Thanksgiving / Easter/ Christmas Cacti Bonsai for Sale

Pickup, Delivery, and Shipping Options/Policy

            Local pickup is free in the Columbus, Ohio area, or pickup is also available when I road trip, especially to bonsai shows around my area of the Midwest. Delivery is also free if not more than 15 minutes out of my way from home or on any of these trips. See here for the most updated list of pickup sites/delivery routes I will be making in the coming months. 

            If you would like to have any of my products shipped to you, see my Etsy page invivobonsai.etsy.com (almost all prices include shipping) or contact me if the item is not listed on my Etsy and I'll look into a cost estimate. Contacting me can also get you a cheaper price than buying through Etsy as there will be fewer fees and shipping multiple items can be combined.

Holiday Cacti Bonsai Available in Columbus, Ohio from In Vivo Bonsai

Last updated, 12/26/2025

Sections:

1. Christmas/Easter/Thanksgiving Cactus Care Guide
1. Basic Info
2. Watering
3. Lighting
4. Varieties
5. Propagation Info
2. Sale Info
1. Thanksgiving Cacti (Schlumbergera truncata)
2.  Christmas Cacti (Schlumbergera buckleyi)
3. Easter Cacti (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri)
4. Mature Starters/Workshop Trees (not in ceramic pots)
3. Sold Example Gallery + Pruning Tips

I. Holiday Cactus (Thanksgiving, Xmas, Easter) Care Guide:

A. Basic Info

            The holiday cacti species are a highly beginner-friendly tropical succulents that can be styled as a bonsai due to the woody appearance of their stems which develop over time. Because they are tropical, they can be grown indoors year-round or outdoors in summer and indoors in winter to avoid freezing. The advantages of these species include its forgiving nature towards neglect, ease of propagation through cuttings, and attractive and reliable flowering habits. The disadvantages of this species as bonsai include a tendency for plants to become top-heavy if they are not properly pruned and the relatively large leaf size which may be undesirable for styling them as smaller-sized bonsai. Their foliage mass also likely cannot be miniaturized that much and lends itself to a more abstract interpretation of a miniature tree compared to other species options.

B. Watering

            I water my holiday cacti 1x/ 1-4 weeks in the winter, depending on the light intensity of their spot in the home. If the soil is dry to the touch, you can water. You can assess if the tree needs water by holding the leaf in your hand and feeling its turgidity. If the leaf is firm, it does not need water. If the leaf is soft, it is because the plant needs more water to properly fill its volume. The thick, waxy cuticle on the leaves as well as the regenerative and propagative properties of this species are evolutionary traits that the species obtained in their native desert environment of South Africa-Mozambique.

C. Lighting

            The plant tolerates a range of lighting conditions from full sun to full shade. In nature, they are naturally rainforest epiphytes, meaning they root in the canopy of taller trees. This makes them adapted to both shade and drought and helps them survive in such diverse environments including in our homes under intense grow lights, but it also can survive in winter with very low light if your space is limited. It does not need to be near a window, but if it does not at least have window light then it will hardly grow at all. Thus, to continue their bonsai transformations, I'm sure to put them back outside each summer or under a grow light to keep them healthy.

D. Varieties

            Aside from the different species outlined here, there are also differences primarily by flower color. For identifying different species, the foliage fronts are pointed for Thanksgiving (think like the beak of a turkey), rounded for easter (think of the stone rolled away from Jesus's tomb), or "scalloped" like rolling hills for the foliage of the christmas cactus (I don't have a good pneumonic to remember that one, you'll have to let my know if you think of one)!

E. Propagation Info

            DO NOT propagate branch cuttings of this species in water, it will rot. Stick branches or even individual leaf segments directly into soil, it's the best method. No root hormone is required, but it may help. Water even more sparingly than the rooted plants.

II. Sale Info

        These holiday cacti beginner-friendly bonsai starters I sell quickly for a low price so the stock is always rotating. This makes them not great to put online since that is a time-consuming process but some available are pictured below. If interested in buying one, please feel free to contact me for pictures of the latest options or come in person/see my In-Person Bonsai Partner locations where you can find them.

New stock added november 2025.

A. Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata)

            Identifiable by the pointed tips on their leaves.

TC1 - Planted in a green ceramic mug with drainage hole

    This one was a bit gnawed on this past summer by local fauna (squirrels?) but it is making a recovery under grow lights now and is looking better. $10.

Photographed Fall 2025.

TC2 - Planted in a ceramic planter with drainage hole added

    This one was also a bit gnawed on this past summer by local fauna (squirrels?) but it is making a recovery under grow lights now and is looking better. $20. This one has more age to it as you can see it by the woodier color on the lowest bark.

Photographed Fall 2025.

TC4 - Planted in a durable soap dish-style ceramic bonsai pot with drainage holes

    Available at Casa Cacao cafe.

TC5 - Rooted cuttings planted in a cement skull pot

    The pots are from MadHattersMouseExotics in Marion, Ohio. His Instagram page is here and his PalmStreet page is here. In the months ahead, I will give him some of my plants in his pots for online and local sales. For now, these are available from me directly in Columbus, OH. In this picture, all are available except the one on the far right.

Photographed late 2025.

B. Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera buckleyi)

            Identifiable by the "scalloped" tips on their leaves.

C. Easter cactus (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri)

            Identifiable by the narrow, rounded tips on their leaves.

EC1 - Planted in a christmas-themed ceramic bowl with drainage holes

    This one is the oldest one I have for sale as evident by the increased woodiness of the stems. It is growing robustly and could be pruned anytime to continue promoting strategic ramification. $45.

D. Mature Starters/Workshop Trees (not in ceramic pots)

            Typically, I propagate my tropicals in shallow pots as this saves space and not all cuttings survive (although for jade, branches or even individual leaves are a near guaranteed success). Then, either in workshops or on my own, I separate the mature ones into individual pots, but I've found that after ~1 yr, the jades do not have a very developed root system, so lately I think additional time in their own pots will improve the ease of their use for workshops. So I am starting to separate my workshop trees/prebonsai into individual plastic containers before using them in bonsai pots. Smaller prebonsai will need another year in these pots before being recommended for workshops or being made into beginner bonsai, whereas more established prebonsai can be used straight away.

• Smaller prebonsai holiday cacti generally ~$5/each.
• Larger/more established prebonsai holiday cacti generally ~$10 each
• Holiday cacti with woody stems already forming - $15 each.

A mix of stages of holiday cacti prebonsai. One or two even with flowers.

Some very young holiday cacti prebonsai. They are rooted but need time to develop more branching and woodiness.

III. Sold Example Gallery + Pruning Tips

            As I get more mature examples and organize my pictures, I will add them here. The styling is pretty basic and similar with other broadleaf species. Cut after 2-3 internodes so dense branching is formed. This also gives you the chance to use clip and grow to alter trunk/branchlines. Wire will work to some extent but because these are succulent, the bends cannot be too severe or they will snap.

            

            The plants in this gallery are a few examples which have been in training from cuttings for 1-3 years. They sold in the early stages of training and when I have some examples that I hang onto long enough to show more refinement, I will add a link to them. This species responds well to directional pruning for ramification and to change the direction of the trunk/branch lines. The branches/leaves often develop in clusters at the end of the internodes but they are also capable to develop new branches/leaves/flower buds at the other tips of the leaves along the sides.

TC3 - Planted in a durable Japanese ceramic bonsai pot with drainage hole

    This one has a flower bud on the tip at the time of photographing which is about to open. It's lowest trunk is also getting woodier as you can see with brown color beginning to appear.