Aren't These Things Supposed to Die?

Okay, this is LAST year's poinsettia, euphorbia somethingus. It has become a family joke. My DH chortles every time he looks at the thing. (All good Christmas poinsettias are supposed to die aren't they?) After making broad hints to this plant ALL year, I finally decided that I would move it to a 5 gal pot since it has steadfastly refused to pass on. DH was certain that giving it such a kindness would kill it for sure. Well-Look at it! Not show quality by any means but trying very hard to put out those red leaves. I did have to tell him he was going to get a new baby brother cause he is too big for the dining room table. I will put a ribbon on him and let him guard the front door.

i'll be darned. great looking. please tell us where you had it (sun/shade, etc) and how you cared for it. There was somebody else in GW that posted a pix of a poinsettia that was HUGE, i mean like, a very large bush. like yours, bracts were red and it was simply stunning. I'm ready to buy one and get it going LOL

I think it's inspiring! I bought my first ever this year and I would LOVE for it to live on - please post any tips! (Or ship DH to laugh and ridicule...whatever it takes! ) I bought one of those lovely new ones with the curly leaves and a variegated one. Now, of course, I'm hooked. Darn you DGers. I was happily ignorant when I joined. Now I HAVE TO HAVE EVERYTHING!!!

No, actually, people treat poinsettias like annuals, but they are tender perennials. They are planted outside here in Southern California and need a certain amount of light reduction to bloom. Here's a link: http://davesgarden.com/pdb/b/Euphorbiaceae/Euphorbia/pulcherrima///

Oh - I'll need to borrow a camera again. Neither of mine are in the pdb, and they are awfully pretty.

Thanks for the link!

They will grow HUGE here but they are not really an especially lovely plant. They will get higher than the house. This was a $2.88 plant from Home Depot. It was not one with big really showy leaves. It was in filtered sunlight until a month ago when I moved it to the sun to harden it. It got watered with the rest of the the world as needed. It got osmocote when everything else did. Good luck

clare, how would you achieve light reduction? putting a bag over it? Wouldn't it be neat to get a variegated one and try to make it last? that's it: I'm off to HOME DEPOT tomorrow. Poinsenttias here I come! LOL

Neither the poinsettia or the christmas cactus get the darkness treatment and do just fine for me. The ones in folks yards certainly do not. I am going to pinch it this year to see if I can get it fuller as I do not need or want a ten foot monster.

vossner, go again just before Christmas. The ones that are still around and have not croaked under the store's care are tough indeed lol. This one is a Christmas eve purchase. My Dad usually takes the kids to get one earlier but forgot last year. Hmmmm. maybe I should pick them from now on.

Vossner, I think you just have to make sure that your plants outside get uninterrupted darkness for 13 hours during the fall. Here's a link for getting a poincettia to bloom again: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/newsletters/hortupdate/jan02/art7jan.html

I don't have a poincettia, but I do have many Christmas cacti which need a similar reduction in light to bloom. All of mine live outside all year, and they all get the appropriate light reduction naturally and set blooms easily.

Here's another good link that says 12 or 14 hours of complete darkness is best: http://www.helpfulgardener.com/container/2003/poinsettia.html

Here's the other thread: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/470456/

For the Master Gardener sale here in October, we did a light control thing on some of them so they would be blooming for the sale...and it worked. I know the nurseries do it. I have them in the ground and they are all blooming now...and will for about a month. Just in time!

Carol

With our funny canyon, coastal, and desert climates here, you will be able to find them blooming for the next 6 months if you look. There is one by a friend's house that is a dinner plate sized flower. It looks almost sun flowery around the edge with a fluffy double middle. Beautiful flower but a pitiful looking plant. I will try to remember to get a pic when it blooms. I wonder is it is too dry here for a truely lush plant. The ones I say in Hawaii were gorgeous.

Here's my little $3 poinsettas. I have no idea why the one on the left took off so well! But I Put them in a large container so that I can just turn the reindeer to the wall for the remainder of the year until it's time to bring it back to red. I'm hoping they stick around for at least a few years! Funny thing is, the conditions they are under here is exactly opposite of what they need, yet they are truly thriving. They sit in low light, low humidity and the front door creates cool drafts several times a day.

Love the reindeer container! Maybe the draft lets in cooler moister air? Hey, If I knew the answers I would not have killed 30 some years worth of poinsetias in my house. lol.

They get huge here and on down in Mexico they grow into huge shrubby bushes. The red bracts last forever and I'm usually tired of them by spring and cut them back. If you prune your plant in spring, it won't be so leggy in the fall.
We grew them commercially in TN. If they get no artificial light after natural darkness falls, they will bloom right on time for Christmas, but if there is enough light to read a newspaper headline by you will need to cover. We pulled the black cloth(on tracks that covered the whole greenhouse) at 6 pm and removed it at 8 am. We did this for about 30 days, or until the bracts started showing color and little flower buds were showing at the end of the stems. The colored part of the poinsettia is a bract or modified leaf, the true flowers are small and yellow and are in the center of the bracts.

The Rose Poinsettia

Varigated - I hope I have your seuccess in keeping these!

Close-up of the varigated

Sequee, If you ever have enough stems that you're willing to take cuttings I'd love to have some!

I picked up all the branches that broke off the poinsettias and fell on the floor at our local Wal-Mart. Unfortunately they didn't have any of the beautiful varieties you have.....

Calalily, where did y'all get your sticks when you grew them commercially?

They grow in the ground in New Orleans, and provided they don't get frozen down, they bloom beautifully. I've had a couple that made a winter or two, but not at this house. We're too cold for it here. Those street lights will keep them from blooming in the city if you don't darken it somehow.

Kay