My neighbor gave me this small Poinsetta for a Christmas present so I can add that to my little garden, I have 3 Paperwhites in soil, one is 13 1/2 inches tall and 2 Amaryllis, one is Minerva and one is Red Lion, the Minerva is not doing well, but the Red Lion has gotten 2 scapes, one is 12 inches high and the other one is right on its heels. Going to see just how long I can keep the Poinsetta going, my sister-in-law had one that lasted 4 years! Merry Christmas everybody and Happy New Year!
Here is a bit of info on extending the life of Poinsettias after Christmas
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1248.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Poinsettias-Growing-To-Next-Christmas
http://houseplants.about.com/od/growinghealthyhouseplants/a/BloomPoinsettia.htm
Thanks themoonhowl, I may try that, my plant is small enough I can surely find a box to cover it when the time comes.
You are most welcome. Good luck with your plant.
Moon
Here is my Poinsetta, kinda sad aint it? Is it really worth it to try to save it until next Christmas, or should I just keep it for the greenery? Some pages say to put in total darkness for a few hours and then some other pages say that is pure myth. My sister-in-law had one that she had for several years, it did not bloom anymore but that sure did grow and grow. I would like it to get color again but if it did not bloom anymore at least it would not die.
Poinsettias are what they call short day bloomers. They require 12 to 14 hours of "night' in order to bloom. Yours looks like it would be happier getting full sun and having a bit more room to grow. Have you fed it at all? You can move it outside for the spring and summer.
no, I have not fed it at all, I have some Miracle -Gro, would that help it? Should I put it in the windowsill? I have one of the Daturas and Amaryllis and the Mother-in-law plant in there too, should I just let it join the rest of the group?
Yes. Poinsettias do best in full sun and I would imagine it is pretty hungry by now.
also, it might not have color until the time changes again.
Poor thing looks like a bunch of dead sticks now, no leaves and just sitting in the windowsill. I will continue to water it with Miracle-Gro and see what it does, how much should I give it and how often?
It needs to be outside and probably doesn't want any fertilizer until it starts to grow again.
Would mulching be effective for delivering nutritents to a poinestta?
I got a small white poinsetta for Christmas and it looks like it is growing more leaves near the lower portion of the plant, is that possible? It would be nice if I could keep it longer than just the holidays, and it looks like leaves. When my battery charges up I will take a picture of them and you can tell me if I got lucky with this one.
I found some Jobe's fertilizer spikes, they are 13-4-5. Is that ok for poinsettas? I can't put the poinsetta in the dark between 5 and 8 because I work those times and my hubby is not always home to do it. I was thinking of just growing both of them as houseplants, it would be nice to have some greenery in the house all year round, the amaryllis goes outside as soon as it gets warm and stays warm. I think I see some new leaves coming on, or am I mistaken?
Looks like leaves. Let's hope it doesn't abort the bud for some reason!
These are on the white poinsetta that I am talking about, so there is no buds. There is new growth however on my Goldcrest mums that my hubby got me, I went out when it was in the 40's and checked and there it was. The temps are going to get down again so I covered it back up with leaves.
I meant the leaf buds, lol! Sounds like your mums are going to be snug tonight!
Poinsettias usually show new growth after the season because they're naturally vigorous and coming from the tropics, they want to grow. Commercially they're grown to be small enough for decorating. Yours should be fine with moist soil and bright light until spring when you can put it outside.
As you can see, the white poinsetta is really growing good, here is a picture of the new leaves coming out. The red poinsetta is still doing good but there are no new leaves on it. But it is nice to see color in the winter time.
These new leaves are in the middle of the colored bracts, I was amazed to see them, I have never seen anything like that before, I just watered both of the poinsettas and the amaryllis, the one I got from my neighbor on Christmas day is just now starting to grow, I saw some fresh greenery on it. The box says Apple Blossom but who knows, whatever it is I will love it. Everyone hunker down we have one heck of a snowstorm coming and bitterly cold weather after that, so here is hoping everyone has heat, water, and food for quite some time if what they say actually happens. I heard the last time we are supposed to have up to 12 inches of snow, and temps of double digits below zero, they are saying it is supposed to get colder than it has been in 20 years. So here is hoping everyone survives it.
Living in the desert of south California, I don't think we will get that storm, but regardless, I wish all of you in the storm's path good luck, and I hope you stay cozy, and your plants stay warm too!
