Poinsettias are America’s best selling flowering potted plant. Would you believe that each year Americans purchase over 60 million of this popular holiday plant? My favorite color is white, but the photo above would indicate that I don’t make all the decisions in our household. Choose your battles, right?
Anyway, the color red accounts for nearly three-quarters of all sales, followed by white and pink. Lately, there are all these crazy colors available as the result of dyes and paint. Oh wait! Can I have some glitter with my obnoxious airbrushed poinsettia? What’s up people? Stick to the classics. Good taste never goes out of style.
Below is a list of best practices to prolong the life of your poinsettia, no matter what color it is.
©Meadow View Growers Inc.
Caring for Poinsettia Plants
First and foremost, protect your plants from wind or cold on the way home from the store. They are highly sensitive to cold temps and just a few minutes of exposure below 50°F can cause them to wilt. Make sure they are wrapped properly for transport.
Once you’re home, unwrap your plant carefully and place it in indirect light. Six hours of light per day is ideal. You can diffuse bright light with shades, shudders or sheer curtains.
Keep poinsettias away from warm or cold drafts which can be caused by opening doors or windows, air registers and radiators. This is perhaps the best thing you can do to prolong the life of your poinsettias.
Keep poinsettias from touching cold windows.
Ideal temperatures for poinsettias: Daytime temps of 60° to 70°F and night time temps around 50°F are ideal. High temps will shorten the plant’s life
Check the soil daily and water when dry. Water enough so the soil is moist but not soggy. If your poinsettia has a decorative foil or plastic wrapper around it, punch holes or cut out a circle in the bottom so water can drain out. Place a saucer beneath the pot to catch water. Discard excess water.
Want to save your poinsettia and have it rebloom next year? Good luck. I don’t recommend it as the process, while completely doable, requires constant care. Its like having a puppy. And, I’ve never known anyone to actually have rebloom happen. But if you really want to know how, follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS58ZkRTnqs
And there you have it. Following these simple tips will help keep your poinsettia looking lush and healthy throughout the entire holiday season.
Did You Know?
Most people think the colored parts of poinsettias are the flowers, but they are actually colored bracts. Bracts are modified leaves.
In nature, poinsettias are perennial flowering shrubs that can grow to ten feet tall.
Poinsettias are native to Mexico.
Poinsettias are not poisonous. Studies have shown that eating bracts will not kill you, but they might give you a stomach ache. Where did they find the people to be human test subjects for that study?!
Poinsettias were introduced into the United States in 1825 by Joel Poinsett.
December 12th is National Poinsettia Day.