn is one of those with pretty flowers, mostly in the colors white, red and pink in different shades.
Why isn't my Christ thorn blooming?
If the Christ's thorn does not bloom, it is probably missing dry rest - a phase with little water and a short exposure time. To encourage flowering, reduce watering and provide a maximum of ten hours of light per day.
If this flower does not occur, the Christ's thorn slightly loses its attractiveness, especially since it is also one of the poisonous houseplants. The Christ thorn should not be left in households with small children or small animals, at best out of the reach of children and animals.
What makes the Christ thorn bloom?
As you may know, the Christ thorn comes from Madagascar, where the seasons are not summer and winter but dry season and rainy season. Accordingly, your Christ thorn cannot tolerate extreme temperature fluctuations and does not need these to be stimulated to produce flowers. This happens through the so-called dry rest, a time with little water and little light.
How can I help my Christ thorn to bloom?
The Christ thorn also needs this dry rest in your household, during which you hardly water it. In addition, the plant should not receive more than ten hours of light during this time. The room temperature can also be lowered, but not necessarily below 15 °C. If it hasn't bloomed, then your Christ thorn has probably lacked the dry rest.
You can theoretically start immediately to reduce the amount of watering and cover your Christ thorn with a cardboard box after a maximum of ten hours of light in order to initiate dry rest. However, this doesn't necessarily make sense in midsummer.
It's better to wait until autumn or winter, when the days get shorter on their own, so you don't have to go dark. Water your Christ thorn very little and do not fertilize it at all. When the first new shoots form, slowly increase the amount of water again. Now you can look forward to the flowering period soon.
The most important things in brief:
- needs days of short exposure and little water to form flowers
- Flower colors: white, pink, red
- Flowering time can be influenced by or time of exposure
Tip
Make sure that your Christ thorn gets its dry rest every year, then it will continue to bloom reliably in the future.