Notes from my Garden – With Susie Tucker
With Christmas approaching, and many of us getting some Christmas pot plants in, thought I’d write about some basic care for the most common ones to keep them healthy through Christmas and beyond.
The Poinsettia likes a warm room with no draughts, and no sudden swings in temperature. If it gets cold, or there is a draught, the leaves will wilt and fall off. Always allow it to dry out slightly between watering, and mist it frequently, daily, if possible. This should make it last for you all through the Christmas season.
Cyclamen are really an outdoor plant, so like it quite cool, but if you put it in a cool place overnight you can overcome a well heated house. Cyclamen is also very prone to rot, never water on the top, always put the water on the saucer on the bottom, having said that, it also likes to be misted daily. With right care you can have the same plant next year. It will have a dormant period, it will tell you when this is by its leaves starting to turn yellow. At this point, gradually stop watering it, and then leave dry, until you see new signs of life, the start watering again, and give it some feed.
The Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera), likes a partially shady place in a warm room, keep it evenly moist, and mist it frequently, as with the Poinsettia. Feed it a high potassium feed fortnighltly once the buds appear. And for the rest of the year, just water regularly
I always have a real tree, usually a Nordman, because it doesn’t shed its needles as much as the Norway Spruce, but I miss the smell of fir. I have a “vase” with legs, to put it in and secure it, and before I do that, I chop a bit of the bottom, just like I would do with any cut plants and flowers. I water it daily and keep it away from any heat source (the Christmas tree benefits from being fed, this can be either sugar or lemonade). When Christmas is over, I bring the green wheelie bin into the sitting room, and chop up the tree up in situ, to avoid spreading the needles all through the house.
