Gardening Sweet Spots
By Donna Hessel
Poinsettias and Cyclamen are traditional plants that add welcome indoor color to the holiday season. But now it’s January and all the holiday decorations are safely stored for another year. What to do with the plants that are still merrily blooming? You can pitch them or nurture them and encourage re-blooming for the next holiday season. If you’d like to try keeping them, here are some tips.
Your poinsettia plant will continue to bloom if you provide some ongoing care. Bright light and normal room temperatures (60-70 degrees F.) will prolong its beauty. Keep it out of drafts and away from appliances and refrigerators, and never place it on the television set. Water it only when it is dry and discard water that runs through the pot’s drainage holes. Remove the decorative foil wrap or punch holes in the bottom of it to make sure the water will drain through. Be sure it is set in a saucer or shallow container so the water doesn’t mar your furniture.
The following tips are from a guide devised by Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont. If you tie your care schedule to specific holidays, it will be easier to remember what to do when.
- New Year’s Day – Fertilize with an all-purpose houseplant fertilizer at recommended rates.
- Valentine’s Day – Check your plant for signs of insects such as white fly. If your plant has become long and leggy, cut it back to about five inches tall.
- St. Patrick’s Day – Remove faded and dried parts of the plant. Add more soil, preferably a commercially available sterile soil mix. Keep your plant in a very bright interior location.
- Memorial Day – Trim off two to three inches of branches to promote side branching. Repot to a larger container using a sterile growing mix.
- Father’s Day – Move the plant outside for summer. Place it in indirect light.
- Fourth of July – Trim the plant again. Move it into full sun. Continue to water and fertilize, but increase the amount to accelerate growth.
- Labor Day- Move your plant indoors to a spot that gets at least six hours of direct light daily, preferably more. As new growth begins, reduce the amount of fertilizer.
- Autumnal Equinox – Starting on or near September 21, give the plant 13 hours of uninterrupted darkness (put it in a closet, basement or under a box) and 11 hours of bright light each day. Maintain night temperatures in the low 60 degrees F range. Continue to water and fertilize. Rotate the plant daily to give all sides even light.
- Thanksgiving – Discontinue the short day/long night treatment. Put the plant in a sunny area that gets at least six hours of direct light. Reduce water and fertilizer.
- Christmas─Enjoy your “new” poinsettia!
And if you follow through with all those instructions, you should probably become a commercial grower! Much easier (and more economical, too) to enjoy your plant until the flower brachts fade and then consign it to the compost pile!
Florists’ Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum)
I love these little plants and one I received as a gift in 2020 rejuvenated itself and re-bloomed for the 2021 holiday! After the flowers faded and the weather warmed up in 2021, I set it outdoors in a semi-shady place, watering and fertilizing it when other plants were attended to and essentially ignoring it.
If you want to do it right, here are some tips from Meghan Shinn, Horticulture magazine’s newsletter writer. Place it in bright light but out of direct sunlight. A cool room (55°–65°F) suits Cyclamen best. The plant grows from tubers and must be watered carefully to avoid rot. Stand the pot in a dish of water until the soil surface is damp; then let it drain. Remove spent flowers and yellowed leaves by pulling or snipping at the base of their stalks. When flowering ends, let the soil dry out and keep the pot in a cool place until growth resumes from the tubers.
Cyclamens prefer cool temperatures – ideally between 50-55 degrees F. Since your home isn’t kept at that temperature, put your plant in the coolest room in your house. Keep it out of direct light – it prefers filtered light, which will also keep it cooler. Keep your plant watered, but allow the top inch of the soil to dry out between watering. I didn’t water mine from the bottom, but did avoid getting water on the leaves. Using a water meter ($10 at Home Depot) will assure you water only when the plant needs it.
Eventually your potted Cyclamen will fade away. It wants to go dormant. Mine lost all but one of its leaves! At this point, keep the pot in a cool, dark, dry place until autumn. (Mine remained outdoors all summer in the same location.) Occasionally add some water over the summer─ just enough to keep the soil from drying completely. In autumn, some new growth should begin to appear, at which point you can move the plant into stronger light. Water it well, but let it dry out a bit again; and then resume regular watering. I did not fertilize my plant after I brought it indoors, but if I had, it might have had more than two flowers. Rotate the pot periodically, too, as the leaves turn toward the light source.
Poinsettias and Cyclamen are beautiful. Whether you plan to enjoy them while their blooms last and pitch them when they have faded, or try to nurture them to encourage re-blooming, you have surely enjoyed the color and beauty they added to your holiday celebrations.
Photos courtesy pexels.com
