How to Save Poinsettia Plants

Sooner or later, the decision will have to be made as to whether your poinsettia plant is to be saved for another season or discarded. In making the decision, consider these questions:

1. Is there a suitable location in the home for growing the plant?

2. Is there a suitable summer location for maintaining the plant in good condition?

4. Will a plant with smaller flowers than those originally purchased be satisfactory?

Those with a home greenhosue, glassed-in porch, or other location designed for growing plants may find it easy to give a "yes" to these questions. However, plant growing conditions in the home are often limiting, so each question needs to be evaluated as you decide whether or not to keep the plant for next year. If flowers are not important, the poinsettia could be maintained as a foliage plant, and the second and fourth questions not considered.

For best growth, the poinsettia plant needs bright light, and therefore a large southern window is the best location for fall and winter. A large west window could be a second choice, but other windows will only lead to leggy, thin growth in most homes. To develop flowers in time for the holidays, poinsettias need night temperatures close to 62 degrees F. if no rooms with such temperatures are available, either-discard the plant or use it for foliage only.

After the plant is no longer desired, allow it to dry gradually. Drying causes leaves and flower bracts to drop off. It can then be stored out of the way until spring. Drying off is not necessary, however, and plants can be kept growing until spring. By early April the plant should be brought into bright light, or if already there, it should begin to produce new shoots. Cut back the growth to about half the plant's height, and water regularly.

After all the danger of frost is past, plants may be moved outdoors. Make the shift gradually by moving first into light shade and then into a sunnier location. The pot may be sunk into a flower bed up to the rim. Lift is occasionally to keep roots from growing through the holes in the pot and becoming established in the flower bed. Plants outdoors in pots dry faster than plants established in beds, so more frequent watering and fertilization will be needed.

Healthy plants may grow quite large during the summer. Cut off the tips of new shoots when a few leaves are developed. This produces bushier, more compact plants. Do not cut back shoots later than early August. Before cool weather arrives, lift the plant from the garden and move it indoors into the sunny window. The transition may result in some leaf drop, but if the location is good, drop should not be excessive.

By October 1, daily attention will be necessary to make the plant bloom by Christmas unless the plant can be placed at a window of a room where lights are never turned on at night. If such a location is not available, the plant should be covered with a light-tight box, or moved into a dark closet each evening at about 5:00 and moved back into the sunny window every morning between 7:00 and 8:00. In most cases, the flowers produced in the home will not be as large and spectacular as those produced in a greenhosue where conditions are ideal. However, the reward can be gratifying and the bright red blooms are still beautiful in any size.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poinsettia