When the month of November arrives, many stores and nurseries begin to sell the quintessential Christmas plant: the flower of Easter or poinsettia. Also called Christmas plant, or Christmas plant with red leaves -despite the fact that it is the bracts of the flowers that turn red, and not the foliage-, it is one of the ones that we acquire the most to decorate our house during these weeks.
But often I have the feeling that we treat it as another decorative object, a beautiful object that we will have on top of a piece of furniture for a defined time, which will be very short. And that's why I'm going to talk to you about how long does the christmas plant last, because I would like to contribute my grain of sand so that it begins to be seen with different eyes and also begins to be treated differently.
What is the life expectancy of the Christmas plant?
Image - Wikimedia / Vengolis
La Euphorbia pulcherrima, which is how it is known in botany, It is a deciduous shrub that reaches an approximate height of 4 meters. As you well know, and if you don't, don't worry because I'll tell you next, it blooms in winter/early spring, and it also starts to do so when it's very young.
This is so because his life expectancy is 40 years. They may seem like a lot, but in reality they are not that many when compared to the years that a conifer, for example, can live. But this is not bad: it is simply that both the poinsettia and the conifers have different survival strategies. And be careful, I am not referring only to the survival of the plant, but of the species: that is why some flower before others, and produce more seeds than others.
Therefore, an annual herb will not only live for a few months, but will also produce a large number of seeds. The poinsettia is a shrub that in its natural habitat grows fast, and flowers at an early age.. But of course, this entails a significant energy expenditure, which is why it cannot live as long as other plants.
What factors can make it last a short time?
Or in other words: why does it only last a few weeks when we buy it? Well, you'll forgive me for being so direct, but that's how it is: because we don't take care of it as it should. In fact, We usually always make some of these mistakes:
- It is placed near the heating, be it the radiator and/or the air conditioning.
- It is put inside a pot without holes, or a plate is placed under the pot that never slips.
- It is watered frequently, without letting the earth dry out completely -and not only on top-.
- It is placed in an area where there is little or not enough light.
Then there are other things that can influence. For example, It's hard for me to survive indoors because the humidity is so high that it rots after a few weeks; and I can't let her out of it without protection because the cold would kill her. How to fix this? Well, putting a mineral substrate, like akadama. Thus the air will be able to circulate well between the grains that form it, and therefore the roots will be well aerated. Therefore, fungi could not affect them.
or it may be the temperature in the house is lower than it can bear, in which case we can do little, except to put a thermal blanket under the pot. But this in a country like Spain is rare, because the temperature in homes is difficult to drop below 10ºC.
How do you take care of it?
Image – Wikimedia/Carlos Valenzuela
Although in this blog we have talked a lot about the poinsettia, we are going to remember some of the advice that we gave so that it can last much longer than you had thought:
Place it in a room with plenty of natural light and away from drafts
This is the main thing. As soon as you get home with your plant, The first thing you have to do is put it in a room where a lot of light comes in from outside. In addition, it must be away from the air conditioning, radiator, etc., so that its leaves do not get damaged.
Do not put it in a pot without holes
Those pots are pretty, but nothing more. No ground plants should be planted in them, because the roots would suffocate. For this reason, it is not necessary to put a plate under the pots -even if they have holes- and always keep them full of water, because the result would be the same: the plant would die. It is best to plant it in one with drainage holes such as this, and yes, you can put a plate on it but always remember to drain it after watering.
Check soil moisture before each watering
You have to be clear with this: It is normal for the most superficial layer of the earth to dry out before, but that does not mean that the innermost layers are.. In fact, it is usual that they are still wet. That is why it is important that said humidity be checked, introducing a wooden stick to the bottom and see if it comes out dry -in which case we would water-, or not.
If the air humidity is high, plant it in a larger pot.
If you live on an island or very close to the coast, I recommend that as soon as you buy your Christmas plant, you plant it in a pot about ten centimeters wide and deeper with the substrate that I mentioned before: the akadama (on sale here). If you can't get it, pumice will also work (for sale here), or even very fine gravel. Why? Because if it stays in that container, since it has peat it could rot.
So, I hope these tips will help you so that your Christmas plant lasts for many years.