Poinsettia

Poinsettias

Poinsettias are one of the major symbols of the Holidays. Below you will find some information on the care and upkeep involved in keeping them looking nice through the holidays and beyond.

Poinsettias are a tropical plant

From the moment you purchase your poinsettia
at a store, you must take special care in
protecting it. They do not like cold weather,
so make sure you take your plant directly
home once you buy it. Do not leave it in
your car all day. If you do, you will have
a lovely green stemmed leafless plant—Oh-
what a great conversation piece.

Put your plant in a nice warm sunny spot.
They need at least 6 hours of light. Do not
let the hot afternoon sun blast through the
window onto your plant, your nice color will
go bye-bye. Don’t put it near a door or a
drafty place. Again–Poinsettias do not like
the cold. Through the holidays your plant
should do just fine. Check to see if it needs
water from time to time, but do not over
water.

Keeping the Poinsettia for next year

When the color begins to fade from your plant,
you can cut it back to about 6 to 8 inches
from the soil line.
Keep the plant in the same location–as before.
continue to check to see if it needs water.
The plant does not require a lot of water
at this time. Just don’t let it dry out.
In no time at all, you should have new growth
starting to pop from the stem. After it warms
up outside, (late spring)you can set it outside.
If your poinsettia is root bound, (More roots
than soil)transplant it to a container one
size larger.(Example-6 in up to a 8 in) Fertilize
the plant through out the summer. A balanced
fertilizer works well—about every 3 weeks.
A liquid fertilizer also works good for most
kinds of plants in containers.

Getting your poinsettia to Bloom again

Bring your Poinsettia indoors before the
nights get cold in the fall. You need to
bring your plant indoors at least by October,
so it will be blooming by the holidays.Poinsettias
need at least 14 straight hours of complete
darkness in order for them to bloom. The
darkness can not be interrupted at all or
the plant will not bloom. A closet that you
are not going to be using at night works
well.It must be a warm place, above 60 degrees.So
if you put your plant away for the night
at 6 o’clock, you would bring it back out
at 8 in the morning. During the day put the
plant in the same kind of location as last
year, They need at least 6 hours of day light.

Keep this up for about 8 weeks and you should
have a colorful Poinsettia for the holidays.
It’s well worth the effort.

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