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Indoor Care For the Christmas Flower Poinsettia

Ezine - 02/16/2012

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Poinsettia is known to be a classic Christmas plant. However, it does not grow only during the Christmas time. You can have it in your own home in any time of the year. The important thing is that you know how to care of it in order to make it last. Once you have bought a poinsettia plant, remove any plastic wrapper or create holes to provide drainage. Make sure that you handle the fragile plant delicately to avoid snapping the branches off of it. Then place it in a room with enough brightness and should be kept far from cold air. Cool indoor temperature is just right for it.

Poinsettia also prefers to be kept dry most of the time. You may water it as necessary but you should be definite that the soil is dry and excess water is drained completely before watering it again. You water the soil enough for it to soak in the container. The best way to do it is by soaking the soil in the sink without the tray and then placing it in a new container. Food may not be necessary for it to survive. If you want to keep it for the whole winter, you may feed it in the spring and occasionally until early October. If you wish for it to last until the next Christmas season, you can cut it back and feed it during spring. Constantly prune it to create main branches with bounty of growing tips. To initiate color changes, place your plant in complete darkness for 12 hours daily starting from the end of September to the beginning of October. When Christmas season approaches, you will witness its color returns.

The indoor tips in tending poinsettia plants will help them last longer. By that, you will not only appreciate its beauty during the Holidays but also throughout the four seasons.