How to Grow and Care for Poinsettia Plants

In actual fact, in some methods, poinsettias are fairly resilient. Their unusual development behavior, with its interval of sparse-looking dormancy, serves as a superb reminder that simply because issues would possibly look unhealthy now, that doesn’t imply a brand new interval of vitality and sweetness isn’t simply across the nook.

Past such metaphysical meditations, poinsettias fairly actually brighten up the darkish winter months spent indoors.

Poinsettias are among the many most colourful crops you possibly can develop indoors, and though we have a tendency to think about them mainly to be a (maybe disposable) a part of the vacation decor, it’s essential to keep in mind that they’re alive and wish caretaking, identical to different houseplants.

I’m going to give you a information to caring on your poinsettia, and I’ll inform you about a number of the attention-grabbing quirks in its pure historical past.

Right here’s what I’ll cowl:

What Are Poinsettias?

Poinsettia, pronounced “poyn-set-ee-uh,” or simply as generally, “poyn-set-uh,” is a well-liked vacation plant, utilized in specific to brighten in the course of the Christmas season.

You’d in all probability acknowledge this winter bloomer, which fits by the scientific identify Euphorbia pulcherrima, after only a fast look – they appear to be nearly all over the place in the course of the holidays, in spite of everything.

However since they’re quite totally different than the common houseplant, it might be comprehensible in the event you misidentified a number of the plant’s elements – or misinterpreted a few of its habits.

So you possibly can select a wholesome specimen and supply it with stellar care, I’m going to begin with a quick tour of poinsettia anatomy and blooming cycle.

Colourful Leaves

Poinsettias are identified and cherished for his or her shiny colours, arriving proper in time for the winter holidays.

However do you know that their hanging shade is definitely of their leaves, not of their flowers? And solely a few of their leaves, to be exact.

Whereas it does have inexperienced leaves, the poinsettia additionally has modified leaves known as “bracts,” which give us that shiny vacation shade we affiliate with it.

In nature, these colourful bracts act like flower petals, serving to assist appeal to pollinators to the very unassuming small flowers.

Tiny Flowers

These flowers are fairly small, the truth is, virtually unrecognizable as such, and undoubtedly not showy. They’re clustered within the middle of a whorl of colourful bracts.

Female and male flowers emerge from tiny, inexperienced, bud-like constructions known as cyathia, a function that’s distinctive to members of the poinsettia’s household of spurges.

While you study the flower clusters of a poinsettia up shut, you’ll discover inexperienced ovaries, nectaries that appear like pairs of yellow lips, and pink stamens and pistils, however no petals – which is one other uncommon function of the members of the spurge household.

As an alternative of petals, they’ve the colourful, modified leaves talked about above.

For cultivars that aren’t pink, the stamens and pistils are likely to match the colour of the bracts.

A dusting of yellow pollen could also be seen on the stamens, the male a part of the flower.

Belief me – I’m not making an attempt to sneak in a botany class right here.

There’s a sensible purpose I need you to have the ability to acknowledge the flowers, and it has to do with selecting a plant that will provide you with long-lasting shade. I’ll get to that in only a bit.

Blooming and Dormancy

One other of the poinsettia’s quirks is that it reacts to shortening day size, which known as a photoperiodic response.

As the times shorten and the nights get longer, it takes this transformation in mild publicity as a cue to begin producing its flower buds and colourful bracts

The Christmas cactus is one other photoperiodic winter bloomer you could be aware of, which requires lengthy, darkish nights earlier than it should flower.

If something interrupts these darkish nights, even a nightlight, each the Christmas cactus and the Christmas flower (aka poinsettia) could fail to supply blooms.

Ensuring your poinsettia is uncovered to these lengthy nights it wants is barely one thing you’ll want to fret about in the event you plan to maintain all of it 12 months.

While you purchase a poinsettia in winter, the plant has already been taken by way of a number of weeks of lengthy nights to supply its superbly coloured bracts.

Due to the species’ response to its authentic native atmosphere, it advanced to undergo a interval of dormancy after blooming, dropping its bracts and leaves.

