Gift Plant Acclimation After Purchase

For the first two weeks after a potted plant comes home from a store or arrives as a gift, the goal is to cut stress: bring it home warm, take off the foil sleeve, make sure water can drain, give it bright indirect light away from drafts and heat vents, water only when the top inch of mix is dry, and keep it apart from your other houseplants while you check for pests. Hold off on repotting and fertilizer for at least a few weeks. A few dropped leaves or buds in the first week are normal adjustment, not a dying plant.

Most gift plants spend their early life in a greenhouse with bright light, high humidity, and steady temperatures. A living room is darker and drier, and the trip home can be cold. The plant reacts by dropping some leaves or flowers while it adjusts. A calm, steady first two weeks keeps that reaction small.

Getting it home

1. Protect it from cold. Many flowering gift plants are tropical and can be damaged by a few minutes below about 50°F. Ask for a paper sleeve or a bag, warm up the car first, and carry it close to your body to and from the car.
2. Make it the last stop. Do not leave a plant in a parked car, hot or cold.
3. Ride in the cabin, not the trunk, wedged so it cannot tip.

The first hour

• Remove the foil or plastic sleeve, or at least cut slits in the bottom. Decorative sleeves trap water and rot roots.
• Check for a drainage hole. Many gift plants sit in a nursery pot inside a decorative pot with no hole. Lift the inner pot out after each watering, let it drain, then put it back.
• Empty any water sitting in the sleeve, cover pot, or saucer.
• Feel the mix. Greenhouse mixes are often peat based and can feel dry on top while the bottom stays wet. Lifting the pot tells you a lot: a light pot needs water, a heavy one does not.

Where to put it the first week

Choose bright, indirect light and a steady temperature of about 60 to 72°F. Keep the plant away from heat registers, fireplaces, radiators, the top of a television, and drafty doors. Keep flowering plants away from bowls of ripening fruit, since the ethylene gas fruit gives off can make flowers and buds drop early. Then leave it in place. Moving a plant from room to room in the first weeks often causes bud drop, especially on Christmas cactus.

Water carefully

Water only when the top inch of mix feels dry, then water thoroughly so a little runs out the bottom, and empty the saucer after 15 minutes. Overwatering kills far more gift plants than underwatering does. A simple soil moisture meter helps, and you can read more in soil moisture meters for houseplants.

Quarantine for two weeks

Store plants can bring pests home. Keep a new plant in a separate room, or at least a few feet from other houseplants, for about two weeks. Every few days check the undersides of leaves and leaf joints with a magnifier for mealybugs, scale, spider mites, and whiteflies, and set a yellow sticky trap nearby to catch fungus gnats. If you find pests, treat the new plant before it joins the others. See fungus gnats in houseplants, spider mites in dry winter heat, and bringing houseplants indoors without pests.

What not to do yet

• Do not repot right away. Most gift plants are snug in their pots on purpose. Repot in spring if roots are crowded.
• Do not fertilize for at least a month. The plant arrives well fed and is adjusting, not growing.
• Do not prune hard. Snip off only spent flowers and yellow leaves.

Quick notes for common gift plants

• Poinsettia: bright light, about 65 to 70°F, no cold drafts. See poinsettia care after purchase.
• Orchid: bright indirect light, water roughly weekly, never let it sit in water. See orchid care after a gift.
• Christmas cactus: steady spot, evenly moist mix while in bloom. See Christmas cactus bloom care.
• Cyclamen: cool room, bright light, water from below. See indoor cyclamen care.
• Kalanchoe: bright light and dry mix between waterings.
• Rosemary trees: the brightest window you have, and never let the mix dry out completely. See bay laurel and rosemary topiaries indoors.
• Norfolk Island pine: bright light and humidity. See Norfolk Island pine indoor care.
• Miniature roses: very bright light. They are often short lived indoors and can be planted outdoors in spring.

Pet notes

Some popular gift plants are toxic to pets, so check before you set one down. The ASPCA lists kalanchoe, cyclamen, amaryllis, and clivia as toxic to dogs and cats. Kalanchoe can cause vomiting and diarrhea and, rarely, abnormal heart rhythm. Poinsettia usually causes only mild mouth and stomach irritation. Christmas cactus, roses, and rosemary are listed as non-toxic by the ASPCA, although any plant can cause mild stomach upset if eaten. Lilies in cut bouquets are highly toxic to cats and can cause kidney failure, so keep them out of homes with cats. Remove foil, ribbon, and plastic picks, which can cause a blockage if swallowed. If a pet chews a plant and seems unwell, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435. See what to do if a cat eats a plant and what to do if a dog eats a plant.

Bottom line

Bring the plant home warm, unwrap it, let it drain, give it a bright and steady spot, water only when needed, and keep it apart for two weeks. Do those few things and most gift plants settle in and keep looking good for weeks.

Related reading

• Poinsettia care after purchase
• Orchid care after a gift
• Indoor cyclamen care
• Humidity trays and grouping for winter houseplants
• Living greens table centerpieces

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