Greenheart® Farms-Poinsettia

Year-Round Care of Poinsettia Plants

Check your poinsettia daily and follow these tips. Water your poinsettia frequently but don't drown it. Keep the plant out of drafts, hot or cold. Place the plant in good light inside the house. And finally, after blooming, discard or begin preparing the plant to bloom again next year.

Poinsettias are perhaps the most difficult flowering potted plants to rebloom indoors. After most of the poinsettia leaves fall off, reduce the watering and store the dormant plant in a cool, well ventilated place at 60 degrees F. or above (the garage is an excellent place for these less than attractive plants).

In March prune back the stems to about 6 inches above the ground and re-pot the plant into a container which is one to two inches larger in diameter than the original pot. A good potting mix, one of the commercially prepared potting mixes, should be used.

Water the plant thoroughly and place it in a sunny window, keeping it at 70 to 75 degrees F. When new growth begins, the poinsettia should be fertilized every two weeks with a water soluble, complete fertilizer. The rate recommended for pot plants on the label of the fertilizer container should be used.

Once the danger of frost is past, the plant can be moved outdoors where it can receive moderate shade in mid-afternoon. As growth develops, the top can be cut or pinched back leaving three or four leaves on each shoot. This procedure should be repeated each time the plant sends out new shoots until mid-August. Then bring the plant indoors and set it near a sunny window where the temperature will remain between 65 to 75 degrees F.

To have the plant in full bloom by Christmas, you must keep it in complete darkness from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. starting the first week in October and continuing until Thanksgiving. Flowering will be delayed if the plant receives any supplemental lighting during this period. The poinsettia will set flower buds only after being exposed to the short day (10 hours light or less) for about 10 weeks. In the daytime the plant must be in a sunny location for maximum growth and development of bracts and flowers. Continue to apply water soluble fertilizer until mid-December then reduce applications.

Origins of the Poinsettia

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