By Bodie V. Pennisi
University of
Georgia
If you’re going to decorate your home for the holidays, you just
have to include at least one poinsettia in your plans. No other
flower conveys the holiday spirit quite like a traditional red
poinsettia.
Getting the most from your poinsettias is easy if you follow
these tips:
- Buy Georgia-grown poinsettias.
Locally grown plants may cost more, but they have better keeping
quality. They’re usually sold to florist shops and garden
centers. - Choose a size that will match
your decorative needs. Georgia growers are experts in producing
more than 20 poinsettia varieties in a dozen sizes and shapes,
including some gorgeous 18-inch hanging baskets and 3-gallon
floor planters. - Besides the traditional red,
other colors are available: strong white, creamy white, light
pink, solid pink, bright orange-red and deep purple-red. Some
varieties feature attractive speckled and marbled bracts. - Select plants with fully colored
and expanded bracts (the colored parts of the plant — the actual
flowers are the yellow centers). Avoid plants with too much green
around the bract edges — this is a sign that the plant was
shipped before it was mature enough. - Select poinsettias with dense,
rich green leaves all along the stem, well branched and
proportioned with the container about two-and-one-half times the
height of the pot. - Look closely for possible
“hitchhikers.” One common poinsettia pest is the silverleaf
whitefly, which inhabits the underside of the leaves and sucks
the juices and sap from the plant. This is the giveaway: when
whiteflies excrete the plant’s juices, they drop a “honeydew”
onto the leaves below. Don’t buy plants with sticky leaves and
dots on the undersides of the leaves that look like scale —
they’re actually the whitefly nymphs. - Don’t forget to examine the
plant’s roots. Carefully slip off the pot and look for white and
light tan roots that have grown to the sides of the pot. Brown
roots or few roots may be signs of disease. - Don’t buy a plant with weak
stems, few bracts or any signs of wilting, breaking or drooping.
Often in stores, poinsettias are crowded. Sometimes they’re
displayed in paper, plastic or mesh sleeves. A poinsettia needs
space, and the longer it remains sleeved, the faster its quality
will deteriorate. - When transporting your prize
poinsettia, protect it from chilling winds and temperatures below
50 degrees Fahrenheit. You can place the poinsettia into a sleeve
or a large shopping bag. - Once in your home, you can put
your poinsettias anywhere you like. They’ll last about three
weeks in fairly dark places. Don’t place them near cold drafts or
excessive heat, though, or near appliances, fireplaces or
ventilating ducts. - Water it only when the soil
feels dry to the touch, but don’t let it wilt, or the leaves may
drop off. Overwatering is one of the common causes of plant loss.
Don’t leave the plant in standing water — this, too, may cause
its leaves to drop. Always remove a plant from any decorative
container before watering, and allow the water to drain
completely. - Don’t fertilize your plant
during the blooming season. This will cause a rapid decline of
plant quality. - If you want to keep your
poinsettia after the holiday season is over, move it to a bright
spot — either a south, east or west window. Eventually, the
bracts will start to fall off. By early April, cut the plant
back, leaving four to six nodes or segments in the stem. At this
point, you can grow it outdoors in full sun. Fertilize it weekly
with a balanced, all-purpose fertilizer at the same rate you give
to houseplants. - Trim the poinsettia in June.
Plant it in a 1-gallon pot or a large indoor planter. Trim new
growth again around July 1 and again by mid-August. Continue to
fertilize throughout spring and summer, applying nutrition once
every two to three weeks as fall nears. When grown with adequate
water and nutrition, poinsettias can grow as high as 5 feet. - Poinsettias are proven to be
nonpoisonous and safe for display around children and pets.
