Poinsettias

History

Poinsettia, the Christmas plant, is popular in many American homes. With the introduction of long-lasting cultivars, the       popularity of the poinsettia has increased significantly. It was introduced to the United States in 1825 by Joel Robert Poinsett, first U. S. ambassador to Mexico who obtained plants from the wilds of southern Mexico. The common name for the exotic plant, poinsettia, came from his last name. Botanically, the plant is known as Euphorbia pulcherrima.

Tips

The length and time your poinsettia will give you pleasure in your home is dependent on the maturity of the plant, when you buy it and how you treat the plant.  With care, poinsettias should retain their beauty for weeks and some varieties will stay attractive for months.

¨ After you have made your poinsettia selection, make sure it’s wrapped properly because the exposure to low                temperatures, even for a few minutes, can damage the bracts and leaves.  If the temperature is below 50 degrees, your poinsettia must be protected.

¨ Unwrap your poinsettia carefully and place in a sunny window.  Keep the plant from touching cold windows.

¨ Keep poinsettias away from warm or cold drafts from radiators, air registers or open doors and windows.

¨ Ideally, poinsettias require daytime temperatures of 60-70 degrees and night time temperatures around 55 degrees.  High temperatures will shorten the plant’s life.  Move the plant to a cooler room at night, if possible.

¨ Check the soil daily.  Be sure to punch holes in the foil so water can drain into a saucer.  Water when the soil is dry.  Allow water to drain into the saucer and discard excess water.  Ideally, you should remove the foil cover when watering and replace only after excess water has drained off.

¨ Fertilize the poinsettia if you keep it past the holiday season.  Apply a houseplant fertilizer once a month.  Do not fertilize when the plant is in bloom.

Poinsettia Facts

¨ Poinsettias are not poisonous.  For nearly eight decades, this rumor has continued to circulate because of one unfounded story in 1919.  An Army officer’s two-year old child allegedly died after eating a poinsettia leaf.  A lot of research and   scientific testing has been conducted since then by the Society of American Florists (SAF) and the Academic Faculty of Entomology at Ohio State University (OSU).  The exhaustive tests have proven that any part of the plant do not exhibit any adverse effects when consumed.

¨ To get a poinsettia to re-flower, you have to keep it in total darkness between 5 pm and 8 am.  Start this around October 1st and continue until color shows on the bracts; usually around early to mid-December.  Any little exposure to light can prevent flowering.  Covering the plant with a light-proof bag and placing it in the closet might work.  Night time              temperatures above 70-75 degrees can decay or prevent flowering.

¨ The showy colored part of poinsettias that most people think are the flowers are actually colored bracts (modified leaves).  The flowers or cyathia of the poinsettia are in the center of the colorful bracts.

¨ Poinsettias are native to Mexico.  In nature, poinsettias are a perennial flowering shrub that can grow to ten feet tall.

¨ There are over 100 varieties of poinsettias available.  $220 million worth of poinsettias are sold during the holiday season.         Poinsettias are the best selling potted plant in the United States.