1325
Poinsettia
With proper care, the poinsettias that decorate your home during the
Christmas season can retain their beauty for many weeks. For best results,
choose plants with deep, dark green foliage and full, undamaged colored
leaves, also called bracts. The actual flower is yellow and is located at
the base of the bracts. Plants with tightly-closed flowers that have not
yet shed pollen will last the longest in your home.
 Poinsettias
do best in the sunniest part of the home, and need continual bright light
to ensure proper growth. Avoid placing a poinsettia near cold drafts,
radiators and heat vents. To keep the color of the bracts bright, maintain
your poinsettia between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooler temperature
prolongs bract color, but don't allow it to dip below 50 degrees.
Water poinsettias thoroughly as needed. If your poinsettia is wrapped
in a decorative foil, punch holes in the bottom of the foil to ensure
proper drainage and removal of excess water.
 For long-term
maintenance of a poinsettia plant, use a complete fertilizer of equal
parts nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium every two weeks. To encourage
your poinsettia to re-bloom and obtain the shape you want, prune the plant
in early June. At the end of September, place plants in total darkness for
14 hours daily. Colored bracts should begin to appear in early November
and be fully expanded by Thanksgiving.
Contrary to popular belief, the flowers and leaves of poinsettia plants
aren't poisonous, nor are they edible.
For more information, see the following Colorado State Extension fact sheet(s).
|
