Holiday planter aftercare
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What is a Holiday planter?
What is a holiday planter?
It's a decorative arrangement of plants mixed together and planted in the same container. It can be used as a gift, a centerpiece for your Christmas dinner table, or just a creative way to decorate your home during the holidays.
The container itself can be anything from a plastic-lined basket, a glass bowl, or a cachepot. One thing that most holiday planters have in common is the lack of drainage holes at the bottom.
The plants can be a lovely mix of tropical plants, succulents, outdoor plants, conifers, bulbs, and sometimes even a few artificial plants. Add some moss, glitter, and pine cones, and you have the perfect recipe for a Christmas planter.
This planter contains Header helix 'Mein Herz', Euphorbia pulcherimma, Ilex opaca and Thuja occidentalis 'Teddy'.
Care
Your planter often contains a mix of plants with different needs. With the lack of drainage, it can be a bit difficult to care for your planter in the long run. But don't worry!
Here are some tips and tricks on how to care for it
Start by trying to figure out what plants you have in your planter. Outdoor plants might need a bit extra misting, light, and slightly cooler temperatures, while succulents won't need much water and tropical plants will be thirstier but sensitive to colder temperatures.
If the plants have very different needs, you can try spot-watering them during the holidays. Most plants will need plenty of bright light, so try to provide it with lots of light.
Avoid drafts and heated air from heaters. If your planter contains outdoor plants, you can try placing your planter in a cooler spot but within the range that the tropical plants can handle. Placing it slightly cooler during the nights can be an option if the spot where you want to have it isn't cool enough.
Always check the soil before watering. If your planter lacks drainage holes, there is a risk that it can become waterlogged.
This planter contains Echeveria elegans, Header helix 'Mini Ester', Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Squarrosa' and Hyacinthus orientalis
After care
The plants will not survive in the long run being planted together, with their different needs and in a container without drainage holes. You'll have to decide how you want to proceed with the plants after it has served its purpose as a holiday decoration. Do you want to keep all the plants, save a few of them, or do you want to toss the whole group?
If you want to keep any of the plants, after the holidays, the first step is to separate them from each other. Repotting them into suitable soil types and into pots with drainage holes is key to successfully growing your plants.
Add them to your Planta account to read more about their requirements. Do they need to move outdoors or can you keep them indoors? How much light do they require, and how often should you water them?
Before you move any plants outdoors, you need to slowly acclimate them to the new climate after they've been grown indoors. This is to avoid damaging your plants. Some of the plants might even be hardy in your area and can be planted in your garden. Note that Planta doesn't support in-ground plants, though.
This planter contains Cyclamen persicum, Tulipa sp. and chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Ellwoodii'