Anchorage Daily News

Ah, winter settles in. Now how about getting those special, indoor plants to perform while we wait for the ground to thaw next spring?

Click to enlarge

Garden calendar (10/29/09)

Halloween: This is the traditional date for the first snow that sticks, in case you were wondering.

Houseplants: Mulch these as well. They are perennials in most instances, so a brown mulch works best. A few handfuls of mulched up leaves from outside will work just fine.

Story tools

Comments (0)

E-mail a friend

Print

Share on Facebook

Digg this

Seed Newsvine

Send link via AIM

Follow on Twitter

Font size : A | A | A

For starters, it is time to set up the "Holiday" cacti plants so they will bloom at their expected time. Holiday cacti -- actually jungle plants called epiphyllums, be they "Thanksgiving," "Christmas" or even "Easter" bloomers -- are day-length sensitive and temperature sensitive. These two environmental factors induce blooming.

So, if you have any Holiday cacti, place them where the evening temperatures sit around 55 degrees or even a bit lower. Second, place these plants where they will get only natural light. Keep your plants on the dry side. It is also a good idea to give plants a quarter turn every few days so that buds, when they do form, form evenly around the plant and not only on the side that is up against the window.

Next, some of you have at least one poinsettia you have been keeping over hoping it will reproduce red bracts around Christmas. It will, provided you make sure your plant only gets nine hours of light a day and then complete darkness every night. Complete darkness. No checking in the middle of the night, no street lamp light, just dark. Keep this routine up for 40 days and your plant should show red. Temperatures should be around 55 degrees and there should be no drafts. The soil should be kept just slightly moist.

Amaryllis should be left in their pots and allowed to go dormant this month. To help, stop watering the plant and place it in a totally dark location where it is 45 to 55 degrees. Bulbs need to remain cool and dormant for at least eight weeks. On average, they will re-bloom six to eight weeks after you take them out of storage if you want to time them to bloom around a specific holiday.

The big caveat is that the plant should have seven sets of leaves or more when it goes dormant. Less than that and the bulb may not have enough energy to get a flower going. Just let it grow more leaves after dormancy rather than giving up on it.

How about African violets? These can be beautiful, winter performers, yet I always see plants that are not in bloom. The one sure way to get them to perform in the winter is to put them under artificial lights.

Yes, they will bloom, eventually, if placed on a southern windowsill. But if you want to guarantee flowers all winter long, get those lights I have been suggesting all these years.

One key trick is to pick off spent blossoms as soon as flowers begin to fade. Letting the flowers set seed will delay re-blooming considerably. Plants should be kept just slightly moist. There are so many different kinds of African violets that collecting them is easy. Maybe too easy. However, you won't be interested until you get yours to bloom.

Autumn has become a time to find jasmine plants at local nurseries and occasionally available from florists. There are never enough, of course. If you are lucky to have one (or more), move it to a cool location between 45 an 55 degrees. You will need light, though it doesn't have to be the best available -- direct sunlight -- just light. Leave the plant until December, turning it a couple of times a week, and your jasmine vine will set buds. Be prepared for a fantastic, heady, sweet fragrance come January.

Finally, orchids make great houseplants and most will bloom at least once a year, usually a year from its previous bloom. However, the big secret is that most require a drop in temperature at night of at least 10 degrees. Check the label on any you buy and find a place in your house where the temperatures at night are 10 degrees or so below the optimum temperature suggested. All Alaska homes have rooms were it is much colder at night, don't they? Start now and you should get some blooms this winter.

Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at teamingwithmicrobes.com or by calling 274-5297 during "The Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR AM-700.

ADVERTISEMENT