- The poinsettia is a short-day plant
- How long do you have to darken a poinsettia?
- Where do you darken poinsettias?
Poinsettias only bloom for one season - that's what many gardeners believe. The poinsettia is a perennial plant that you can bring to bloom again every year. There is a little trick for that: put the poinsettia in the dark for a while! Then it blooms for many years.
The poinsettia needs darkness to develop flowers and its red leaves
The poinsettia is a short-day plant
The poinsettia occurs naturally in the equatorial region. There it grows in tropical deciduous forests. He doesn't get much light there. Usually it is less than twelve hours when enough brightness penetrates through the treetops.
In order for a poinsettia to flower, or more precisely to develop its colored bracts, the conditions in the region of origin must be simulated.
To do this, the poinsettia is kept dark or darker for several weeks, so that it receives a maximum of eleven hours of light a day. Plants that you buy in the store have survived this procedure at the nursery.
How long do you have to darken a poinsettia?
The dark phase must last at least six weeks, better even eight weeks. You can keep the poinsettia completely dark during this time or cover it with cardboard for a few hours.
Start darkening in October, when the poinsettia is said to have colored bracts for Christmas. But you can also make it flower at a different time if you set it dark earlier.
After the darkening phase, the poinsettia comes to a warm and bright place. However, avoid excessive exposure to the sun or heated window sills.
Where do you darken poinsettias?
There are several ways to darken the poinsettia. In the house there are rooms in which no light falls, such as
- Cellar rooms without windows
- storage rooms
- unlit storage rooms
It is important that the light is not switched on there temporarily for too long. Don't forget to water the plant regularly.
If you don't have a dark room available, simply cover the poinsettia with an opaque bag or cardboard for several hours a day.
tips
You can even grow a poinsettia as a bonsai. Although it cannot be brought into a specific shape, the plant remains very small and compact.