Poinsettia Care - How Do You Take Care Of Poinsettias, Poinsettia Care Following Christmas: What To Do With Poinsettias After Holidays, Types Of Poinsettia Plants: Choosing Different Poinsettia Varieties, Houseplant Placement – Houseplants And Where To Put Them, Choosing Houseplants For Your Style - What Are The Best Houseplants For My Decor, Button Fern Indoor Requirements – How To Grow Button Fern Houseplants, My Butterfly Bush Looks Dead – How To Revive A Butterfly Bush, My Petunias Are Getting Leggy: Learn How To Stop Leggy Petunias, Fusarium Crown Rot Disease: Control Of Fusarium Crown Rot, Fragrant Houseplants: Best Smelling Houseplants You Should Grow, Peace Lily Growing: The Story of My Peace Lily Houseplant, Goal For The New Year: Creating A Garden That Feeds The Birds, Garden Design Plans: Dreamin’ Of A Garden Arbor Over Patio. Whenever you do water the plant, water it thoroughly until the water drips out of the holes at the bottom of the pot. Although poinsettias are considered Christmas plants, with proper care, they will bloom well through Valentine’s Day, Kumm said. Since poinsettias are long-term crops, the grower must supply all necessary nutrients for optimum plant growth. Poinsettias are usually sold with the containers wrapped in colorful foil. Watering – water, either too much or too little, kills more poinsettias than any other thing the homeowner does. Place near sunlight. If the plant already had leaves with a yellowish cast to them when you received it, then they will not last long into the winter. How to water poinsettias. How to keep poinsettias alive year-round. High temperatures will shorten the file of the bracts. Poinsettias do not tolerate warm or cold drafts which may cause premature leaf drop, so keep them away from radiators, air vents, and fans as well as open windows or doors. The bright colour of the bracts will remain longer if temperatures do not exceed 22°C. With proper care, the popular plant can last through the end of the year and beyond. Because poinsettias are from Central America, they are used to a fair amount of sun. Poinsettias are not xeriscape plants. (If you’re not a fan of poinsettias, consider these … If you do, wait until nighttime temperatures remain above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, choose a location with morning sun and rotate the pot periodically so the plant's … Place the poinsettia in a sunny window. Provide lots of sunlight — a sunny window with east, west, or southern exposure is best. Water / FertilizingExamine the soil before watering your poinsettia each day. “If it’s dry to ½ inch, the plant needs water,” he said. Apply water at the bottom of the plant when the soil seems dry, allowing the water to drain well. If you leave the plant in its decorative foil wrapper, punch holes in the bottom to ensure proper drainage. Poinsettias should be watered when the plant's soil is dry. In a week or two, when the plant has acclimated to this drying process, move it to a cool spot, such as the basement or a heated … And you never want the soil to always be that heavy weight, dark (almost) black colored soil. Remove the wrapper as soon as you get home to allow for proper drainage. Poinsettias prefer moderately moist soil, so when the soil begins to feel dry to the touch, add enough water so the excess drips out the drain holes, but never allow the plant to sit in water. Poinsettia plants should be watered thoroughly, taking care not to drown them by ensuring adequate drainage is available. Occasionally the plant was fertilized in the greenhouse only minimally. Lift up the pot after you have watered it. You never want the soil to get to that light weight, medium brown colored soil. So the first thing you need to do to care for your holiday Christmas poinsettia is remove the foil. If it is lightweight, the potting mix is dry and a thorough watering is needed. The easiest way to water poinsettias is to lift them from the pot, place them in the sink, and water them with the faucet. The key to watering a poinsettia is the moisture content of the potting soil. Place your new plants in a sunny location. To know how often to water poinsettias, watch for dry soil. Poinsettias, amaryllis, Christmas cactus, rosemary, Norfolk Island pines and several other plants can be used to brighten your home during the holiday season, Owings added. Deal with the … Continue regular watering during the growth period. Poinsettias are great! When watering these plants, carefully remove the poinsettia from the pot covering, water the plant in the sink, then drop the poinsettia back into its pot cover. Poinsettias from supermarkets and discount stores, while less expensive, often have been abused by inadequate light and water. In a greenhouse, where the temperature and air movement is more controllable, the commercial grower may have a predicable schedule. Put around 4 cubes in a 6-inch pot, increasing the number accordingly for larger containers. The best way to water a