How to keep your poinsettia alive after Christmas
The holidays are coming to an end, but your poinsettia can bring a colorful touch to these gloomy days all winter long.
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Poinsettias are the most popular plant in the United States, but why do they die so quickly?
The holidays are coming to an end, but your poinsettia can bring a colorful touch to these gloomy days all winter long (and into spring and summer too!). All it takes is a little extra care.
Did you know?
Poinsettias can become huge shrubs.
They're native to Mexico and Central America, where they can grow into 10-to-15-foot trees. They were sacred to the Aztecs, who used them for red dye and medicine.
They're the most economically important potted plant in the world.
More poinsettia plants are sold in the country than any other, and it all happens in just six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's.
Their flowers are pretty ugly.
The colorful appearance comes from the leaves that surround the tiny yellow flowers. They're called bracts and come in many colors, shapes and sizes. The small balls of yellow-green you see in the middle of the bracts are called cyathia. These are the plant's actual flowers.
Post-holiday care for beginners
To keep your poinsettia healthy as we head into the new year, follow these simple steps:
Light and temperature
Place your plant by a bright window away from heaters. Heating units very quickly dry out the air.
Watering
Only water when the soil surface feels dry to the touch. This can happen quite often because they're often very rootbound. I give mine a soak in the sink once a week.
Always remove the decorative foil wrap or punch holes in the bottom before watering to ensure the plant doesn't sit in stagnant water, which causes root rot.
A common killer: gray mold
Even when you do everything right, gray mold can quickly destroy your plants. This fungus looks like fuzzy gray or brown patches on the leaves or flowers and often comes infected with the plants when you buy them because they thrive in high humidity (like poinsettia greenhouses).
Gray mold typically targets new growth so a collapsed stem is usually a sign that a plant is infected. It can take a month to show up. This damage will typically show up in late December or January. If it does not show up, your plant is free of gray mold.
If your plant has gray mold, there are fungicides to control the infestation, but it might be best to toss it out. You can prevent the infestation from starting by choosing poinsettias that are not sitting on store shelves for long or by making sure to remove the plastic sleeve they come in as soon as possible.
Since gray mold comes with the plant when you buy it, it is not your fault if your plant succumbs to it.
When do poinsettia colors fade?
The colorful bracts eventually fade and are replaced by green growth, but I have had plants remain colorful until June or July. If you can cut the stems back to about 4–6 inches tall after the color fades in summer, it will help new green growth.
I leave my plants outside in a shady spot outside my patio. It is very low maintenance in the summertime and naturally starts to rebloom when the days get longer in autumn.
