Care of Holiday Plants

 By Carol O'Meara, Boulder County Extension

Celebrating the dark days of winter includes bringing in a few houseplants, and stores are filled with holiday foliage.  Pick up a poinsettia - they’re a treat for the eyes - then look at some of the other festive indoor plants. Small pines, aromatic mini-trees, and flowering cacti are the perfect touch for your décor.
 
When the tag says “place in bright indirect light,” it means closely in front of, but not touching, an east or west facing window or one foot away from a south facing window.  For direct light, place it closer to the south window.
 
For longest bloom, keep in a cool room, with nighttime temperatures of 55 to 60 degrees; during the day, set the thermostat between 65 and 68.  These cooler temps will keep blooms lasting longer.
 
Feed with a balanced fertilizer.  Most houseplant food is 20-20-20, but many winter bloomers only need a half-strength solution until later in spring, when robust growth starts up again.  Check the tag for feeding instructions before dosing the plant with too much fertilizer.
 
Then follow these quick tips for different plants:
 
What:  Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) plants are small, evergreen, aromatic, edible additions to your home.  Resembling small fir trees, the dark green foliage is used in cooking.
How:  In stores, rosemary is often root-bound, so if you want to keep them long after the holidays, transplant them into a pot at least twice as big as soon as you get them home.  Use light, loose, potting soil, then soak the newly planted pot in a few inches of water for an hour to get it saturated.
Location: Rosemary prefers a cool, sunny location with high humidity; place them on pebble filled saucers filled with water to increase moisture around the plant.  Frequent misting is also helpful.  Keep the soil on the dry side and water once the soil is dry to the depth of your first finger knuckle.
 
What:  Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii), a succulent, can be told apart from its cousin, the Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), by its rounded “teeth” on the leaves (Thanksgiving cacti have pointed teeth). 
How:  During bloom, keep in bright, indirect light in a cool room and let dry slightly between watering.  If the leaves wrinkle and flowers fall, the plant is too dry or too warm. 
Feed:  Once bloom is finished, fertilize once per month from April through October. 
                                                             
What:  Norfolk Island pines (Araucaria heterophylla), are small evergreens with soft foliage.
How:  These little trees, native to the South Pacific, will not survive our Colorado weather so keep them indoors in bright light and out of direct afternoon sun.  Take care not to let it dry out in our low-humidity homes.  Water when the top inch of soil feels dry, discarding water that collects in the catch pan. 
Feed:  From April through June, use half-strength fertilizer twice per month.  Feed monthly for the rest of the year. 
Tip:  For healthy, bright foliage, mist with water twice per week for healthy, bright foliage.
 
What:  Christmas pepper (Capsicum spp.).
How:  Moist soil and full sun keeps the foliage lasting, but for glossy, plump fruit, place this plant in a room with cool temperatures.  This annual is finished when all the fruit drops off, so compost it when the display is over.
Tip:  If the oils from handling get into eyes or on skin, this pepper can be irritating.  Choose a visible but out of the way area for this plant to keep kids and pets safe from its sting.

What:  Amaryllis (Hippeastrum spp.).
How:  Choose a spot with bright, indirect light and keep the soil moist but not soggy.  Deadhead spent flowers soon after they fade, and continue to care for the bulb after blooming is finished – Amaryllis will rebloom year after year.
Feed:  After the shoot appears from the bulb, feed twice per month.

Caring for Popular Holiday Houseplants

 by Amy Lentz, Weld County Horticulture Extension Agent

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of sitting in on a fantastic webinar about caring for holiday plants by one of our Larimer County Colorado Master Gardeners, Susan Bonsall. Her class was so informative that I thought I would highlight some of these holiday plants in this week’s blog post. If you want to dive deeper into Susan’s 1-hour webinar, a recording can be found HERE. (Thanks Susan!)

Many of you may be receiving a holiday themed and decorated plant as a gift this holiday season, or maybe you decide to buy yourself one to dress up your home. But don’t be fooled, even though most of these plants are sold and promoted this time of year, they are not made for outdoor temperatures or winter landscapes. Most of these are tropical in nature and are to be grown as houseplants indoors. So, let’s talk about a few of the most commonly received holiday houseplants! 

*Be sure to check out all of the linked text throughout this article for more information and growing instructions.

Poinsettias

I could go on for days about poinsettias. In fact, I’ve written a blog post in the past about the interesting history of the poinsettia and how it became the quintessential holiday plant. Poinsettias are not commonly kept very long after the holidays are over, but if you do want to keep your poinsettia going past the holidays, you can keep it indoors in a high light area until the summer then move it outside. Water it thoroughly when dry and allow the pot to drain completely. For more tips on caring for poinsettias, see the following fact sheet from CSU Extension.

Poinsettias in a Greenhouse - Photo: Amy Lentz

Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter Cactus

That’s right, there are actually 3 main types of holiday cactus and the difference is shown in the leaves and when they each bloom. These popular holiday plants are short-day plants that require several weeks of days with less than 12 hours of light in order to bloom, with the Easter cactus requiring the most number of weeks. If you are unsure of which type you have, try comparing the leaf segments to the chart below from Iowa State UniversityExtension:

I'm guessing Thanksgiving cactus. 
Photo: Amy Lentz

For more information on how to care for your holiday cactus, visit this PlantTalk article.

