Christmas Poinsettia

When in bloom, what appears at first sight to be flowers are actually bracts. In simple terms, bracts are brightly colored leaves to attract pollinating insects and birds. The bracts surround the small, normally yellow flowers at the centre of each growth. If the poinsettia is over-watered, the colorful bracts are often the first part of the plant to visibly suffer.

Poinsettia Care

The main factors in maintaining a poinsettia are light and air, which this plant thrives on. To suit this a shallow container such as a tray works well. It also means that the poinsettia can be used in plant combinations for color and depth if the right light is available. As good light is required, suitable cacti and succulent plants can be added to the display. Poinsettia can be cultivated as a container plant or a small shrub or as a standard.

Poinsettias need to be kept out of draughts and should not be exposed to sudden changes in temperature. While the poinsettia is growing, turning the plant regularly helps maintain consistent growth in the bracts. When in bloom, the poinsettia should be misted regularly to help keep the air moist around the leaves. Being close to heating is not advisable for the same reason.

However, the poinsettia’s compost can be left much drier than azaleas, for example. By keeping the compost just moist, a poinsettia will thrive. One method by which this might be accomplished is by placing the container inside a larger one containing a damp medium. A good guide to watering is to let the compost surface dry out between each good watering session.

Poinsettia Cultivation

Poinsettias can be kept beyond the festive season, though in general, people often tend to leave this for commercial growers and buy a new plant in order to enjoy the flowers each winter. A poinsettia will last for further years if its stems are cut back after the leaves have fallen in late winter or early spring.

55F is normally recommended as the minimum temperature to which a poinsettia should ever be exposed and 65F is the advisable maximum. By keeping in cool shade until spring, the plant can then be repotted, then watered and fed through the summer. The key season for a poinsettia is the fall, when the plant must be kept in total darkness for ideally 14 hours overnight, i.e. 14 hours in each 24-hour period for a period of eight weeks, for the bracts to grow again from buds that should have developed. A black plastic bag, box or suitable cupboard can be used to maintain the darkness required during the fall. This extreme measure is needed to control the daylight available to the plant so that it flowers during the Christmas period in the northern hemisphere.

Poinsettia Cultivars and Colors

While the traditional color for Christmas poinsettia has been red, pinks and whites were alternatives in years gone by, with many examples of cultivars to choose from.

• White poinsettia: Regina, Ecke’s White, Silverstar White, Mira White
• Red poinsettia: Barbara Ecke Supreme, Freedom Red, Angelica, Eckespoint Red, Autumn Red, Eclipse Red
• Pink poinsettia: Dorothe, Eckespoint Pink, Mikkelsen Pink, Pink Ecke, Pink Elf

Other colors include scarlet, violet, marble, apricot, peach and even two-colored bracts such as “Jingle Bells” cultivars, with various colorations and patterning on the bracts. It is worth noting that white poinsettias have proved notoriously difficult to produce consistently and most are off-white. Recently the cream-colored poinsettia has come into fashion in some countries, adding to the poinsettia’s continuing popularity as a Christmas gift houseplant.