How to care for Christmas plants
Christmas is the time for giving and receiving flowering potted plants. If nurtured with proper love and care most Christmas plants can be enjoyed not only during the holidays but will remain attractive far into January and even February. Care of these plants is easy. Faithful attention will add days and even weeks of life to any popular Christmas plants. Here are some easy tips on how to look after your Christmas plants and to prolong their life.
Love and care tips
- The beautiful glossy green leaves of the holly plant with its distinctive red berries can add life to a dark corner of any garden or home. Hollies are very easily looked after and they are disease resistant. If you keep your holly inside make sure that you feed it every week with some acidifier. Transplant the holly into a semi shaded area during spring and it will not show any signs of ill effect. Trim the lower branches occasionally to keep the plant fresh and healthy.
- When keeping the plant inside ensure that the soil of the pot is damp but not wet. Also make sure that you give the plant a weekly bath as this will help the leaves retain their glossy sheen and good health.
- Firs are not meant to be indoors and our over heated dry homes are quite stressful for them. If you have a living tree that is small, keep it outdoors during the day and bring it in only during the evening for a few hours. Keep the soil evenly wet, and bathe the leaves from time to time to keep the branches and needles moist and lively. If you plant the tree in your yard well before spring, in soil that has the correct measure of sulfur, compost and phosphate there is no reason why the plant should not do well.
- Poinsettias are moody plants and don’t like to be moved from place to place. Take care to buy one from a nursery and not from the neighboring grocery store display. Don’t let their soil dry out completely and don’t spray the darker reds, they will get spotted. Feed the red poinsettias a tomato food to increase the deep red tones of the bracts.
- Always remove the foil wrapping from the pot immediately. It holds in too much water and leads to root rot. Place the new plant in a pot one size larger, with fresh clean soil. This will help increase the life of the plant.