[columbusmomma]

Every year I am given poinsettas, so beautiful and colorful! Every year I manage to kill them! Can someone please help me manage and care for them? I'm usually good with plants I just can't keep them from dying

Thanks!

 

[AlpineMama]

I dunno - I'm also a poinsetta killer! I'd love to hear advice too!

 

[quietserena]

i've managed to keep them happier for quite some time by repotting them soon after I get them in better soil. seems like most of them out there are in cheap soil that they just can't live on. Also, they're often very very dry when you first buy them so watering is a good idea but make sure you don't overwater.

 

[columbusmomma]

Good to know! How much light do they need?

 

[zoe196]

I've had one since last Christmas and it's gotton HUGE-- it gets loads of light in a very sunny window-- I think they are native to Mexico so presume they need lots of light and warmth. They also can get very big-- as in shrub/tree size. I haven't bothered keeping it in the dark to get the leaves to turn red and it has gradually turned green through out the year. I don't have a green thumb at all-- I think loads of light is the trick.

good luck!

Zoe, mama to Thomas 1/06

 

[columbusmomma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zoe196 I've had one since last Christmas and it's gotton HUGE-- it gets loads of light in a very sunny window-- I think they are native to Mexico so presume they need lots of light and warmth. They also can get very big-- as in shrub/tree size. I haven't bothered keeping it in the dark to get the leaves to turn red and it has gradually turned green through out the year. I don't have a green thumb at all-- I think loads of light is the trick. good luck! Zoe, mama to Thomas 1/06

Wow!! Yours sounds beautiful! I remember hiking throught the mountains in Jamaica and would see them growing widly, the size of a small tree! I really hope to have success this year, lol!

 

[gardenmom]

Pointsettia is tropical. It cannot tolerate a chill--it'll drop leaves, so if you get one in a florist or store, make sure it's wrapped in a sleeve and gets into a warmed car as quickly as possible.

Even watering is key--moist, never dry, never soaked. If it dries out at all it'll drop leaves. I think the repotting thing (like right after the holidays) isn't a bad idea. Most greenhouse grown plants are in very light soil mixes with little body to sustain them for any length of time because they expect (want) you to throw them out and buy new next year.

They need a forced short day length to make the upper leaves turn color again next year. I forget exactly how long, but found a link with more info:
http://gardening.about.com/od/winter...Poinsettia.htm

 

[PinkinPA]

Quote:

It cannot tolerate a chill--it'll drop leaves

But they will come back even if treated miserably. I had this problem this year. I had asked DH to dig it out of the garden and he didn't. When he finally did, it looked all Charlie Brown. I had left it in the corner, watering and praying, and it reclaimed it's green, lush limbs. Now I have it sitting in the sunniest window in a sink.

I have had mine since 2006 Christmas and all I did was transplant it and replant it into the garden for the summer. Even when it was supposed to bloom, it did and I did no special treatment. It didn't look like a green house fresh plant, but it wasn't shabby either.

 

[gardenmom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkinPA But they will come back even if treated miserably. ... It didn't look like a green house fresh plant, but it wasn't shabby either.

This is true. My Mom has had some pretty good 'resurrections' from plants that just looked like bare sticks in a pot. The leaves were always smaller than the first time around, but they did bloom nicely.

 

[columbusmomma]

Mine is currently by a window(for light), should I move it? Could it be getting chilled? It is dropping leaves but the soil is moist...