This conduct makes many poinsettia homeowners assume their specimen is dying – when truly, it’s simply making ready for a form of hibernation, as it might have within the wild.

However earlier than we get to the wild origins of this plant, let’s situate it amongst a few of its relations you could be aware of.

Cultivation and Historical past

As talked about above, poinsettias are members of the spurge household, or in scientific lingo, Euphorbiaceae.

This can be a giant botanical household that features bushes in addition to annuals, with members as numerous as croton and the gopher plant.

Whereas Euphorbia is the genus identify for poinsettia, this time period can be generally used to seek advice from members of the spurge household.

Some euphorbias are succulent and appear like cacti, together with a houseplant you could be aware of – E. trigona, generally often known as the African milk tree.

However amongst euphorbias, poinsettia is probably the most lovely one. A minimum of that’s what its species identify pulcherrima means – most lovely.

Poinsettias are additionally identified by a number of different frequent names together with “lobster flower,” “flame leaf flower,” “painted leaf,” and the above-mentioned “Christmas flower,” names which converse to the intense pink bracts and wintertime shade.

In Spain, it is called “flor de Pascua” – the time period “Pascua” is used on this case in reference to the interval between Christmas and the celebration of the Epiphany on January sixth.

Left of their pure kind, poinsettias are spindly and leggy, very totally different from the crops bought commercially, that are made compact and bushy by way of pruning in addition to different methods of the commerce (we’ll get to these later).

These crops are native to elements of North and Central America, starting from Mexico to Guatemala, the place they nonetheless develop wild.

They originated in tropical dry forests – that are just like tropical rain forests, however with prolonged durations of drought.

Coming from these dry forests, poinsettias are wired to deal with drought situations by present process a interval of dormancy after they end flowering, dropping their leaves and bracts.

Boasting shiny pink bracts even in its uncultivated kind, the poinsettia is a perennial shrub that may develop 10 to twenty toes tall in its native vary, in addition to in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 11.

Any plant with shiny pink leaves would make sure you appeal to consideration, and never solely from pollinators, such because the hummingbirds which are drawn to them within the wild.

The Aztecs observed the leaves of this colourful shrub, and have been the first individuals identified to domesticate the poinsettia, using its pink bracts to make dye, and utilizing its milky white sap as a medication.

After the Spanish colonized the area, this lovely plant was utilized by Franciscan monks in Catholic nativity processions.

Poinsettias arrived within the US within the early 1800s, collected by Joel Roberts Poinsett, the primary US ambassador to Mexico.

Poinsett was additionally a botanist, and the frequent identify for the plant is derived from his identify. Poinsett died in 1851 on December twelfth, and that day was named Poinsettia Day in his reminiscence – mark your calendars!

But it surely was over 100 years after Poinsett’s dying earlier than his namesake turned synonymous with Christmas within the US.

It began when a German immigrant named Albert Ecke observed this winter bloomer and started promoting it at roadside stands in Los Angeles.

Over three generations, beginning with Albert and reaching its excessive level with Paul Ecke Jr., the Ecke household took the poinsettia – a beforehand unknown, spindly shrub – and turned it right into a compact, colourful, industrial success that turned simply as a lot a staple of Christmas decor because the Christmas tree.

The Ecke household had a secret they used to create bushier specimens, and so they stored their secret – and a close to monopoly available on the market – till a shiny grad scholar by the identify of John Dole inadvertently found out their trick.

Dole revealed a paper, revealing this secret within the early Nineties: a sure grafting method created higher branching, and resulted in a bushier poinsettia.

The Ecke stronghold available on the market was ended, and with elevated competitors got here many new cultivars.

An unimaginable variety of poinsettias are actually bought the world over in a only a temporary period of time annually.

Within the US, round 34 million poinsettias are bought in the course of the holidays yearly, making them the secondmost commercially essential potted plant within the US, proper behind orchids.

Regardless of widespread rumor on the contrary, the leaves and different elements of the Christmas flower are not toxic. However they aren’t edible both.

In circumstances the place these reportedly disagreeable tasting leaves have been eaten, some people, however not all, skilled nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. When these signs happen, they have an inclination to go with out therapy.

