Why people love it
Mistletoe cactus doesn’t look like a cactus at all. It has no sharp spines, just bundles of thin, pencil-like green stems that cascade over the edge of a hanging pot. Tiny white flowers can turn into round, white berries that look a little like mistletoe, which gives it its name.
It’s a forest cactus
Like the Christmas cactus, mistletoe cactus is an epiphyte: in the wild it grows on tree branches in warm, humid forests. That changes its care:
- Softer light. Bright light without strong midday sun.
- More water. Water when the top of the soil is dry, not when the whole pot is bone dry.
- Airy soil. Its roots need air as well as water, so add bark to the mix.
Care in a nutshell
- Hang it up. The stems look best trailing from a hanging pot or a high shelf.
- Keep it warm. It doesn’t like cold drafts or temperatures below about 50°F (10°C).
- Share cuttings. Snip a stem, let it dry for a day, then push the cut end into moist, chunky mix.
The cacti guide explains how forest cacti differ from desert ones.
Watch out for
- Shriveled, limp stems can mean too little water or rotten roots from too much. Check the soil before you water.
- Pale or yellow stems usually mean too much direct sun.
Fun fact: It’s the only cactus that grows wild outside the Americas. No one knows for sure how it got there. One idea is that birds carried its sticky seeds across the ocean.
