The Easter cactus certainly is a special type of plant, especially when it comes to cacti since it’s appearance doesn’t really resemble one of a cactus and the care requirements are quite different.
With that said, there are some similar problems you can run into when growing one such as an Easter cactus wilting or drooping.
These are signs that you care taking is at least a little off and your Easter cactus is letting you know subtly that it needs more or less of something.
So here are those things causing the wilting for your holiday plant.
Underwatered Easter Cactus
I know a lot of you worry about overwatering your cacti all the time, but in this case, the Easter cactus can do with a little more water than usual as underwatering this plant will cause it to wilt or droop downwards.
The Easter cactus comes from a more tropical area than other types of cacti so it’s certainly used to receiving more water than other types of plants so I wouldn’t stress about overwatering in most cases.
Watering the cactus fully every other week is usually a good starting point and if you’re really worried about overwatering then you can just try watering monthly.
Just keep an eye on the plant and if it looks droopy or wilted then just water more often because most of the time the wilted appearance is caused from not getting enough water.
Also the Easter cactus likes to have the soil remain at least slightly moist rather than bone dry but with that said, you also don’t want standing water for too long or poor drainage.
In fact, you want to have the best drainage possible by using drainage holes in your container and also by using the right kind of soil.
Odds are the soil that your Easter cactus was bought with may not be good soil at all since a lot of stores that sell holiday plants don’t really know what they are doing, no offense.
By following these steps you should see the leaves of your Easter cactus begin to perk back up and return to normal once they are not so thirsty from the lack of water.
Direct sunlight or too much
Another thing that makes the Easter cactus different than other types of cacti is that this plant actually prefers bright but indirect light rather than full or direct sunlight.
This means you want your Easter cactus to get bright light but also some sort of shade to prevent the sun from scorching your plant by having direct light access.
Too much direct light will cause an Easter Cactus drooping, as it does for a lot of other types of plants as well.
Luckily this is a super easy fix as all you have to do is move your cactus to a spot where it will get plenty of light daily but not where the sun is always going to be shining directly over it.
You can get real creative with the placement of your holiday plant.
Once this has been taken care of, your Easter cactus will thank you by not drooping anymore and by returning to it’s normal appearance.
Pests on Easter Cactus
Lastly, if you notice your Easter cactus wilting or has become droopy, it could simply be due to a pest infestation no matter how small.
Mealy bugs and scale bugs will be the main culprits and you can identify which is the problem by having a look at your plant.
Notice a white fuzzy appearance, odds are you have mealy bugs.
If you notice small white or black dots on your Easter cactus then you most likely have scale bugs.
Both of these types of pests will eat away at your cactus, stealing nutrients from the plant and leaving the plant dehydrated which is what will cause the leaves of your Easter cactus to wilt.
Not to mention these pests can destroy your plant by causing your Easter cactus leaves to fall off and spread to other plants as well.
Solution: Use a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol to remove each of these pests by hand and then apply some neem oil spray on the cactus at least once a week until they are gone. Also keep your Easter cactus away from other plants in the meantime to prevent the bugs from spreading.
At worst you can just use the quality neem oil spray by itself if you don’t feel like taking the time to remove the pests by hand. Just be sure to only spray at night and let it dry out before the plant gets anymore sun to prevent it from getting burnt.