How To Keep Holiday Houseplants Alive

This winter, take on a new gardening challenge by keeping your holiday houseplants. Poinsettias, amaryllis, rosemary and more provide a fun garden opportunity.
Holiday Blooms


From Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, millions of houseplants are used as gifts and decorations just to be dumped when holiday cleanup commences. That's a nice boost to growers and sellers of poinsettias, Christmas cacti, amaryllis, paperwhites, Norfolk Island pines, rosemary, citrus and numerous lesser-used gift plants. As a thrifty gardener who really appreciates the holiday traditions which include live plants, I have always had mixed feelings about this aspect of the season. Some of these plants can be challenging to provide long-term care, but others adapt quite easily for use as houseplants or even landscape plants. Here are some thoughts on keeping these plants for the long haul.


Poinsettia


Poinsettias may be the plant most associated with Christmas, and for good reason. The traditional giant red bracts and golden-yellow flowers viewed against the dark green foliage leave little to the decorator's imagination. These are probably the most challenging for most of us to keep as houseplants. They are not terribly difficult to keep alive; simply provide bright light and evenly moist soil. The difficulty for those of us who live outside its native range lies in getting them to change color...here's how:


Allow the poinsettia to go dormant by keeping it dry (don't let the soil shrink from the sides of the pot, but allow it to dry between waterings), in a cool, bright room. In late spring, when night time temperatures are consistently above fifty degrees, prune it to a six-inch "stump" and move it outdoors. Through the summer, keep it in very bright light and fertilize regularly. When night temps get below fifty degrees in the fall, move it indoors. Make it change color by controlling light and darkness, beginning at least two months prior to when you want them to be at peak color. The darkness needs to be total: put it in a closet or cover it with a cardboard box for 13-14 hours each night. When the bracts begin to color, you can stop covering it and increase water to keep the soil moist.
Christmas Cactus


Christmas cacti are not desert species, and they make good houseplants. They perform best in a cool, moist environment with bright but indirect light. For the best bloom show, pinch the tips when blooming ceases to encourage branching. Keep the plant indoors until the night temperatures are warm, watering when the soil is dry one or two inches deep. Move to a bright filtered-light location outdoors for the Summer, fertilizing regularly with blooming houseplant food while it is actively growing. When night temperatures drop in the fall, move back indoors. Blooming is stimulated by darkness: provide 12 hours of total darkness for six to eight weeks prior to when you want the plant to be in bloom.
Christmas Cactus


Christmas cacti are not desert species, and they make good houseplants. They perform best in a cool, moist environment with bright but indirect light. For the best bloom show, pinch the tips when blooming ceases to encourage branching. Keep the plant indoors until the night temperatures are warm, watering when the soil is dry one or two inches deep. Move to a bright filtered-light location outdoors for the Summer, fertilizing regularly with blooming houseplant food while it is actively growing. When night temperatures drop in the fall, move back indoors. Blooming is stimulated by darkness: provide 12 hours of total darkness for six to eight weeks prior to when you want the plant to be in bloom.
The Prudent Garden
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  • Kathi Mureen Kathi Mureen on Dec 19, 2014
    My mom brought home two poinsettias last year, and for months, I gave them water, and they dropped leaves like crazy, so one day last spring, I just got a wild hair and planted them on the north side of our house, and they grew like weeds, got so big that I had to move the hydrangea that was in the little garden with them. Now, we had a short freeze a few weeks ago, and they are starting to show a bit of red. I am amazed that they are doing so well outside! If she brings more home this year, I will add them to the side garden and see what happens.
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