Hi folks. Am I on the right track with this poinsettia? I tried overwintering one a few years ago, and it seemed successful until I did something dumb and killed it just as the new leaves were growing. I don't remember what the dumb thing was - I think I took it outside on a nice warm day but forgot about it and froze it to death.
Anyway, I've read the article here and watched a few YouTubes, and the advice seems to vary about when to do what. I'll assume I'm okay to prune it down to the sticks once the last leaves fall off, probably in a few weeks. Then leave it alone until the weather is nice, repot, eventually take it outside.
Overwintered Poinsettia
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Don't over water. It is a euphorbia so does not want to be constantly wet or it may rot. Usually we prune in the months starting with A April and August. Any cuttings can be rooted. I root everything in perlite. When the weather is good above 50 degrees it can be hardened off to full sun. It is white fly trap so you will have to watch for that.
A much belated thank you, Ima. I thought I replied to this, but I guess I never hit 'send.'
So an update: the plant looked great as of late September, even though I pretty much ignored it all summer. It even got knocked over by the wind and/or critters multiple times. One mistake I made was not pruning it in August, because it really didn't seem all that crowded or bushy compared to those I saw on some youtube how-to videos.
Late September when I brought it in:
About a week later, I started doing the cardboard box thing to keep it in pitch darkness at night. I was pretty religious about it: I had alarms set on my phone, and hubby took his turn on plant dad duty, too, since we work opposite shifts. I even brought it with us when we had to go to an AirBnb when we had to have an emergency house reno. I felt like the Simon Pegg character in "Hot Fuzz" hauling his peace lily around.
...but by early December, it became obvious it wasn't going to bloom. It started going into dormant mode like it did after the holidays last year. Hand me the Bart Simpson "at least you tried" cake, haha. But I'm still determined to try to keep it alive. It's one of the only things I've ever gotten for free from my greedy company, and I'll feel like I'm stickin' it to them by having that poinsettia.
This morning, in its Charlie-Brown-Christmas-Tree glory:
We'll see what happens in the spring.
So an update: the plant looked great as of late September, even though I pretty much ignored it all summer. It even got knocked over by the wind and/or critters multiple times. One mistake I made was not pruning it in August, because it really didn't seem all that crowded or bushy compared to those I saw on some youtube how-to videos.
Late September when I brought it in:
...but by early December, it became obvious it wasn't going to bloom. It started going into dormant mode like it did after the holidays last year. Hand me the Bart Simpson "at least you tried" cake, haha. But I'm still determined to try to keep it alive. It's one of the only things I've ever gotten for free from my greedy company, and I'll feel like I'm stickin' it to them by having that poinsettia.
This morning, in its Charlie-Brown-Christmas-Tree glory:
We'll see what happens in the spring.It may still bloom Usually when you prune it in August it starts the new growth cycle so it is effectively winter to the plant. Putting it in the dark for 6 weeks simulates the winter and then when it comes out it should start to color up. I have not tried to restrict light without pruning first so I don't know what that does to it. However, it is alive. Where you are it is still probably in winter mode. Here. if the poinsettia is outside in the ground, it blooms in March. It may still bloom for you in the Spring. The pruning and light restriction is actually to trick the plant into dormancy so it will bloom in December.