5 Reasons Why Your Thanksgiving Cactus Is Dropping Leaves and How to Fix It

Like with all other plants, if your Thanksgiving cactus occasionally drops a couple of leaves, this is normal and nothing to worry about. But if the plant is dropping lots of leaves instead of being lush and thriving, you’ll need to find the cause and take corrective action to enjoy its full beauty during the holiday season.

Here are some reasons why your Thanksgiving cactus may be dropping leaves and what to do to fix it.

Overwatering or Underwatering

Dropping leaves could be a sign that your Thanksgiving cactus is suffering from a lack of water or too much water.

The Thanksgiving cactus is botanically a cactus, but it hails from a rainforest habitat, so it has different water needs than desert cacti. Its soil should be kept consistently moist and never allowed to fully dry out.

However, watering it so much that it becomes waterlogged is equally detrimental.

How to fix it: Adjust your watering routine. If the soil is wet, let the top 1 to 2 inches of soil dry between watering.

To ensure the plant is getting enough water, water slowly and deeply until water drips out of the drainage holes into the saucer below. Empty the saucer so the plant is not sitting in water.

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Too Much Direct Sunlight

A Thanksgiving cactus that is exposed to excessive direct sunlight may develop limp leaves. They eventually turn yellow and drop off the plant.

How to fix it: Move the plant to a location with a moderate amount of bright yet indirect light. A place a couple of feet away from a sunny window is ideal.

You can also use a sheer curtain to filter out some of the harsh sunlight. Once it’s in a place with more suitable light conditions, the Thanksgiving cactus will recover.

Temperature Extremes and Low Humidity

In a room that is too cold, too hot, or has low humidity, your Thanksgiving cactus may also drop its leaves.

How to fix it: Thanksgiving cactus does best in daytime temperatures between 70°F and 80°F during the day and 55°F to 65°F at night, as well as high humidity (above 50%).

Keep the plant away from fireplaces, heating, and air-conditions vents, radiators, and drafty locations. If the air in your home is dry, use a humidifier.

Diseases

Leaf drop caused by diseases is preceded by other signs of stress. Fungal disease, which is often caused by overwatering or poor drainage, begins with stems rotting at the soil line and moving up the branches. The leaves turn grey-green before dropping.

Bacterial soft rot is a fast-spreading disease that causes branches to turn black and slimy and drop off.

How to fix it: If you catch a fungal disease early, you may be able to just cut off the affected plant parts and let the soil dry out, then adjust your watering routine. Plants with bacterial soft for are beyond salvation and should be thrown in the trash.

Large Plant Size

If you’ve had your Thanksgiving cactus for several years without pruning, it will eventually become so big that it can no longer support the weight of the branches, so they drop.

How to fix it: The recommended time to prune a Thanksgiving cactus is in the spring when new growth starts.

If you have missed that opportunity, pruning it in the fall will likely result in the removal of flower buds, but if the plant is so large that the branches have already started breaking off, it’s better to cut back some of the larger branches to prevent more damage.