Categories: Gardening

Poinsettia Care After the Holidays Are Over

Poinsettias are traditionally Christmas time plants. Many people throw out their Poinsettias after the holidays are over. Did you know that you can keep these plants looking beautiful all year long? If you want to put in some effort, you might even get them to rebloom.

Post Holiday Care for Poinsettias

If you plan on keeping your Poinsettia after the holidays are over, you should fertilize it about once a month. However, do not fertilize during its heavy blooming period.

Keep Poinsettias watered regularly, but do not let the soil stay too wet. Allow them to dry out somewhat between waterings. If you let you Poinsettias get too dry, they will lose many of their leaves. See if you can strike the correct balance.

Make sure to remove your Poinsettia from a plastic sleeve. If your Poinsettia came in a foil sleeve, you can leave that in place. Just make sure that it has drainage holes on the bottom.

Give your Poinsettia bright indirect light for about six hours a day. Don’t put them too close to cold windows. If they are going to be in a South facing window, try to filter strong summer time light with a sheer curtain.

Pinch it Back

During the late winter or early spring, you will want to pinch you Poinsettia back to about 4 – 6 inches in height. Otherwise, the plant will become tall and leggy. Pinching the plant back will promote the growth of side shoots and will keep your Poinsettia bushy and full.

Repot Your Poinsettia

In the early spring, you may want to repot your Poinsettia. Before you do this, however, be sure to check if it is really necessary. If there is still plenty of room for the roots to expand, don’t repot it now. Choose a pot one size larger than its current pot, but no larger. Make sure that the new pot has drainage holes on the bottom and a saucer to catch any water which runs off. For specific instructions regarding repotting plants, check my article titled Repotting Your Plants Made Easy. You’ll find it at www.associatedcontent.com/article/108520/repotting_your_plants_made_easy.html.

Summer time Care for your Poinsettia

You may want to put your Poinsettia outside for the summer. There is nothing like the way plants will thrive if they are placed outdoors. Your Poinsettia is no exception.

Make sure to wait until all threat of frost has passed. A good rule of thumb for this in the New York area is to wait until Mother’s Day to put any house plants outside.

When you first put your Poinsettia, or any houseplant for that matter, outside, keep it in a place where it will get indirect light, but no direct sun. If you put your Poinsettia outside and right into the direct sun, you will burn it and it may die. After a few days of acclimation, place it in a sunnier spot. Some afternoon shade would probably be a good idea.

Make sure to turn the pot on a regular basis. Other wise, you’ll wind up with a Poinsettia that has grown only on one side. Also, you’ll want to fertilize every couple of weeks during this time period.

Getting Your Poinsettia to Rebloom

This is a task which should not be attempted by the faint of heart! You can keep our Poinsettia as a regular house plant and it will be lovely. It may even put out some leaves with color for the next holiday season.

If you are daring, give this a shot. Poinsettias will only rebloom when they have had short days and long nights. They require nights of at least twelve hours from the end of September through the middle of December.

Once you bring your Poinsettia in from outside, place it in a room which will not get too much night time light (even light bulbs count). You will need to keep it from getting any light at all for those long twelve hour nights. Place a dark paper bag or something similar over the top of it every night. Leave it in place for at least twelve hours. You should also reduce the amount of fertilizer you are giving it during this time.

Enjoy Your Poinsettia for the Next Holiday Season

For more information regarding the care and reblooming of Poinsettias, check out www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/poinsettia/history.html. If you have lovingly covered your Poinsettia every night for a couple of months, and followed the other instruction in this article, you may be rewarded with a second (or more) season of colorful blooming. However, if you have done your diligence and your Poinsettia has not rebloomed, know that you are not alone. This can be a difficult task. At least, you will have a lovely, full, healthy plant for years to come.