How Long Do Poinsettias Last? Try These Tips to Keep Them Alive Longer
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Poinsettias are popular plant gifts often given to party hosts, business associates, family, and friends around Christmas. Most people assume that once the red leaves fall or all the Christmas gifts have been unwrapped, it's time to put this tropical holiday plant in the trash—but they'd be wrong.
How long a poinsettia lasts depends on how well you care for it. If you want to keep it thriving after the Christmas tree comes down, even until next year's holiday season, read these experts tips for keeping a poinsettia alive as long as possible.
How Long Do Indoor Poinsettias Last?
Given the right light and warm temperatures, indoor poinsettia plants will last until March or April, continuing to put out colorful red leaves. If you choose to keep it alive year round as a houseplant, a poinsettia can last for 10 or even 20 years.
In its native habitat, it can grow into a 10- to 15-foot shrub and live for decades, but kept as a houseplant it will stay small. Grown outdoors, they are only hardy in USDA growing zones 9 to 11 and deteriorate in temperatures less than 50°F.
How to Keep a Poinsettia Alive Indoors
Keeping a poinsettia alive indoors is fairly simple. Place it in a sunny window, ideally an east-facing one, in a warm room and keep the the soil moist.
Bright, indirect light is appropriate for poinsettias, which suffer leaf burn in too much direct light.
Start by watering it once a week, checking the soil between waterings to see how quickly it dries out. Adjust the watering schedule so that you're watering it when the top 2 inches become dry or the pot feels light when lifted.
Always remove the foil before watering and let all the water drain out before putting the plant back in the foil. Placing the pot directly in the sink for watering and draining will be the easiest way to do this.
It isn't necessary to fertilize your poinsettia as long as it continues to bloom.
Tips to Keep Your Poinsettia Alive Longer
The easiest way to keep a poinsettia alive for as long as possible is to start with a healthy younger poinsettia. A mature poinsettia will have small yellow flowers at the center of the red stars; those flowers shed pollen. Poinsettias with only a few flower buds and no yellow pollen last longer than poinsettias with open yellow flowers.
In addition to meeting its light and water needs, here are some other care tips for keeping your poinsettia alive for as long as possible:
Keep your purchased poinsettia warm on the way home and avoid leaving it in a cold car.
Fold the decorative foil wrapping back to allow sun exposure to reach all the leaves.
Place it in a location with steady temperatures between 65°F and 75°F.
Avoid drafty spots or areas with wide temperature fluctuations, such as doorways and heating vents. Keep foliage from having contact with cold surfaces like window glass.
Can Poinsettias Live Outside in Winter?
Signs You Should Throw Out Your Poinsettia
Whether you've decided to discard it at the end of the holiday season, in March or April, or the following year after you've kept it alive for another 12 months, there are some clues that a poinsettia is past its prime.
Here are some signs it's time to throw out your poinsettia.
Colored leaf bracts ("flowers") begin to fade and lose vibrancy
The center yellow flowers open to shed pollen and colored leaves wilt and drop off
Lower green leaves start to wilt, turn yellow, and drop
Tip
Single-stem poinsettias rarely rebloom and should be thrown out at the end of their bloom period,
How to Keep a Poinsettia Alive Year Round
Keeping a poinsettia alive year round as a houseplant requires more work than most other perennial non-blooming plants kept as houseplants. Poinsettias go through a dormancy period with no foliage, which having an odd-looking houseplant for several weeks that you might not want to display.
Here's how to keep your poinsettia growing year round.
In March or early April begin allowing soil to dry out between watering.
In mid April, move the poinsettia to a shaded location where it receives no sun exposure for 12 to 15 hours every day.
In May prune each stem back to about 4 inches, leaving several leaf nodes on each stem. This encourages the poinsettia to branch and become bushier. Repot into a container one size larger using a quality potting mix. Place the plant in a sunny window with bright, indirect light and keep soil moist but not soggy.
Begin feeding every two weeks with an all-purpose liquid fertilizer once buds have emerged.
In July, pinch each branch back by about an inch to encourage lush growth.
Continue pinching back through September and maintain your water and fertilizing schedule.
In October, start the process of coaxing your poinsettia to rebloom for Christmas by putting it in complete darkness for 15 hours a day for the next two months.
How to Get a Poinsettia to Rebloom During the Holidays
To get a poinsettia to rebloom at the holidays, you have to give it the same kind of lighting it would get in late fall, when there are shorter days and longer nights. (Poinsettias are photoperiodic plants, meaning the growth cycle is determined by the day length.)
Starting in October, move poinsettia plants into complete darkness every day from 5pm to 8am. Even the slightest light exposure can delay blooming. At 8am, return the poinsettia to a sunny window with bright, indirect light.
Follow this light exposure routine daily and maintain the watering and fertilizing schedule until the end of November, when you can leave the plant in its daytime location permanently. When colored bracts and flower buds start to appear, stop fertilizing. If you've been successful, your poinsettia should start to bloom around mid December.
Read Next: 21 Poinsettia Arrangement Ideas That Work Perfectly as Holiday Decor
Read the original article on The Spruce.
