What to do about pointsettia still blooming in May?

[jbosari]

I read your excellent article about how to care for a poinsettia:https://www.helpfulgardener.com/container/2003/poinsettia.html. In years past, I assumed my poinsettia was dead when all the leaves and bracts fell off. I was so proud of myself for keeping the beauty blooming this year, only to learn that it is normal for the leaves and bracts to fall away and that I should have let the plant dry out. I went looking for you when I realized a blooming poinsettia in spring is decidedly not normal.

Well, here we are in May with a full blooming poinsettia. It is about 10 degrees cooler here than other parts of New England since we are right on the water. It has only been above 70 degrees on two days. It is typically 50-60 degrees at night.

So here's my dilemma...Do I let the plant dry and put it in the basement for a month and then begin the correct regimen in late May/June? Or should I just keep watering it? Will I have trouble making it bloom again? Any advice you can offer on the matter is greatly appreciated. I'm so proud of my beautiful poinsettia, I don't want to wreck it!

[Kisal]

I have never had a poinsettia retain red bracts much past March or so. I don't know whether it will be able to continue indefinitely. I'd sure enjoy seeing a photo of it, though!

Most plants need a dormant period in order to recover their strength. It's a bit like us needing sleep at night, or a vacation now and then. Without a break, exhaustion sets in.

If you want to be sure your plant has colorful blooms during the holiday season, you might want to force it into dormancy now. Or, maybe you'd just like to experiment with it, to see how long it lasts. The choice is yours.

[jbosari]

I have never had a poinsettia retain red bracts much past March or so. I don't know whether it will be able to continue indefinitely. I'd sure enjoy seeing a photo of it, though!

It's actually Pink, but here are some photos. You can even see that it had some new growth in April. Maybe it's the chilly breeze that comes off the ocean. I don't know. We do turn the heat off as soon as we can, so it's chilly in the house from the end of March through April.

[img]https://www.reliableptc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/photo2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://www.reliableptc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/photo.jpg[/img]

I guess I'll just keep it going and see what happens. If it does go dormant, I'll start training it to bloom in the fall. Thanks for the advice!
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[Kisal]

That is just gorgeous, Jessica!

I don't think the cool air has anything to do with it. Poinsettias are native to the tropics, and in fact, were cultivated by the ancient Aztecs.

At any rate, it's amazing to me to see one in bloom this late in the year. I hope you'll keep us posted on how it progresses through the summer.

[Sage Hermit]

Every year my grandpa sends me poinsetas for christmas and so I have some very old poinsetas. the red leaves have all fallen off and I actually let the leaves wither and droop a little. So I have had these plants for some time and they are totaly green. I have not seen them bloom in a long time but all I do is water them. I am thinking they would like a transplant and some plant food. (Mine) Yours look like they could use a bigger pot.

[img]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa267/adaba/Ninjas.jpg[/img]

Also I know these are poisonous if eaten but can they be used as mulch in other plant's pots? They drop a good deal of leaves and I collect them but does anyone know if the leaves will harm my other plants?
Thanks

[jbosari]

Holy cow that thing is huge! I wish I knew the answer to your question. I have the same problem with leaves falling all over the place. I keep my plat up high so no accidents will happen with kids or pets.

[ingrid]

I live in So Cal and I was wondering the same thing. My plants usually "die" by dropping all leaves but this one is still blooming in bright red. I think I'll keep watering rather than mess with it and see what happens.

[cgrewell]

I was doing a search and found this post. I also have a poinsettia that is still creating new blooms. I have never had one do this before, so I wanted to check on how I should be caring for it. Thanks for sharing.

[imafan26]

Poinsettias kept outside will bloom in their normal season which is Spring.
Prune the poinsettia now. Usually I prune poinsettias in the months beginning with "A" April and August. My poinsettias planted in the ground would bloom in March normally.

The website says to do the second pruning in July.

Growers trick the poinsettias to color up for Christmas, by restricting light and forcing dormancy at the right time to get them to bloom.

https://polkhort.ifas.ufl.edu/documents/ ... settia.pdf

[RobertaB]

It is June and my poinsettia is still doing great.

[brianhanna]

Not kidding, my poinsettia is still red in July! I've never seen this before. Anyone else?

[imafan26]

Enjoy it for now. Keep it fed. In August cut it back, then set it in a dark spot like a closet for about 6 weeks to give it a winter. Give it enough water to keep it alive but allow it to go dormant. After the 6 weeks is over you can set it out again in more light and start feeding it again.

In Hawaii, poinsettias growing outdoors bloom in Spring. It is their natural time of year to bloom. Poinsettias are actually tricked into blooming for Christmas.

[thanrose]

An old friend on this board lived in Ecuador. She said that in the highlands poinsettias grew wild and produced the red bracts continuously with no care. The impetus to producing the bracts is a shorter day length. In the USA that would be our winter. For Ecuador, it's equatorial so they don't really have seasons like that. Day length is about 12 hours. In Florida, many people have huge ones in their yards, but they don't bloom until winter's been underway for a bit. There's a seven foot tall white one near me growing under oak shade against a fence. People often think it's some unusual plant. Just happened to be situated ideally for this specific micro-clime.

[TechGuru]

Hello,

I just found your website. My Poinsettia is also in bloom in June. It went into flower and started to seed around April and I thought it was finished. I picked the seed pods and cut it back. It is producing red leaves and flowers again. I've never had this happen before. I heard that if they seed, then they die. I was prepared for it to do so. Any suggestions?

[imafan26]

Poinsettias normally bloom late Spring to early summer. It actually has to be tricked to bloom for Christmas. Prune back the plant in the A months. April and August. You can use the cuttings to start new plants. Because it has milky sap you will need to callous off the ends first or it can rot. To get it to bloom at Christmas, you need to restrict the light in September for about 6-8 weeks, so it thinks it is winter. Then gradually bring it back out to the light at the end of October so the leaves can color up for Christmas.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/orname ... ebloom.htm