poinsettia plant is to put the plant in the kitchen sink, then saturate the plant slowly until water drips through the drainage hole. But in the home, there is inconsistency. Many commercial growers use a soilless mix. and do water as soon as it starts to dry out. They may or may not turn yellow before they drop off. When watering your poinsettia, make sure to remove any outer pot or wrapping to allow for proper drainage. You'd be forgiven for thinking the vibrant red colours of the plant are flower petals but in fact, these are called bracts. Do not let any part of plant touch cold window panes. For nearly eight decades, this rumor has continued to circulate because of one unfounded story in 1919: that an Army officer’s two year old child allegedly died after eating a poinsettia leaf. Place your new plants in a sunny location. Watering Poinsettias. Davis: With proper care, poinsettias can last beyond the holidays Dec 6, 2020 Dec 6, 2020; Facebook; Twitter; WhatsApp ; SMS ... Continue regular watering during … They can be counted on to give you more color and to last longer than other flowering plants. Growth of a Poinsettia LIGHT: Place your new Poinsettia near a sunny window for best results. Under unfavorable conditions, the leaves will turn yellow and drop off; the bracts may also drop. Now how often should you water? We recommend placing yours by a well-lit window, so that it can receive the proper amount of sunlight. With proper care, your poinsettia will last through the holiday season and right into late winter. In fact, that's when they really are wilted. Check the bottom of the pot as soon as you bring the poinsettia home. Poinsettias are small shrubs that grow wild in the deciduous tropical forests of Mexico, but to most of us, they bring color to the home during the winter holidays. That would be over-watering it. That care includes not … Every time after that when it was watered, the excess water was trapped inside that colorful foil around the pot. The weight will get lighter as the water is absorbed by the plant roots, but there reaches a point when it gets so light weight that is noticeable. Watering should be based on when your plant needs water and when the soil dries out. The goal is to keep the soil evenly moist, neither dry nor swampy. Poinsettia Care Guidelines . If it stayed at the retail market more than a few days, it probably got watered a little less than perfectly. He found them growing wild in southern Mexico. And finally, after blooming, discard or begin preparing the plant to bloom again next year. Also try to keep the temperature between 65 and 70 degrees during the day, keeping in mind that the area around a drafty window can be quite a bit cooler than the rest of the room. Be careful not to over-water, which can cause wilting and leaf loss. Only water the poinsettia when it needs it (when it feels light, or the soil is dry to the touch), poinsettias don’t like to stay wet all the time. Water: Poinsettias like moist, but not wet, soil. The best indicator of the plant needing water is to pick up the pot and judge the weight. Humidity levels between 20 and 50 percent are ideal. This is a sign the plant is too stressed and is dying. Remove the wrapper as soon as you get home to allow for proper drainage. Give your poinsettia water only when soil is dry. Additionally, the poinsettia will be happier if you remove any decorative foil, as the foil may hold water that can rot the plant. Many homes are kept too hot, causing the air to dry out and leaves to drop. The plant was often grown in a greenhouse in its pot, with a sophisticated watering system or trained greenhouse workers who watered it properly. Keep the soil damp but not sopping wet. Place them on a tray of wet pebbles and spritz them with a water sprayer daily. Don’t expose your poinsettia to temperatures below 50 degrees. Rick Bogren. With proper care, the popular plant can last through the end of the year and beyond. (See picture above.). Don’t expose your poinsettia to temperatures below 50 degrees. If you are keeping some indoors, we recommend putting the pot near a window facing where the sun rises and … High temperatures will shorten the file of the bracts. December 3, 2020. can you root poinsettia cuttings in water Poinsettias are sensitive to a disorder referred to as bract edge burn, a problem that causes the edges of the bracts to become brown and necrotic. This may seem strange due to their holiday connotations, but poinsettias are tropical plants. You can also try the root-watering method: drench the root of the plant in water, then replace in its pot when the water's drained completely. Practicing proper watering techniques is important to the survival of all plants. Around the first of March, start fertilizing the poinsettia with a good balanced fertilizer. Poinsettias are a very common site during the Christmas holidays. Furthermore, it is not … But you can. This mix is much lighter weight than a soil-based potting mix.