Festive House Plant Care Guide
It’s time to get decorating and create a display of your favourite festive house plants this Christmas!
How to care for Poinsettia
No Christmas home is complete without a Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrina), with their colourful, brightly coloured bracts they add a festive feel to your home and make an ideal present.
• Cold conditions and draughts damage the foliage on these plants, so be careful where you position them in your home. For example, allowing the leaves to touch a cold window will cause leaf drop.
• To keep it blooming, the temperature should be a minimum of 13 °C -15°C and up to 18°C during the day.
• They like indirect sunlight, so near to a sunny window sill, free from draught, in a warm room is ideal.
• Water your poinsettia when the soil feels dry to touch or just pick up the pot, if it’s light, it will need watering.
• Do not let it sit in water in the saucer. Overwatering is the quickest way to kill your poinsettia.
How to care for Cyclamen
Indoor cyclamen flower profusely through the festive period. With showy blooms in shades of red, white and pink, they form an essential part of any Christmas display.
• Cyclamen are easy to grow with a little care and will flower for six to eight weeks.
• They are happy in cooler bright rooms.
• Keep away from direct sunlight.
• Water when the soil begins to feel dry and directly into the soil, avoiding direct contact with the leaves and stems.
• Deadhead regularly by tugging them away gently as this will prolong flowering.
How to care for Amaryllis
The word Amaryllis means ‘to sparkle’ and it certainly does that! Amaryllis are popular at Christmas due to the colourful blooms. It’s also a traditional gift for your loved ones and can even bloom on Christmas day.
• Amaryllis are best suited to indirect sunlight / part shade. Too much sunlight can burn the foliage, however not enough, may reduce the flowering period.
• It’s a tropical plant and loves a warm temperature of approx. 20C. Once the leaves and bud have emerged, you can move it somewhere cooler.
• When initially planting the bulb, water it thoroughly. After this water less often until the growth starts to appear. Keep the soil moist but not water logged.