Avant Gardener: Christmas plants to keep indoors can satisfy the gardener

  • By Kyle Valentini
  • December 6, 2011
  • 345
                        
Summary: Christmas plants like poinsettia and Christmas cactus are not as difficult to care for as you might think. The right amount of water, light and the appropriate temperature will allow you to enjoy these plants well beyond Christmas. Live plants make perfect gifts for the gardener or to inspire someone to start gardening. Unless you took measures to grow cool weather crops like lettuce, spinach, radish and perhaps carrots the garden is probably not helping to alleviate the gardener’s need to get a little dirt under the fingernails. Fortunately the Christmas season brings with it plants that we typically don’t see or at least don’t pay much attention to any other time of the year. Although not nearly as rewarding as outdoor plants, the indoor Christmas plants can bring satisfaction to the gardener in the form of nurturing and the attempt to make them last more than one season. First and foremost, the poinsettia plant became popular in the United States after the U.S. Minister to Mexico, Dr. Joel Poinsett, who was also a botanist, brought some plants to his home in South Carolina from their native Mexico. Flor de la noche buena, which translates to Holy Night Flower, is the name of the poinsettia plant that grows wild in Mexico. The plants were prized by 17th century Franciscan priests who used them in Fiesta Santa Pesebre, a Nativity procession. Because the plants are used to the warmer temperatures found in their native Mexico, survival in colder parts of the United States is not always possible, even indoors. To insure that your poinsettias will last place plants in very bright, but indirect light. Southern windows with full sun exposure are not a good choice because of window drafts and temperature fluctuations. Keep plants away from sudden drafts like areas where a door is opened and closed throughout the day. Keep soil evenly moist, but not wet. Don’t let the soil dry out, as that will cause the color of the bracts to fade, and leaves to drop. Fertilizer is not generally needed while the plants are in bloom. The colorful part of the poinsettia is not the flower at all but the bract. The flower is the small yellow part surrounded by the bract. If you choose to keep your poinsettias after the holidays, be prepared to have difficulty getting them to flower again. Poinsettias need complete darkness for at least 12 hours a day in order to induce flowering. Not as popular but equally stunning is the Christmas cactus. Native to the coastal mountains of Brazil, the cactus is unlike the plants we find in the deserts of the south west part of the country and require more water. Allow the plant to nearly dry out between watering. Long, cool nights induce flowering so it is fine to keep the Christmas cactus in a drafty location. Bright, indirect light is best for the Christmas cactus but it will tolerate some morning sun. Too much light will cause the leaves to turn red. Christmas cacti are slow growers but they will last for years with little care. Their bright white to pink flowers will appear year after year usually blooming from November to January if given at least 12 hours of darkness each day with a week or so of 16 hours of darkness. Although not as finicky as the poinsettia, the Christmas cactus can tolerate a little light and still set buds. Christmas cacti need to be repotted about every 3 years. Unlike some plants, the Christmas cactus likes to be crowded in its pot but should still be repotted once in a while. Always repot the plant when it is not setting buds or blooming for best results. Poinsettias and Christmas make great gifts for gardeners. I have heard many complain that the poinsettia and Christmas cactus are too difficult to care for. A seasoned gardener will be up for the challenge and be likely to show off their plants when they are in bloom next Christmas.


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