Stay warm Teddy, and if your plants are near windows, make sure they aren't touching the panes! Also any of your heating systems cranked up might dry them out faster. 2 storms in a row are no fun.
We have a freeze watch for Tuesday morning thanks to the same system but I'm hoping the cloud cover is thick enough to keep the temperature from going below 32.
When I went out to feed the birds, the temps were -8, I sure did not waste any time lazying around out there especially when the wind started to blow! The plants are not near any windows, they are on my bookcase and the light is on another bookcase shining down on them. We did not get all the snow that they were predicting but I would rather had the snow than the cold, one forecaster compared it to living in your freezer, and as the day goes on it is going to get colder.
this is my Poinsetta that my hubby bought at the grocery store . We usually buy 3 for the Xmas every year to decorate the house.
This is the white poinsetta that I got for a Christmas present. No colored leaves left but the green leaves look pretty especially with the bitter cold outside, at least today it is supposed to be above zero for a high. And later on this weekend, it is supposed to warm up a little, of course you know what that means, more snow. Oh well, can't do anything about the weather, just enjoy the pretty greenery on my bookcase.
Hope the poinsetta plant will grow better and become more beautiful with flowers after this bitter cold. Enjoy greenery....
Why is the bottom of my poinsetta going white? Here is a picture of it, can anyone tell me if this is normal? I still have new leaves coming on but they are not very big, some info please also here is a picture of the red one, it has no leaves coming on and it looks dead, some info on this one too, please.
The plant on the right is dead and the other one is probably headed that way, I'm sorry to say. It's very difficult to keep poinsettias year around as a house plant which is why most people discard them after the holidays.
Poinsettias need a daytime temperature of 60 to 70 degrees F and a nighttime temperature of 55 to 60 degrees F. Keep the plant away from drafty locations or where it will be exposed to cold air.
Hi artknapp, I have a poinsettia plant on my dining room table since Xmas and it is doing fine with lots of red on it still.Move it from the window area and see if it perks up.
Hi artknapp, here is a picture of the plant now.
Here is the white poinsetta that I was talking about. I have some Jobe's Fertlizer Spikes for houseplants, the numbers are 13-4-5. Would it hurt the plant, as you can see the leaves are getting bigger.
I received one at Christmas and it is still doing very well. Have another from 2 years ago that I have managed to hang onto.
The important thing with them is to not let them dry out. Once they dry out, it is very difficult to get them hydrated again. And don't let them sit in water.
The one I have had for 2 years now, goes outside for the summer and loves it. Haven't worried about giving it darkness to change color - and it hasn't done it on its own either. Haven't fertilized it. I will do that this year. It may be happier and give me more :)
Yes, they are fairly easy to keep for the foliage. Getting them to bloom again takes some effort.
I decided that I really did not care about getting to rebloom either, I am just happy that it is alive and growing new leaves. I thought putting it in the living room with a curtain shading it from direct light would help and it did, I water it when I see the top part of the soil is dry and I water it from the top and let the excess water drain out the bottom and then forget about it for awhile. So as you can see, it loves what it gets. I just LOVE all that greenery it is so pretty.
This is the poinsetta for this year, my neighblor brought it over yesterday, it is under the grow light. I watered it until the water ran out of the drainage holes, now I will wait until it dries out some and water it again. Does anyone know just how many times a week to water it?
The neighbor who gave me the big poinsettia also gave me two little ones that he was going to throw away, I asked if I could take them instead. I repotted them into bigger pots and watered them a little, they already have small new leaf buds and one of them has a VERY definite leaf! Here are the pics, the one that still has red leaves on it has the new leaf.
I did not know that poinsettias would have a growth spurt after the holidays, then I read about the professional growers using the growth regulators. The one that had the leaf is doing really well and the other one is slowly getting new leaves too. The really big one is doing fine, I wait until I can pick it up and it feels lighter and then I take it to the bathroom and water it until the water comes out the drainage holes and then I put it back in its place. It seems to like that routine, do I do that with the smaller ones too? I don't want to overwater them, I do have a mister now, I can mist the soil on top which will keep them moist but not soggy, advice on the smaller ones would be helpful.
If you have sand on top of the soil, how can you tell if the poinsettias have gotten enough water?
I put sand on top of the soil to control soil gnats, now how to water it enough?
