The after-holidays' care of poinsettias is often misunderstood. Many a poinsettia has been tossed in the trash as a result. What typically begins to happen around this time is that poinsettias will start to drop a few leaves. Other leaves will start to shrivel and many will turn yellow due primarily to too much water. Many people take these clues as recommendations to trash their holiday plant. Don't do it!
While it's true that most poinsettias never look like the original form received the previous year since commercially-grown specimens are often treated with hormones to maintain a tight, compact plant. However, poinsettias can be induced to flower for many weeks and can be used year-round as a houseplant. It is true, though, that special care must be given to them.
For instance, poinsettias thrive in bright, natural sunlight in your home. Water only when the soil feels dry an inch or so down in the soil. Overwatering continues to be the number-one cause of death in all houseplants.
Poinsettias also are heavy feeders and love regular applications of fertilizer to maintain their deep green color. Unfortunately, all this fertilizer often prompts plants to sprout up, making them tall and spindly. Consequently, somewhere down the line no matter how good you treat your poinsettia, you'll have to cut it back. Cutting back plants to a few inches in height will spur a bushy plant when new growth starts. It's also a good idea to transplant poinsettias into larger containers at this time. You may continue to grow poinsettias indoors or outside in a semi-shady area that's protected from the cold.
If you wish to get your poinsettia to bloom again for next Christmas, you'll need to be diligent about providing sufficient lightness and darkness starting around October 1. A lightness/darkness regimen or, more appropriately, lack of this regimen is the biggest reson home gardeners can't get poinsettias to bloom again. Plants need 12 to 14 hours of total, uninterrupted darkness each day beginning in the fall. In between, plants need as much direct sunlight as possible. The required darkness can be accomplished by putting a large, cardboard box over them or moving them to a closet. This regimen must continue for at least eight to 10 weeks.
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