The underside line is that there are not any confirmed, documented circumstances of anybody dying, or changing into gravely unwell from consuming poinsettia.

Nonetheless, these with a latex allergy or delicate pores and skin ought to take care when dealing with poinsettias, for the reason that white sap that oozes from the leaves or stems when they’re damaged may cause irritation. Make sure to put on gloves if you’re doing any pruning.

Notice: The ASPCA designates poinsettia as poisonous to canine and cats, and likewise states that it’s “irritating to the mouth and abdomen, generally inflicting vomiting, however typically over-rated in toxicity.”

Meaning if Fido and Fluffy take a nibble of your poinsettia, they could drool, or endure from an upset tummy, however you don’t have to fret about it inflicting kidney failure as some poisonous houseplants are able to doing.

Nonetheless, to be on the secure aspect, preserve your Christmas flower away from curious pets, and as an alternative inventory your own home with unhazardous, pet-safe crops to keep away from any pointless vacation emergency journeys to the vet.

Poinsettia Propagation

Whereas propagating poinsettias from seed is feasible, most cultivars are hybrids.

So the ensuing seedlings will likely be unpredictable by way of their genetics and ensuing look, making propagation by stem cuttings the popular technique.

Stem cuttings may be taken from a poinsettia bought in the course of the winter.

Nonetheless, it’s greatest to attend till the subsequent summer time when the plant is producing new development to take cuttings for propagation.

When the Christmas flower is producing new development after rising from dormancy, you possibly can take cuttings and root them with the assistance of rooting hormone.

Want extra data? Study extra about propagating poinsettias from cuttings right here.

Selecting a Wholesome Plant

If potential, you might also wish to keep away from buying crops which have been saved in containers coated with cellophane wrappers over lengthy durations of time.

These wrappers may cause untimely growing old, on account of a rise of their publicity to ethylene – the identical chemical that causes bananas to show brown.

Bringing Your Plant Residence

It’s not typically that we carry dwelling flowering crops in the course of winter, so it may not appear apparent that particular care is required earlier than you even get them dwelling.

Whereas storing poinsettias in plastic sleeves over the long run might not be the very best thought, these sleeves are essential for safeguarding your new Christmas flower from chilly and wind on the way in which dwelling.

In case your chosen poinsettia doesn’t have a plastic sleeve, place it rigorously inside a bag earlier than you transport it to its everlasting winter residence.

And after buying, take your Christmas flower straight dwelling as an alternative of permitting it to sit down in an unheated automotive whilst you do errands – poinsettias may be broken by temperatures under 50°F.

When you’re again at dwelling, minimize the plastic sleeve to take away it, water if the floor of the soil feels dry, and situate your plant in its new location.

Maintain studying to search out out the very best situations for finding your new Christmas flower.

How you can Develop Poinsettias

Whether or not you propose to maintain in your new acquisitions full-time as houseplants, otherwise you simply wish to get pleasure from them to brighten up the winter season, your poinsettias will present higher shade for an extended time frame in the event you provide them the absolute best care.

Temperature

Whereas poinsettias may be grown open air as shrubs in some areas, they aren’t chilly tolerant sufficient to outlive the winter climate in most rising zones, and have to be handled as houseplants as an alternative.

Study extra in regards to the zones the place you possibly can develop this winter bloomer open air.

Poinsettias are happiest when daytime temperatures are between 67 and 70°F, and when nighttime temperatures are barely cooler, within the 60 to 65°F vary.

If this can be a bit cooler than the standard heated winter temperatures inside your own home, you possibly can guarantee your crops don’t overheat by avoiding scorching spots and in search of out cooler areas.

Do you might have a marble or granite counter, or a tile flooring? So long as they’re not within the path of the solar or one other supply of warmth, these supplies have a tendency to remain cooler and won’t radiate warmth again as much as your crops.

Another choice for holding your poinsettia cool is to situate it on the north aspect of your own home, so long as it should obtain enough mild there – I’ll get to mild necessities within the subsequent part of this text.

Though poinsettias respect a drop in temperature from day to nighttime, they’re very delicate to giant temperature fluctuations.

