Many of us will be buying festive foliage for the forthcoming season – here’s how to make sure it lasts until December, and beyond
One houseplant in seven is bought in December, with Mother’s Day the other high point of the year. Surveys indicate that houseplants have a wide range of benefits; they enhance happiness, productivity, creativity, concentration, attention and promote lower stress levels.
During lockdown, houseplant sales soared by 500 per cent – and retailers report that demand has remained high. The rise in working from home has also raised houseplant demand. Suppliers have responded by growing more and adding variety to their offerings with plants to suit every taste, situation and budget.
Winter care for houseplants
For existing houseplants, finish potting or trimming as soon as possible as growth slows down now with falling light. Move plants into direct sunlight from their summer indirect sunlight windows, bearing in mind that temperatures can fluctuate damagingly if too close to the glass or behind curtains.
Gently dust leaves – dust cuts out light as well as being unsightly. Cacti and succulents in particular need maximum light. Consider using LED lights in particularly dark rooms.
Stop feeding indoor plants now, as their growth slows down during autumn and may stop altogether over winter. The same goes for water – as light levels fall, water needs decrease dramatically so keeping them barely moist is wise.
Be sure to check new houseplants – including the roots – for mealybugs, which once introduced are almost impossible to be rid of.
It is a bit of a shock to newly-bought plants to go into centrally-heated houses with drier air and fluctuating temperatures after cushy production greenhouse conditions, so more care is needed. Tender plants must not be left in freezing cars but taken straight home from the garden centre.
A moth orchid houseplant (Phalaenopsis) (Photo: RHS/Georgi Mabee)
Flowering houseplants
For most of the year foliage plants are the best sellers, but at this season flowering plants come into their own. They provide longer lasting colour than cut flowers and, if all goes well, plants to cherish for some time.
Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are by far the most popular “flowering” festive plant. They were originally shrubs of rocky hillsides in Mexico, but subsequently intensively bred to make the popular houseplant.
Their flowers are inconspicuous. It is the bracts (little leaves) around the flowers that we admire. These are usually bright red but can be white, cream apricot or marbled pink and white. Poinsettia are highly sensitive to over-watering. Use tepid tap water, watering from above, but only when the plant is getting dry. Keep in bright light for the best bract colour, avoiding draughts and fluctuating temperatures.
Having chosen a good plant, take it straight home. Warm garden centre greenhouses or new deliveries to supermarkets are reliable sources of this indispensable Christmas colour.
Moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) are highly popular. They bloom for very long periods as once the main flower shoot finishes, it is removed. They like bright light, especially in winter, but dislike scorching summer sun. Even more than most house plants, draughts and radiators should be avoided.
African violets (Saintpaulia) bloom all year if they have ample light, especially in winter. Aim to keep them at 18-24°C during the day, 16°C at night. Use room temperature water to keep them moist but allow the compost surface to dry between watering.
Houseplant cyclamen with silver marbled leaves and flowers, often scented, in pink, purple, red and white, prefer cool rooms, well away from heat sources, with good light. The biggest ones reach about 30cm in height, but many smaller ones are offered – these are equally rewarding. They resent soggy conditions, so only water when the potting compost feels dry.
Christmas cacti (Schlumbergera) carry abundant silky orange, pink, red and white flowers on flattened thornless stems. They are a ‘forest cactus’– in this case growing on rainforest trees in Brazil. They don’t appreciate very bright or hot dry rooms. After flowering, move them to a cooler bright room and ease up on watering. Be gentle with them – flower buds fall easily if they get chilled or roughly treated.
Houseplant azalea (Rhododendron simsii) is a tender shrub that favours cool, humid bright places such as south-facing winter windowsills in unheated rooms. It can tolerate short spells in darker, centrally-heated rooms. Deadhead carefully and when flowering is over, repot in a slightly bigger pot using an ericaceous peat-free potting compost.
Miniature roses are simply tiny versions of outdoor roses and need cool, bright conditions with careful, light watering. If they survive long enough, they can be planted outdoors where they can recover and make charming garden plants.
Winter or Christmas cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum) is grown for its red, yellow or orange thumb-width long-lasting fruits, making charming winter decoration. They are treated as disposable, although thrifty gardeners can keep them going.
Poinsettias and winter/Christmas cherry are potentially harmful if eaten
Easy plants for shady places
Foliage houseplants often come from the floors of tropical forests where they have to fight off severe competition and thrive in modest light levels (if you cannot read a book by the available light it is too dark for plants). They have to be toughies with a strong desire to live in adversity. These are just the attributes needed to survive in a winter sitting room or hallway. They also make robust plants for new or uncertain houseplant growers to develop their skills.
Foliage plants vary in their hardihood, but even rugged Philodendron and Kentia – which survive low light – appreciate more light. They eventually get stretched or straggly in shaded conditions. A summer trim followed by a sojourn in the garden, under light shade, returning to brighter windowsills in winter, can help.
Aspidistra (Aspidistra elatior) is a leathery, leafy plant of renowned toughness and shade tolerance. This Victorian favourite seems to be back in favour. It is a traditional plant for hallways which are often draughty and dark.
The elegant parlour palm (Chamaedorea elegans) has tough leaves that are well suited to resisting draughts and can tolerate low light. Let the plant dry somewhat before watering.
Trailing plants or climbers suit halls where they can be trained up poles or trellis, or allowed to dangle. The heart-shaped leaves of Philodendron scandens in deep green to bronze and Epipremnum aureum (pothos) with oval, shiny green leaves, streaked with pale yellow, make a leafy welcome in halls that are not too chilly.
Variegated spider plant Chlorophytum comosum is a good choice for difficult spots, but might lose its variegation in shade. For more stature, the rubber plant (Ficus elastica) is a proven survivor even in cool, dark conditions as long as draughts are absent.
Spider plants are hugely popular and easy to grow (Photo: Lee Charlton)
Begonias are perhaps the ultimate forest floor plant with their lopsided leaves and extraordinary colours and patterns. They include the Begonia rex group with spotted, streaked, puckered or snail-shell-like patterns. Keep on the dry side, away from draughts and above 13°C.
The overwatering problem
Over-watering is the prime culprit for winter houseplant failure. Water displaces air and its vital oxygen from the root zone and without oxygen plants literally drown – roots must have oxygen. Without roots, plants signal discomfort via brown leaves.
Being less generous with watering is the only answer, placing pots on a saucer and watering until some water emerges at the base. Allow plants to dry before watering again. As well as assessing the root wetness, feel the weight of the pot when it is dry and when newly watered. This – and touching the compost – help monitor the soil moisture.
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