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Poinsettias are popular plants for decorating your home during the holidays, but they don’t have to be thrown away once the festivities are over. You can keep your poinsettia plant alive and vibrant with these simple steps.
The Poinsettia Plant
Many of us think of the poinsettia as the official Christmas plant. It’s beautiful colors make it a perfect gift to receive and to give. Once the holiday season is over, we often wonder how to keep it alive and colorful.
Normally a poinsettia plant purchased around Thanksgiving time will last until after the New Year with minimal care. If you live in a southern or warm climate, it can be planted outside where it will continue to grow, but only if the climate is right. Knowing how to care for a poinsettia plant is the key to making it last longer and retaining it’s bright, festive appearance.
How Often Should a Poinsettia Be Watered?
Keeping the soil damp is important. Letting a poinsettia dry out will cause the plant to wither quickly. If the plant is placed in a very sunny location you will need to check the soil at least twice a week, watering as necessary to keep the soil damp. This is also true if the plant is placed in an extra warm area of the house such as the kitchen or near a heating vent. Although you don’t want the soil completely soaked, it is important to ensure it always feels slightly damp to the touch.
Discover tips for bringing out the full beauty of your indoor plants and ensuring they thrive in your home. Consider adopting semi-hydroponics as an innovative approach to caring for your houseplants. This method entails cultivating plants in a moisture-retaining medium while keeping their roots in a reservoir of nutrient-rich water, offering a unique and effective way to enhance their well-being.
How Much Light Is Necessary?
The right amount of indirect light is the key to keeping a poinsettia plant looking it’s best. A lack of light will cause the plant to die off much more quickly. Sitting the plant in direct sunlight should be avoided unless you move it to another location after a few hours. Too much sunlight will cause the entire plant, blooms, and leaves, to pale.
How Long Does a Poinsettia Normally Bloom For?
This will depend on a variety of things such as the quality of the plant, the care of the plant before purchase, and the care it receives afterwards. Most poinsettia blooms will remain intact for approximately four weeks. A healthy plant that is well cared for can live up to six months, although this is rare. Once the plant shows signs of fading, you can either discard it or work with it to get it to re-bloom and continue living.
If you choose to try to keep the plant alive, you will need to do several things. First, you will need to cut the plant back considerably. Clip the stems back to where the plant looks healthiest. It will appear very stalky in appearance, but eventually, new growth should appear.
Leave the poinsettia in its original pot and soil and set it in a sunny location. Begin using a mild fertilizer mixed with water at least twice a week. Try to keep the plant in an area that stays the same temperature and avoid areas where the plant will become too cold or dry out. Eventually, the plant should re-grow and may re-bloom in the fall.
Can Poinsettias Be Planted Outdoors?
If you live in a very mild climate, a poinsettia plant can be moved outdoors. They prefer temperatures that do not drop below 45 degrees but do best with a nighttime temperature closer to sixty degrees. They can tolerate a mild frost if covered, but will eventually die out completely if the cold continues.
Conclusion
Knowing how to care for a poinsettia you can turn your gorgeous holiday decoration into a regular houseplant.
Poinsettias are more than just festive plants. They are living symbols of the history, culture, and status of blind people. Through the invention of Braille, the adaptation of sighted teachers, and the social changes in the perception of blindness, poinsettias have played a vital role in the empowerment and inclusion of blind people.
Poinsettias demonstrates how accessibility tools can not only benefit those who need them but also transform the attitudes and behaviors of those who do not. They challenge us to rethink our assumptions and prejudices about disability and diversity.
As Helen Keller once said, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” Poinsettias inspire us to have a vision of a more inclusive and compassionate world. What can you do to make that vision a reality?