Meaning you’ll wish to keep away from inserting your crops very near home windows, the place they could get each an excessive amount of warmth in the course of the day and an excessive amount of of a chill after the solar goes down.

As an alternative, place yours a foot or so away from home windows. And you probably have any drafty areas in your house, keep away from these too.

Along with avoiding inserting your poinsettia too near overly heat south and west-facing home windows, you additionally wish to keep away from different scorching spots, just like the tops of home equipment, or areas close to fireplaces.

Though poinsettias look charming when lovingly nestled in subsequent to a hearth, when the hearth heats up throughout use, you’ll expose your crops to temperatures which are too excessive, and so they could lose their leaves and bracts a lot before you’d hope.

Mild

Whereas situating your Christmas flower too near the fluctuating each day temperatures of a windowpane could also be a nasty thought, inserting it a foot or so from a window would be the good location for it – relying on how a lot daylight is streaming in by way of that window.

These winter bloomers do greatest with six to eight hours of oblique daylight per day, so if pure daylight is what you’re providing them, don’t overlook to open your blinds or curtains to let the sunshine in.

However there’s a caveat right here – an excessive amount of direct daylight may cause poinsettia bracts to fade.

In the event you get numerous shiny daylight coming in by way of your home windows within the winter like I do, you could wish to use a sheer, light-colored curtain to show down the sunshine only a bit – or place your plant a bit additional away from the home windows, the place the daylight is much less intense.

In case you have too little winter daylight publicity quite than an excessive amount of, you possibly can complement this with indoor lighting.

And in the event you’ve had issues offering your houseplants with ample mild up to now, you could wish to think about supplementing with lights designed particularly on your leafy inexperienced companions. Learn our article about develop lights to be taught extra.

Water

In its non-dormant phases, similar to within the winter when it’s blooming, you’ll wish to water your poinsettia repeatedly to maintain its soil moist – however not soggy.

Water when the floor of the soil is dry to the contact, and ensure its pot is rarely sitting in water.

To make sure your plant has good drainage, there are a couple of steps you possibly can take:

Make sure that the plant’s pot has drainage holes in it. If it doesn’t, change out the pot for a similar-sized clear pot with drainage holes.

If the grower’s pot is in an ornamental cowl, rigorously take away the ornamental cowl and place the plant within the sink if you water it. Let it drain utterly earlier than changing its ornamental cowl.

Poinsettias typically are available nursery pots which are wrapped in ornamental foil.

In case your plant is wearing a foil wrapper, you possibly can poke holes by way of the foil wrapper on the underside to supply drainage.

I discover this works greatest in the event you line up the holes that you just poke within the liner with the drainage holes within the backside of the pot.

When poinsettias are overwatered, the leaves could flip yellow. Alternatively, if crops are underwatered, leaves can dry out and curl up. In each circumstances, leaves could begin to drop.

In its dormant section, your poinsettia needs to be watered much less regularly.

This frequency will depend upon situations in your house, however as a place to begin, attempt watering roughly as soon as each two weeks, watering till it drains out of the underside of the pot.

If the stems begin to shrivel, the plant isn’t getting sufficient water, so improve your watering frequency. As soon as your Christmas flower begins to place out new development, return to an everyday watering schedule.

Discover extra tips about watering poinsettias right here.

Humidity

Though they don’t wish to be overwatered, these crops do desire a moist atmosphere. Offering them with somewhat humidity will make their shade last more.

Since indoor heating tends to dry out our houses in the course of the winter, misting the foliage may help to supply them with the humidity they want.

Make sure that to mist within the morning, so the leaves have time to dry earlier than temperatures fall at evening.

One other method to provide tropical houseplants a moist atmosphere is to position a humidity tray beneath them.

You can also make your individual by filling a shallow tray with clear pebbles after which filling it with water.

Place your potted poinsettia on high of the tray. The water within the tray will evaporate into the air, growing the humidity across the plant.

Soil

You gained’t want to fret about soil on your poinsettia – except you propose to maintain it as a houseplant year-round.

