Christmas Cactus

[tearinghair]

I have an old, 15 years +, Christmas cactus which lives in a corner of the utility room. Only the front of it gets any light, so this is the only part that flowers, though it does very well. It's taking up a lot of room, but I don't want to lose it, for sentimental reasons. I know they don't take kindly to being moved. I'd like to try taking a cutting and abandoning the old plant, but I have no idea how to go about doing that or whether it would work. Any suggestions, please?

[gangesboy]

This should explain
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-christmas-cactus-broken-piece-96064.html

[Robinia]

They're the easiest plants to grow. Just break pieces with two or three segments off and poke them into damp compost. You can even pop them in an inch of water and watch the roots sprout.

[pastafreak]

To the best of my knowledge,it is only when in bud or flower that they shouldn't be moved. Why do you want to "abandon the old plant"? (Poor thing!)

[Maydup]

Good link there, but do wait until the spring. I would stick a few leaf segements in a pot and see what happens. Don't get rid of the big plant until you have signs of growth on the new ones and maybe decide after Christmas once they have taken successfully. I have one too and love it dearly. Its so clever how it know its Christmas regardless of the weather!

[tearinghair]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Pastafreak, it simply that it's taking up so much room on the work surface, and also that the side not facing the light is quite ugly as it's mostly gnarled and woody. I'm sure my mother, whose plant it was originally, would like to see it rejuvenated.

[jomifl]

You can just prune it heavily, (cut off the ugly bits)new shoots will grow and you can root the cuttings. As Pasta said, the only time not to move them is when the flower buds are small, this is because the buds try to align to the new direction of light and drop off. Why not move it outside (in partial warm shade in the summer? this will ripen the plant, give you more room and it will have masses of flowers in the winter.

[tamborine]

Root up good side when dormant, turn around bad side to encourage regrowth.