Poinsettia Growing Guide
Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are a traditional festive holiday plant with beautiful red and green foliage. Poinsettias usually show up in garden centers just before Thanksgiving with most being purchased for the Christmas holiday season. There may still be some for sale after New Years Day.
Poinsettias get their name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico. Poinsett was also a physician and a botanist who brought the plant back here. It is a tropical plant that is native to Mexico and Central America.
While in an area south of Mexico City he saw a plant that the locals called the ‘Christmas Eve’ flower. As an amateur botanist he was very interested in the plant and sent some to the United States and they later became known as Poinsettias. He lived in Greenville, South Carolina.
In Greenville there is a statue honoring Joel Poinsett, as well as the Poinsett Hotel and Poinsett Bridge. At the Greenville airport they put up a Poinsettia tree made up of 168-Poinsettias that is more than 10-feet tall.
In its native habitat it grows as a perennial shrub reaching heights of over 10-feet high. It has a small yellow flower called a cyathium which is surrounded by brightly colored leaves called bracts. Through selective breeding the bracts can come in colors of the traditional red as well as burgundy, pink, coral, white and marbled.
Watering and Care
Most Poinsettias are purchased during the cold weather prior to Christmas and should be protected from the cold temperatures by wrapping the entire plant in plastic or paper until you get home. Poinsettias are a tropical plant and could die if left in a freezing car while you continue shopping. Make it the last thing you buy and get it home as soon as you can.
Poinsettias should be placed in a bright location that gets indirect sun. Most homes are too dry and warm for them to look their best for a very long time. They do best in temperatures between 60-degrees F to 70-degrees F. Try to give them as much humidly as possible, which will help them retain their beautiful color well into the New Year.
A cold drafty location will cause the leaves to have a wrinkled shriveled up look due to the cold and loss of moisture.
The soil should be kept moist but should have good drainage. Almost all Poinsettia plants are sold in pots that are wrapped in a shiny decorative wrapper. You should remove it or make some holes in the bottom to let water drain out into a saucer. While Poinsettias are in bloom they will not need any fertilizer.
Toss or Keep?
Sometime after the New Year your Poinsettia will start get a tired look. Most people will simply just toss it out. On the other hand it is a perennial and if you like a challenge you can keep it around for many years.
If you decide to keep your Poinsettia you can treat it like a houseplant and get it to bloom again next fall.
Most of the poinsettias grown today do not need to go through a rest period to rebloom. Keep giving it good light and the soil moist. A light fertilizer every 2 to 4-weeks will help keep their colorful bracts until summer.
Around the beginning of June you can cut it back. If you had a small plant you can cut it back to about 6-inches above the pot. A much larger plant can be cut to about 12 to 15-inches above the pot. All you may have left are bare stems that are producing a white latex sap that some people have an allergic reaction to, so use rubber gloves it you are.
Using a good potting soil repot it into an 8 to 10-inch pot keeping the stem at the same height it was before. Make sure the pot has good drainage and keep the soil moist. Before you know it tiny new leaves will start to emerge.
As your Poinsettia continues to grow place it in full sun and turn it 180-degrees each time you water it. Fertilize it along with your other houseplants. As summer temperatures get warmer and the night time temperature consistently stays above 50-degrees F you can plant it in its pot in a sheltered place in your garden.
Every 3-weeks you can pinch back the growing tips to 2 or 3-fully grown leaves. This will encourage new branches and buds to appear. Before the night temperatures drop below 55-degrees F bring it back indoors.
Poinsettias are photoperiodic which means that it needs shorter days and longer nights to trigger the formation of flower buds and bracts. It needs at least 13 to 14-hours of darkness for this to occur starting October 1 for 40-nights.
Most sources will say to put your Poinsettia in a closet at 6 PM and take it out at 7 or 8 A.M. placing it back in a sunny location during the day. Any light that strikes your plant during the time it needs to be dark will delay the formation of the bracts by about 3-days. It is hard to remember to put it in the closet at night and take it out again the next day. Very few people are successful and are disappointed with the lack of results.
Poinsettias bloom just fine in their native habitat, as well as in greenhouses where they grow them by the thousands.
Any room that you do not use at night will be a more successful way to get your Poinsettia to rebloom. Just put it in the window so it gets sun during the day and keep the door closed at sunset. Do not let the nighttime temperatures go below 60-degrees F and the daytime temperatures can be 70 to 75-degrees F. The natural cycle of sunset and sunrise will give your Poinsettia the correct amount of darkness. The dim light of a full moon is not enough to affect the reblooming. Put a sign on the door as a reminder to keep the door closed and that it needs to be watered.
Toward the end of October you will see color in the new leaves that intensifies as they get larger.
Popular Poinsettia Varieties
There are more than 150-varieties of Poinsettias, these are a small sampling.
Red: Bouquet, Ferrara, Aria Red, Astro Red, Christmas Joy Red, Carousel Red, Majoris Red, Titan Red, Winter Rose Red
White: Titan White, Princettia Pure White, Whitestar, Christmas Joy White, Christmas Beauty North Pole
Pink: Christmas Lights, Luv U Pink Splash, Luv U Soft Pink, Luv U Hot Pink, Princettia Queen Pink, Visions of Grandeur
Peach: Monet
Novelties: Ice Punch, Sonora White Glitter, Premium Ice Crystal, Marblestar, Marbella
For the Christmas holiday season it would be unusual to find a Poinsettia with the variety listed. If you are a serious Poinsettia grower, you can find many rooted Poinsettia cuttings as well as seeds for sale online.
Tips and Warnings
Poinsettias are often thought to be toxic, but the American Association of Poison Control Centers says that a 50-pound child would have to eat 500 leaves (about 1.25 pounds) to be harmed. The white latex sap can cause an allergic reaction in some people who come in contact with it.
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