When repotting, be certain that to decide on a pot with drainage holes and solely transfer your plant as much as the subsequent sized pot, to forestall the surplus soil across the roots from changing into waterlogged.

Fertilizer

Your poinsettias won’t have to be fertilized whereas they’re in bloom.

In the event you determine to maintain your Christmas flowers year-round, fertilize them throughout spring and summer time as soon as their foliage has begun to develop again.

Poinsettias are pretty versatile of their fertilizing necessities.

Upkeep

After the vacations are over, remember that your Christmas flower will start to drop its leaves and bracts in late winter – that is regular, and a part of the plant’s dormancy interval.

When it has dropped half of its leaves and bracts, begin to lower the quantity of water you present.

To assist it obtain the situations it wants for dormancy, place it in a cool room and cut back watering to about as soon as each two weeks.

If you would like it to resume its brightly coloured bracts in time for the vacations 12 months after 12 months, each autumn your poinsettia will want ten weeks of lengthy, 13- to 14-hour nights with no ambient mild.

To be taught extra about year-round look after poinsettias be sure you learn our article about easy methods to look after poinsettias after the vacations.

In the event you determine to not flip your poinsettia right into a houseplant, you possibly can compost it. Or think about rehoming it or transplanting it open air in the event you reside in a heat local weather.

Cultivars to Choose

Selecting certainly one of these crops is not nearly whether or not you need your Christmas flower in pink or white, now that crops are additionally out there in lots of shades of pink, yellow, and orange. There are even varieties with lime inexperienced bracts.

And if that wasn’t sufficient, you too can discover cultivars with patterned bracts, which may be marbled, variegated, streaked, speckled, or have contrasting margins.

If it looks as if there are dozens of various poinsettia cultivars lately, you’re proper. There are over 100 totally different forms of poinsettias in manufacturing.

Right here’s a small choice to get you began:

Autumn Leaves

In the event you’re trying to get a jump-start in your poinsettia assortment earlier than the Christmas season arrives, you would possibly get pleasure from a fall-hued selection like ‘Autumn Leaves.’

‘Autumn Leaves’ has bracts which are a wealthy yellow hue with flecks of pink. This selection is the proper cultivar to have fun the harvest season – and also you would possibly even use it as a part of your fall backyard decor.

Christmas Magnificence Cinnamon

‘Christmas Magnificence Cinnamon’ is a beautiful possibility in the event you get pleasure from poinsettias however aren’t in search of the normal pink and white shade scheme.

This cultivar has pink bracts that are available a spread of hues from pale pastel to hotter, muted tones.

Status Pink

‘Status Pink’ is among the bestselling and hottest cultivars.

With shiny pink bracts and a robust branching construction, this cultivar was bred on the Paul Ecke Ranch.

Princettia Max White

‘Princettia Max White’ is an interspecific hybrid with genes from each E. pulcherrima and E. cornastra, the dogwood poinsettia.

This hybridization resulted in a range that has smaller bracts that proceed to develop over an extended time frame, leading to longer-lasting shade.

This cultivar is pure white, not like many different so-called “white” varieties which are extra within the vary of cream tones.

This hybrid has an upright however compact development behavior, is of course a superb brancher, and holds its shade and leaves effectively.

Pink Glitter

‘Pink Glitter’ is a part of a cultivar group known as the Jingle Group.

Its bracts are brick pink with white speckles and splashes, with an occasional bract or department displaying all-white coloring, and darkish inexperienced leaves.

‘Pink Glitter’ has sturdy stems and an upright development behavior.

Managing Pests and Illness

Poinsettias don’t often have insect or illness issues as soon as they make it to your own home, notably if you’re simply holding them for the vacation season.

They run the largest danger of succumbing to pests or illness whereas rising within the greenhouse on the nursery.

Whereas growers often deal with any points earlier than they ship their crop to its level of sale, it’s a good suggestion to examine a potential plant earlier than you carry it dwelling – and keep away from any with illness or insect issues. On-line retailers will typically provide safety in opposition to any potential points as effectively.

