- Where does the poinsettia come from?
- Poinsettia growing perennial
- Caring for poinsettia after flowering
The poinsettia is a short-day plant native to tropical deciduous forests. It only thrives here as a houseplant, as it does not tolerate any frost. Because of its decorative bracts, it is mainly sold before Christmas. Worth knowing about the origin of the popular plant.
The poinsettia comes from the warm south of America
Where does the poinsettia come from?
The origin of the poinsettia is Central and South America and Mexico. There the shrub grows up to four meters high in tropical deciduous forests.
In the natural locations it is warm but not too bright. Poinsettias rarely get more than twelve hours of light per day.
As children of the tropics, poinsettias are not hardy.
Poinsettia growing perennial
If you want to grow a poinsettia for several years, you have to simulate the conditions of the natural origin as well as possible. It's too cold in winter and too bright in summer.
In principle, you can grow a poinsettia on the window sill all year round. However, it will then not develop any colored bracts in the next year. In order for these to sprout, the houseplant needs a longer phase in which it is far less than twelve hours of light.
To get poinsettias to bloom again, you need to put the plant in the dark or darker for a few weeks beforehand. Either you use dark rooms for this or you put an opaque bag or cardboard over the poinsettia for several hours a day.
Caring for poinsettia after flowering
To ensure that the poinsettia continues to thrive after the flowering period, which usually ends in February, place the plant a little cooler now. Water even less.
The poinsettia does very well if you place it on the balcony or terrace as soon as it is as warm here as in the regions of its origin.
You can also plant it out in summer if you have a partially shaded spot under trees. Here you only have to water the poinsettia when it is very dry.
Bring the plant back indoors in good time before the temperatures outside drop too much.
tips
Inexpensive poinsettias from the supermarket or hardware store are often of poor quality. They rarely last more than one season and are discarded after flowering.