How to keep holiday plants happy all year long
Living plants have become an essential part of holiday decor.
They add a festive pop of colour and help set the mood for the holiday season. But, as we put decorations away and turn our attention to the year ahead, most of us accept the demise of our poinsettias and Christmas cacti at the end of the holidays.
Did you know, thought, that with a little effort, you can keep those vibrant plants alive and blooming for holidays to come?
Here are some simple guidelines to keep your holiday plants alive and in bloom again for 2022, according to the U.S. College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences News:
Understand your plant
Knowing where your plants came from and understanding how to care for them is a great place to start.
Both poinsettias and Christmas cacti have their origins in the tropical mountains of Central and South America, meaning neither plant is adapted to arid conditions. It’s fine to let their soils dry out a little before watering, but they can’t survive long periods of dry soil.
CAES News recommends watering these plants deeply each time, soaking all of the soil and allowing excess water to drain freely away from the pot so that the soil does not stay saturated.
While poinsettias thrive in full sun, the Christmas cactus prefers indirect or dappled light. This could mean placing your Christmas cactus to the side of a window or in the centre of a room rather than on the windowsill.
In the home, both plants love temperatures between 18C and 24C (65-75F). However, these plants should avoid drastic temperature changes, such as those caused by a draft or being directly in the path of a heating or air conditioning vent, or a door that’s frequently opened and closed.
Maintain to keep them beautiful
In order to maintain an attractive and healthy poinsettia, cut it back a few times a year. In the early spring, cut your poinsettia back until about 15 centimetres (six inches) of stem remains. You can start fertilizing once new growth appears.
Around July, remove the top of the plants, leaving four to five leaves on each stem. If the plant becomes leggy in early fall, this step can be repeated.
Both plants require “short day” conditions, which means 12 to 14 hours of total darkness each night, in order to signal colour and bud production.
According to CAES News, “poinsettias may require these ‘short days’ for up to 10 weeks. This means that, beginning 10 weeks before you wish to see colour, the plants will need at least 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness each night.”
“Christmas cacti do not require as many short days, but should be grown in cooler nighttime temperatures of about 10C to 15.5C (5060F) to initiate bud formation. Once colour begins to form on poinsettias or buds begin to form on Christmas cacti, the signalling is complete and you can leave the plants to grow in normal conditions,” CAES News says.
If you follow these simple guidelines, you’ll be able to enjoy your festive plants again next holiday season.
And if all else fails, fake plants are almost impossible to kill.