Bugs

Whereas bugs aren’t often a difficulty in the course of the winter months, listed here are a couple of pests you could wish to be looking out for:

Aphids

In the event you’ve executed any veggie gardening, you might have encountered these bothersome bugs in your kale or zucchini crops.

Aphids colonize crops and suck out vitamins which may weaken them and generally transmit viruses.

In the event you uncover an aphid colony in your Christmas flower, use a cotton swab to wash the pests off with rubbing alcohol.

And if you wish to be taught extra about managing these pests, be certain that to bookmark our article on controlling and eradicating aphids to learn later.

Fungus Gnats

Fungus gnats are small, dark-colored flies that you could be discover buzzing round your houseplants, together with poinsettias.

Their larvae can develop in potting soil, the place they feed on fungi and decaying natural materials – thus their identify.

In the event you put your houseplants exterior in the course of the summer time, fungus gnats could lay their eggs within the potting soil and find yourself in your house if you carry your crops again inside within the fall.

Finally, the larvae hidden within the potting soil will attain maturity and begin flying round your houseplants, trying to lay eggs of their very own.

Mealybugs pierce the plant’s tissue and feed on its sap, which can weaken it – and if the infestation is heavy sufficient, will finally kill it.

Like aphids, mealybugs excrete honeydew, which may trigger mildew development on leaves and stems along with the infestation.

These pests are notably keen on establishing camp the place leaves meet the stems of the plant, so when inspecting for mealybugs, make sure you take a look at these areas.

Mild infestations may be handled by utilizing a cotton swab to wash the pests off with rubbing alcohol.

For heavy infestations, disposing of the plant would be the most secure method to shield different houseplants from assault.

Discover extra tips about controlling mealybugs right here.

Illness

Except you’re adorning your lavatory with this winter bloomer, the situations in most individuals’s houses in the course of the vacation season don’t lend themselves to the vast majority of ailments that afflict Christmas flowers, most of which flourish in excessive humidity.

Nonetheless, when they’re contaminated, poinsettias may be troublesome to deal with. Use prevention as your greatest tactic, and search for telltale indicators of illness earlier than buying these crops.

Bacterial Leaf Spot

Bacterial leaf spot is a bacterial illness that additionally impacts tomatoes and turnips, amongst different crops. It thrives when situations are heat and humid, and may be unfold by splashing water, or by way of contamination from previous, contaminated plant particles.

In poinsettias, the pressure of micro organism that causes this illness is Xanthomonas campestris pv. poinsettiicola, and it could manifest in signs similar to yellow or tan lesions on leaves. If the illness progresses, additionally, you will discover leaves yellowing, changing into distorted, and falling off.

Prevention is the very best technique of controlling this illness. Search for wholesome crops earlier than buying, preserve them out of moist situations, and supply satisfactory air flow.

Poinsettia Scab

Poinsettia scab is attributable to a fungus known as Sphaceloma poinsettiae. This scab is a spot anthracnose illness, and its signs embody small yellow spots on leaves, or because the illness progresses, raised brown spots with yellow halos round them.

These spots are discovered notably alongside the primary leaf vein. When the spots are brown and raised, they may tackle a velvety look. Lesions may be discovered on stems as effectively, inflicting contaminated stems to elongate.

This illness wants excessive humidity and moist situations, in order a safety measure, keep away from spraying poinsettias from above with water – as an alternative, water on the base of the plant.

In the event you reside in a local weather that’s humid in the course of the winter, preserve crops well-spaced from one another and away from furnishings to keep away from growing humidity.

Spores can unfold from plant to plant, so you probably have a couple of poinsettia, eliminate contaminated specimens to forestall spreading.

Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is a fungal illness attributable to totally different fungal species belonging to the Oidium genus. These fungi thrive when humidity is over 95 p.c and temperatures are average, within the vary of 68 to 86°F.

The perfect technique of stopping this illness is to keep away from crowding crops, notably when humidity is excessive.

If the illness does happen, it should first seem on crowded, shaded foliage.

Along with patches of white fungus on leaves and bracts, signs can embody yellow and brown spots on the highest surfaces of the foliage.

Spores from the fungi answerable for this illness may be transmitted from plant to plant by way of air currents or by way of splashing water.