5 Tips for Keeping Houseplant Gifts Thriving

If your friends and family know you’re a plant person, chances are houseplant gifts are coming your way this holiday season. Now your job is to keep them alive and thriving so you can enjoy them through the winter and beyond. Here are five tips for houseplant health.

Ditch the foil. Poinsettias and other houseplants often come with decorative foil wrapped around the pot. If you leave it on, water pools in the foil and you may end up with a soggy plant, rotted roots or drips on the carpet when the foil springs a leak. Instead, remove the foil and set the plant in its plastic pot in a decorative container. If you don’t have the right size decorative container, cut small slits in the foil and place the plant in the sink when you water it.

Know the plant’s care needs. Poinsettias like indirect light and regular watering, and most only last six to eight weeks indoors. Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti need great drainage and can last for years. Bulbs like amaryllis and narcissus have everything they need to grow in the bulb. They need only light and water. Whatever the plant you’re given, read the tag or other information to make sure it will last.

Go easy on the H2O. The top reason houseplants die is overwatering. Know how much water your houseplant gift needs and don’t overdo it. When watering, do the touch test. Stick your finger in the soil up to your first knuckle and if it is damp at all, don’t water.

Give it a comfy home. Like humans, plants don’t like environments that are too dry, too gloomy or too drafty. While this varies from plant to plant, a spot near a south or east-facing window and away from heat vents or drafty doors will make most plants comfortable. If your house is very dry, consider placing plants on top of rocks in a shallow tray filled with water. Misting daily is another option to up the humidity.

Do a pest check. My experience is that houseplant gifts tend to arrive pest free. But you never know, so check under the leaves and around the stems for signs of pests, such as powdery blotches, honeydew (sticky insect excrement) or brown scaly structures. Among the most common houseplant pests are scale, mealy bugs, aphids and fungus gnats. If you see something suspicious, isolate the new plant away from other plants for a couple of weeks to make sure all is well. 

Here’s wishing you a happy holiday season and many exciting and healthy houseplant gifts.

Mary Lahr Schier is a longtime Minnesota garden writer and speaker. Follow her on Instagram at @mynortherngarden_mary.