Should You Remove Foil Plant Pot Covers? What Our Gardening Experts Recommend

It’s common practice for nurseries to put colorful foil plant pot covers on plants, especially around the holidays. Poinsettias often don this festive wrapping, but you can find just about any holiday plant wrapped in aluminum around Christmastime. Many mini Christmas tree varieties like lemon cypress and dwarf Alberta spruce, as well as more unique holiday plants like hellebore often fall prey to this seasonal tradition.

Yes, foil looks festive, but it doesn't exactly create an ideal environment for your plants to grow. So should you remove foil on plants as soon as you get them home or is it ok to leave it on for the holiday season? Read on to learn more.

Reasons for Foil on Plants

Nurseries wrap foil around plants because it makes them more attractive and festive. It hides the inexpensive green, black, or brown plastic pot that most plants are grown in.

However, those foil-wrapped plants often die after only a couple of weeks. There are many reasons why a foil-wrapped plant may die. There are plenty of poinsettia care mistakes and other plant mistakes that are easy to make. But once you've ruled out the most common issues, it's time to look at the foil wrapping.

The foil around plants is often to blame for the early demise of the plant. The problem is that water catches in the foil because it has nowhere to go. As a result, the bottom of the pot sits in the water and the plant soon rots because its roots are sopping wet and unable to breathe.

So, if you’re wondering if you should remove foil around plants, the answer is yes. You should remove foil as soon as you get your plant home.

How to Keep Plants Wrapped in Foil Safely

But what if you don't care about making your poinsettia flower year after year or even keeping your foil-wrapped plants past the holidays? Is it possible to keep a foil-wrapped plant alive just for the holiday season?

If you want to leave that colorful foil in place a little longer and enjoy the cheery look it provides all season, just poke several tiny holes in the bottom of the foil, then set the foil-wrapped plant on a tray or saucer to catch the drained water. This way you can enjoy the pretty wrapper, but the plant has drainage it needs in order to survive.

You can also lift the plant from the foil wrapping. Water the plant in the sink and let it drain thoroughly before replacing the foil.

Eventually, you’ll either discard the plant (many people toss out poinsettias after the holidays, so don’t feel bad) or in the case of Christmas cactus and lucky bamboo, move it to a more permanent container. Some plants, like mums, can even be planted outdoors, but check your USDA plant hardiness zone first.

Shop Festive Seasonal Plants

• There are lots of festive Christmas flowers other than poinsettias to try. Decorate your home with some of our favorites.
• The bold and beautiful holiday blooms don't need foil wrapping to shine! Explore varieties that will put on a show the whole holiday season.
• Instead of giving your holiday host yet another passé poinsettia wrapped in red foil, try one of these unique houseplant gift ideas instead.
• Find even more of our favorite winter plants for seasonal interest in the Gardening Know How Shop.

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