COMMON NAME:
► Poinsettia
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
► Euphorbia pulcherrima
GROWER HINTS:
►With proper care, today’s modern poinsettias will stay in bloom for months. Watering…The most important part—see below. Finding The Right Spot…the next most important part—see below under Sun/Shade. Next Year: If you want to keep your poinsettia growing, follow the hints below under growth habits. The Ecke (pronounced Eck-ee) family is responsible for making the poinsettia into the most popular worldwide Christmas plant. We always have the newest and best of the Ecke varieties. By the way, for the children and pets we all worry about, Poinsettias really aren’t poisonous.
GROWTH HABITS:
►On St Patricks Day, cut off blooms leaving 4 to 6 leaf nodes on the stem. When the ground warms up plant your poinsettia outdoors in a half day sunny spot. Water and fertilize regularly with any well balanced fertilizer. By May you should see new growth. Pinch back your plant on July 4th, and again on Labor Day if needed to keep it short and bushy. To be sure that your poinsettia blooms at the right time next year, remember that poinsettias need 12 to 14 hours of complete darkness for the plant to decide to bloom.
►September 21 starts the 12 hour night. Temperature and any artificial lights also have an impact. You can bring your plant into bloom earlier by putting a big box over it or you can put your poinsettias in the closet each night for some extra hours of darkness. Give it a name like Patty Point and put her to sleep each night, out to play in the sunshine each morning when you have your coffee. Be sure to send her out to play in the daylight each morning ….or your poinsettia will die!!! Keep this up for 8 to 10 weeks or until bracts begin to color
SHADE/SUN:
►Your plant’s happiest home will be in a good bright spot out of the hot sun. Stay away from heater vents, TV tops or cold drafts. Growers don’t recommend putting poinsettias outside of the house but people do it all the time and just take their chances with the weather. Watch out for Jack Frost and Santa Ana (wicked cousin to Santa Claus).
FEEDING AND WATERING:
►Poinsettias like to be kept moist at all times. Not too wet…nor too dry, so make sure to check the soil almost daily. Water when dryish to the touch. Very small pots often need water every day. If you’re not sure, give it a drink. In hard to reach places use ice cubes to water. Allowing a plant to dry out in an overly warm room causes the leaves to turn yellow.
►Never, never let your plant sit in water, it will rot the roots. Watch out for foil wrapped plants with no drainage hole in the bottom of the foil! Fertilizer: During the holidays, it is not necessary to feed your poinsettia, after the holidays you can feed lightly.
FLOWER/FOLIAGE COLOR(S):
►The part we think of as the flower is actually a bract (a modified leaf) but let’s not worry about that and just call them a flower. Flower colors and bract/leaf shape an color have a surprising variety in modern poinsettias. No longer just red or even red, white, and pink, now we even see yellow! There are now over 100 varieties.
SEASON(S) CARRIED AT WEIDNERS:
►Winter (mid November till December 24th)
CONTAINER OR GROUND?
►Basket or container then later in the ground if you like.
PARTICULAR PESTS:
►Watch for mold on the leaves and botrytis
