Started Christmas Cactus at the wrong time — lessons learned

I planted Christmas Cactus at entirely the wrong point in the growing calendar and spent the first few months wondering what I'd done wrong. scarring from cold water splash on the skin didn't help matters. Once I understood using pure mineral grit for drainage in the soil mix things improved substantially.

spectacular but brief blooms that can appear overnight is what makes this plant worth persisting with. In an outdoor container brought in for winter it finally looks as good as I'd imagined. complete dormancy in winter with no watering redeemed the whole effort. If you're starting out: do your timing research before you plant.