hi I'm Lee with lyndale plant services
here today to talk about a couple of
Christmas plants that aren't poinsettias
the Norfolk Island pine is often sold
this time of year because it's such a
nice addition to the home at Christmas
time it has very soft needles but the
word pine can be deceiving Norfolk
Island is off the coast of Australia so
this is a tropical plant even though it
looks like you would fit right in with
our landscape here in the Upper Midwest
so again this plant needs to be taken
very when you bring it home make sure
that it's well wrapped to protect it
from the cold it doesn't do well under
50 degrees and we're long past where 50
degrees was in our forecast they can
grow quite tall indoors even they can
grow up to six to eight feet the thing
about these guys to remember is that if
you cut the sides or the top it's not
going to grow back like a lot of plants
will regenerate a chute so you always
want to make sure that you just trim
from underneath and let it grow it's got
a spiral growth pattern which makes them
easy to just they come out and they just
form this nice round look so that it's
always a nice rounded plant this is the
plant that you don't want to ever let
dry down that expression moderately
moist applies here not every plant likes
it but this one does like to be kept
moderately moist this is also a great
plant to put outside in the summer time
you'll get great growth outdoors if you
do but just remember to bring it back
into the house before those temperatures
hit 40 and 50 at night because it's
tropical so again a great plant we use
this in our accounts all through the
years all through the year not just at
Christmastime it's a great indoor plant
as well now Christmas cactus and the
name cactus throws some people it truly
it's the succulent not a cactus
so this blooms in response again to
short nights meaning as the days get
cooler and shorter it sets bud which as
you can see this one is done very well
setting bud
they come in Nice hanging baskets they
come in four inch sizes and as you can
see they do very well in a hanging
if this one wants to be in a hanging
basket because I don't have one that
small I'm just going to put it in a nice
little pop for now when you Det had
these flowers off of here I wanted to
point out that there can be a bud right
next to a flower that's already fading
and I hope you can see this but right
here on this leaf I'm going to take this
butt off and there's already a new
little bud forming there so when you're
deadheading be careful that you're not
just pulling them off hard you might
want to double check make sure that
you're not pulling off a flower bud as
well this plant is tropical it's from
South America so while it's in bloom you
want to keep it moderately moist when
you keep the green plant after it's done
blooming and this is what I really do
like to keep I like to put it outside in
the summer and those cooler nights help
set the buds so I'm guaranteed new
blooms but when it's outside in the
summertime keep it more shaded keep it
drier because it's a succulent when it's
in bloom is when it's going to do its
best drinking it's going to drink more
water than now when you go to buy one of
these at the store again it's a tropical
you want to wrap it well but one thing
that happens sometimes is when you buy
it in full bloom which you do the buds
can drop from stress so be real careful
wrapping and making sure that it stays
warm on its drive home or you may come
home and find these buds dropping off
for no reason you know just from stress
so take care of those guys and you'll
have these for many many years
you know everybody knows somebody who's
got one that's 20 years old and have
been their grandma's so it's a
long-lived plant if you take care of it
right I hope you enjoy these additions
to your Christmas home and that you use
them to decorate and have a little jolly
look in your home have a great Christmas
holiday season five