December Indoor Flower Care Guide
An introduction to indoor flower care for many girls, December Indoor Flower Care Guide, corrections are welcome if there are any mistakes!
1. Transplanting In mid-December, you can transplant herbaceous flowers in the courtyard, such as: Dianthus, Ornamental Kale, Pansy, Goldfish grass (south), Marigold, Daisy, Hollyhock, Malva, Lady's Mantle, Phlox, Onion Lily, Liriope spicata, Ophiopogon japonicus, etc. Moreover, you can plant bulbs like Tulip, Hyacinth, and Red Narcissus in masses or in rows on both sides of the courtyard paths. Note that in areas north of the Yangtze River, attention should be paid to preventing cold when transplanting or planting herbaceous flowers and bulbous flowers.
In December, it is a good period for transplanting deciduous flowering shrubs in the courtyard, including species such as Hibiscus, Pomegranate, Purple Wistaria, Wisteria, Trumpet Creeper, Cherry Plum, Apricot, Purple Magnolia, White Magnolia, Jojo Magnolia, Winter梅花, Lilac, Red Leaf Plum, Purple Leaf Cherry, Purple Leaf Peach, Peach, Prunus mume, Rose, Red Leaf Berberis, Gold Leaf Privet, Money Tree, Red Incense, Spirea, Honeysuckle, Snowball, Campanula, Osmanthus, and Forsythia. It is best to keep the soil ball intact, water thoroughly after planting, to ensure the survival of the transplanted plants. Evergreen flowering shrubs that can be transplanted in the courtyard include: Osmanthus, French Holly, Golden Cypress, Variegated Cypress, Dragon柏, Palm, Canary Island Date Palm (should not be lower than -10℃), Azalea, Gardenia,红花檵木, Nandina domestica, Boxwood, and Mahonia. It is worth noting that when transplanting evergreen flowering shrubs, the soil ball should be kept intact, moderately pruned, and moisture retention work should be done through spraying.
In order to have potted flowers in full bloom for indoor display during the Spring Festival, you can dig up梅花, Winter梅花, Forsythia, Campanula, Tea Plant, and海棠 from the ground at the beginning of December and pot them up, placing them in a double-layer greenhouse with good insulation properties, strengthening management to ensure they bloom on time around the Spring Festival.
2. Pruning The main plants that should be pruned in the courtyard are mainly divided into three categories: ground planted flowering shrubs, hedges, green walls, and color blocks, and geometric or other shapes. Pruning should be based on different functions and standards. For ground planted flowering shrubs, in addition to cutting off diseased, weak, dead, and disorderly branches, efforts should be made to achieve a natural and beautiful crown shape and good ventilation and light transmission inside. For hedges, green walls, and color blocks, the requirements are flat surfaces, straight lines, and clear angles. For ball shapes and other formations, they should be round and generous.
3. Watering For plants that have survived after transplanting at the beginning of this year, no watering is needed unless the soil is very dry. For plants transplanted in spring and summer that have not yet fully survived, if the weather is sunny and rainless for a long time, they can be sprayed with water on the crown every 10 days or so. For newly transplanted flowering shrubs or herbaceous flowers in late autumn and early winter, attention should be paid to watering management, watering once a week to ensure they can survive smoothly. For evergreen flowering shrubs in the courtyard that are covered with dust, they can be sprayed with water on the crown around noon on sunny days to wash off the dust attached to the leaves, which is conducive to photosynthesis.
4. Fertilization For ground planted flowering shrubs that have been pruned, such as Camellia, Winter梅花, Forsythia, Campanula, White Magnolia, Purple Magnolia, Rose, Wisteria,海棠, Michelia, Osmanthus, and Narcissus, you can dig a circular trench around the rootstock, more than 15 cm deep, and apply a moderate amount of compound fertilizer or cake fertilizer to meet their growth needs for the coming year. For newly transplanted flowering shrubs in late autumn and early winter, all forms of fertilization should be stopped. In the southern region, for ground planted grasses such as Dianthus, Hollyhock, Ornamental Kale, Lady's Mantle, Phlox, Daisy, Marigold, and Pansy, low-concentration thin liquid fertilizers can continue to be applied.
5. Disease and Pest Control For flowering shrubs with a trunk diameter of 2 to 3 centimeters or more, making a whitewash mixture to paint the trunk can reduce the occurrence of diseases and pests in the coming year. For plants with some exposed woody parts, a lime sulfur mixture can be prepared or purchased for application, which can prevent rot or borer damage. Inspect the trunk, bark, and rootstock for egg masses and larvae and destroy them. Dry branches, fallen leaves, and weeds in the courtyard should also be cleared and burned.
6. Soil Preparation For a small amount of land in the courtyard intended for sowing, cutting, and transplanting next year, deep plowing can be carried out in December, and cake fertilizer, pond mud, and farmyard manure can be applied. For cutting land, no fertilizer is needed and no bed is made temporarily. After overwintering and frost, the bed is made in the following spring, which can greatly reduce the harm of underground pests in the coming year.
7. Fertilizer Preparation Utilize spare time to crush rapeseed cake, soybean cake, etc., pour them into vats or ponds, add water, and seal them to ferment into fertilizer. Mix animal manure such as pig and cattle manure, chicken manure, and pigeon manure with garden soil and pile them up, covered with plastic film to compost, which can be used for making growing soil and topdressing next year. Burn the dry branches, leaves, and weeds cleared from the garden in layers with garden soil, and the sifted charred soil can be used for sowing cover or making growing soil.
8. Seed Collection The main types of woody ornamental plants that can be harvested for seeds include: Wisteria, Ligustrum, Small-leaf Privet, Firethorn, Fortune Plant, Sassafras, Photinia, Pear Tree, Holly, and Winter Holly. Most of these types must be stratified and germinated after treatment, and then sown in the ground in the following spring after the seeds have cracked and the radicle is visible. Most of the herbaceous flowers that can be harvested for seeds are those placed in simple greenhouses, such as Red Salvia, Celosia, Marigold,孔雀草, and Clivia, but Clivia seeds should be sown immediately after harvesting.
9. Root Storage For Dahlia tubers and underground stems of large-flowered Canna stored indoors with sand, they should be checked frequently. It is necessary to maintain the room temperature not lower than 4℃ to 5℃ and keep the sand slightly moist to prevent rot.
The above is the specific content of the December Indoor Flower Care Guide for everyone to refer to and operate.