by Francis Jock

Created on: May 17, 2008   Last Updated: November 09, 2011

The bright red and green festive colors of the holiday season remind us to bring out the poinsettia plants for that extra touch of cheer. Every year, millions of people purchase these colorful plants as ornaments to add color and warmth to homes, offices, and places of business everywhere. Poinsettias are a unique plant that requires a bit of care, but can be successfully grown indoors at home.

Poinsettia plants, also known as the Christmas star, are a shrub plant that originated in Mexico, where it is called the Mexican flame leaf. The familiar holiday plants decorating our homes every year are a modified version grown especially for the season. What distinguishes the poinsettia from other household plants is that they are winter-flowering and display vibrant red colored bracts.

As with all houseplants under your care, there are six major areas of importance for proper care. These are watering, fertilizing, light, temperature, soil, and location. Neglecting any one of these will most certianly cause problems when growing your poinsettia at home.

• Watering: After the holiday period, your poinsettias should be watered to saturation when the leaves begin to droop. Afterwards, they should be allowed to nearly dry out before watering again. You should not allow your plant to completely dry out, so a good time to re-water a holiday plant is April. You might want to mark your calendar as a reminder to do so.

• Fertilizing: During the holiday season, poinsettias do not require any fertilizer. However, if you choose to add fertilizer, use a liquid fertilizer with high levels of nitrogen, and alternate with a high phosphate fertilizer. You should always use care when applying fertilizer of any kind. When growing a re-potted plant, you should apply liquid fertilizer monthly until autumn arrives.

• Light: Poinsettias are best when grown in filtered sunlight or under a bright filtered light. Poinsettias are very sensitive to light exposure and will begin to flower if exposed to light during the night. Commercial growers control lighting in such a manner that the flowering buds and flaming red bracts are fully bloomed and ready for market just in time for the holidays.

• Temperature: These plants are grown under hot or warm conditions, 60 - 68 degrees F at night, increasing to 80 - 85 degrees during the day time hours.

• Soil: The preferred soil for caring for your poinsettia plants is a garden loam to which peat or well-rotted

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