Amaryllis

I LOVE the amaryllis! These popular houseplants have beautiful trumpet-shaped blooms atop a tall stalk with long, thick grass-like leaves. They are truly stunning when they bloom! They come in a variety of colors from red to pink to white - and all shades in between. 

The bulbs prefer to be planted in a container that is 1 inch larger in diameter than the bulb and deep enough to support its long root system. They also like to be planted shallow with half of the bulb above the surface of the planting medium. And, because these plants bloom better when pot-bound, you only have to repot them every 3-4 years.

My amaryllis blooms when it wants to
and surprises me every time.
Photo: Amy Lentz

 For more tips on growing Amaryllis, see the following PlantTalk article.

Paperwhites

Paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta) are an easy plant to force indoors by planting the bulbs in a container of rocks. They are a tropical bulb that take about 6 weeks to grow and bloom. They will show off their blooms for a few weeks, but then do not rebloom and can be disposed after blooming. To help keep your paperwhites on the shorter side, you can follow Cornell University’s research guidance and give them a little hard liquor mixed with water (4% solution)! 

The above video from PlantTalk and Tagawa Gardens has more tips on how to grow Paperwhites and Amaryllis.

 

 Norfolk Island Pine

This time of year, these popular gifted plants are adorned with lots of holiday decorations to look like a miniature live Christmas tree. And even though they are dressed up as cute little pine trees, they are not true pines at all. They are actually large tropical houseplants that would not survive out in the cold!

Photo: Costa Farms/Amazon

When caring for these tree-like houseplants, make sure to give them a large container to support the top growth that can be anywhere from 2 to 20 feet in a home setting. These plants can actually reach heights of 200 feet in their native habitat in Australia and New Zealand! They prefer a mild room temperature of 60-72 degrees and at least two hours of bright but indirect sunlight. Click on this link to CSU's PlantTalk article for more information about growing a Norfolk Island pine in your home.

Hopefully these tips and links will help you to keep your holiday plant going strong for years to come!

Bring Cheer to your Holiday Plants

By: Sherie Caffey, Horticulture Coordinator, CSU Extension-Pueblo County

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite parts of the holiday season are the traditional holiday houseplants that I always end up getting and giving as gifts. For most of us, this time of year is crazy busy and more often than not, those cheerful plants end up as cheerful compost food long before their time. Here are some tips for making your holiday houseplants last to their full potential:

Generally speaking, large houseplants in small pots dry out pretty quickly, so you should check the moisture level of your plants daily. The soil should be moist but never soggy. If your plant is wrapped in decorative foil, you should either remove it or poke holes in the bottom of it so you have good drainage.

Good lighting will extend the life of your holiday plants as well. Find a place for them that is well lit, but not in direct sunlight. If you don’t have a place with nice natural light, a grow light or a cool white fluorescent bulb combined with an incandescent bulb can work as well.

Household temperatures can also have an impact on the lifespan of your plants. Avoid places where the plants will be exposed to hot or cold drafts. 60° F to 75° F is usually a good temperature for most houseplants. Our dry Colorado air can make our holiday plants lose cheer as well. You can use a humidifier, or place the plant on a tray with pebbles and water. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the pot.

Poinsettias are the epitome of the holiday houseplant. To keep those colorful bracts looking great for months, bright indirect light and frequent watering is key (but don’t overwater!). You can keep a poinsettia all year and re-bloom it next season, but it is quite the process and a different blog in itself. If you want to give it a shot, you can find detailed instructions in CSU Extension Fact Sheet #7.412.  And one more thing, don’t believe the myth that they are poisonous, they aren’t!

         Christmas cacti are from a group of jungle cacti and don’t look like our native cacti at all. These plants can be very long lived when cared for properly. Let the top inch of soil dry out between waterings. They can go outdoors in the summertime, but they should be in part shade and should be brought inside when temperatures start to drop. Fertilizing can be done in the spring and summer with a standard houseplant fertilizer. You can help your cactus to re-bloom starting in September by controlling temperature and the amount of light it gets. You can find more information on this process here.

Amaryllis are beautiful additions to the home during the holiday season. Provide them with bright but indirect light, and keep the soil evenly moist. A cooler room temperature will prolong flowering. Once the blooms die, remove them. Keep the leaves actively growing through the summer. In the fall, you will want to cut water back until the leaves die, and then you will store it in a cool dark location for a couple of months. You can then resume watering and you will have buds in a few weeks! Click here for some detailed information on the process.

Norfolk Island pine trees are nice houseplants and can be used in place of a traditional large Christmas tree. They will appreciate a sunny bright location, and will respond well to being rotated weekly. Water when the top inch of soil is dry, and try to keep the humidity up. These trees ideally like 50% humidity. Daytime temperatures of 60° F to 72° F are optimal, with nighttime temperatures being just a bit lower. With good care, this plant can last all year long. Keep in mind, these are not true pines and are not cold hardy in Colorado.

I hope you have been inspired to be a great holiday plant parent, and maybe even to try and keep some of this year’s plants for 2018. Happy Holidays to everyone.