During the Christmas season, the Advent star with its brightly colored bracts provides festive accents in many homes. You get this plant in the classic red-green color, occasionally sprayed with small glitter particles. New breeds provide an interesting variety of colors, ranging from white to salmon to pasch.
The poinsettia originally comes from Latin America and grows several meters high here as a shrub
Plant profile:
- Botanical name: Euphorbia pulcherrima
- Order: Malpighian
- Family: Spurge family
- Genus: Spurge (Euphorbia)
- Growth: Evergreen shrub.
- Height of growth: Depending on the pot size, fifty centimeters to one meter.
- Main flowering period: October to January
- Leaves: Ovate, lanceolate, bright green.
- Bracts: Deep red, salmon, white or feathered.
- Flowers: Small cymes
- Flower color: yellow-green.
Special properties:
Warning: the poinsettia is poisonous. As with all spurge plants, the plant sap contains skin-irritating components. If pets such as cats, rabbits or birds nibble on the leaves, symptoms of poisoning can occur.
Origin:
The Advent star originally comes from South America, where it can be found as a sprawling shrub up to six meters high. The fact that the plant only reaches a limited size in our apartments is due to chemical inhibitors and the limited root space caused by the pot.
Location and care:
The poinsettia prefers a warm and bright location, but no direct sun. In winter, the temperature should not fall below twenty degrees. In the summer you can keep it outdoors in a sheltered, sunny place where the temperature can reach up to thirty degrees.
watering and fertilizing
In the first few weeks you do not have to fertilize the poinsettia. It is sufficient to water the attractive plant with stale, room-warm water so that the root ball does not dry out. However, avoid waterlogging, which quickly leads to root rot.
oversummer
It would be a shame to put the poinsettia in the compost after the holidays, because it can easily be cultivated all year round. To do this, cut it back vigorously in April, regardless of whether the bracts have already fallen off.
Then repot the Advent star, water it a little more abundantly and start fertilizing weekly after it has sprouted with commercially available liquid fertilizer. In early summer you can prune the small shrub, which ensures bushy growth.
The Advent star sprout new bracts as soon as daylight reaches the plant for less than twelve hours. If you would like to enjoy the splendor of colors punctually in Advent, you can simulate this rhythm by putting a cardboard box over the poinsettia from early evening until morning.
diseases and pests
If the air in the room is too dry, whiteflies, mealybugs or scale insects occasionally colonize the Advent star. Therefore, make sure there is sufficient humidity. The pests can be easily treated with commercially available agents.
tips
Even the glow of the street lights can prevent the poinsettia from creating new bracts. This applies all the more to the switched on lighting in a room, even if it is only used for a few minutes. In order to stimulate the sprouting of the bracts, the plant must be completely dark for at least twelve hours.