Plant Patch
Christmas Houseplants
Enviromesh
With a bit of luck some sprouts will have survived the caterpillars and the pigeons won’t find them before 25 th December. My new year’s resolution is to take no chances and cover them from the start with enviromesh which will keep out the pigeons, the caterpillars and the cabbage rootfly. Might be easier to buy them in the shop? They would not taste the same!
Care Instructions
Outdoor gardening takes a bit of a back seat at this time of the year but indoor gardening in the form of houseplants make for very popular Christmas gifts. To make sure that they survive past New Year it is worth having a look at the conditions that these seasonal plants enjoy.
Poinsettia
Poinsettia is the superb Christmas plant. It loves central heating and will not mind if you forget to water it because you are too busy with your own liquid refreshment.It needs a warm temperature which does not fluctuate wildly, the position should be bright and out of draughts, water with warm water only when slightly drooping leaves indicate the need.The red leaves are in fact bracts which do not go over like a flower but last for months.It is difficult to get them to colour the following year and these plants are best treated as a bunch of flowers and thrown away when you tire of them.
Azalea
Azaleas are ideal for a cool conservatory and are happiest at 45-60 F in a position that is bright but out of direct sunlight. This plant unlike the poinsettia like to be kept permanently moist .In a very warm room they dry out quickly, the flowers flop and the leaves fall off. Been there done that. It is also easy to get this plant to survive for another year by repotting in lime free compost in the spring and burying the pot in a shady spot in the garden.
Cyclamen
Cyclamen now come in a variety of sizes and colours and with the correct conditions will give pleasure for months at this time of the year. They do best in bright light but without direct sunlight southwest window is very good. The ideal temperature is around 55-65F; the temperature on a windowsill probably never gets more than this even in a heated room. The tricky bit with these plants is the watering, the plant grows from a corm and watering from the top can rot the corm, which results in rapid death. Better to stand the plant in a saucer of water for 5 minutes and then take it out and allow it to drain. This plant can be kept for a number of years by allowing the corm to dry off in late summer and then repotting.
Christmas Cactus 
Christmas cactus, so called because of when they flower, have been bred from jungle cactus and therefore like it humid warm and moist. Not to be confused with desert cactus. Also growing on trees in the tropics these plants do not need full sunlight.This time of the year the pendulous branches are covered in 2inch flowers in a variety of pink and even orange shades. The plants should be kept well watered but not allowed to stand in water. To encourage flowering in subsequent years the light should be restricted; keeping them in a room with artificial light all evening will prevent them flowering until later on.
I have not mentioned orchids, citrus or desert cactus that’s a story for another day.
Plant Patch 13 December 2005