To supplement Hawkwalk's good reference, we, here in the western U.S., place ours in a dimly lighted basement in mid-October and by Christmas it's blooming profusely. The plant was given by a relative and is near 20 years old and perhaps 3 feet in diameter. We 'start' new plants for a lot of folks by cutting about 6 or 7 inches of growing plants, wrap it in Kleenex and let it dry out for at least 6 weeks. It's then placed in a small container of damp soil, and in about 3 weeks, voila!...