poinsetta on desk under grow lights. Is this ok?

[applestar]

FWIW here are my two. Smaller one on the left is in a 6 inch nursery pot and the larger one is in a 8" diameter red fishing bucket drilled with drainage holes. I didn't have the time/energy to get them to bloom for Christmas, so that may account their vigor, too.

I honestly don't worry much about how they look during the winter. The one in Cool Gang location is losing some leaves, I think because I overwatered it last time and it was sitting in water for at least 1 day, maybe 1.5 days. It's also cooler here and you can see a bit of a Rosemary that also enjoys the similar conditions. I thoroughly mist this area regularly -- at least once every other day -- because the Rosemary needs it and also because the coffee plant is on a sofa table above them.

The one on the left is neglected often. It was dry when I checked after taking the picture. I think it was imafan who said the leaves get darker in less light because the plants try to compensate by producing more chlorophyl.

[imafan26]

You have some dead canes that need to come out, they rot. It needs to be repotted, not just because the pot is small but because the soil is probably spent as well. You should go into a bigger pot that has about 2 inches bigger than the root ball for room to grow. The healthy canes can be cut back with clean pruners just above a healthy node. I usually cut back to about 8-10 inches. You can root the healthy parts of the stem to make more. I usually don't do this at this time of the year. I usually wait until it is pruning time. For me that is April but that is mainly because my plants are outside and they don't like a lot of rain on the fresh cuts.
https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmed ... -235-w.pdf

[crazypoinsettia]

Thank you applestar !! Although the thought of changing the pot/soil is scary, I think I have to give it a try, she has been on that pot for 5 years You mentioned I should shake off the existing soil mix, do you mean completely expose the roots or leave some soil around them? Do you have any recommendations for the potting mix? There are so many options in the stores: for flower beds, for indoor/outdoor plants, etc. and all them seem to have a different ratio of fertilizers, any advice is greatly appreciated!
Regarding the cutting, I might wait until I see how the plant reacts with the new pot; however, in the event I have to trim some of the branches would you recommend I cut them in an angle or straight?

[applestar]

It MUST be potting soi/mix for containers, not for the garden beds. If containing fertilizer, I suppose I would choose one with balanced NPK, but Let someone else adivise you on this since I always buy organic potting mix -- Espoma, Dr. Earth, Gardener's Gold are the premium mixes available around here but there are other brands -- though Espoma and Dr. earth are coming out with huge selections of targeted mixes, I just buy the all purpose, and for the most part use balanced organic fertilizer, then adjust with other amendments like alfalfa, greensand, rock phosphate....

When pruning, always cut a 45° angle with the lower end of the cut on the other side of the stem/branch just/slightly above a bud (or a leaf node) and higher end with sufficient stem above the bud/leaf node so the slight tearing and bark loosening from the cut won't cause any damage. The by-pass pruners/secateurs should be turned so that the sharp blade and not the bypass blade is closest to where you are going to cut. (I noticed recently that I have a habit of flipping the pruners over and over in my hand while I'm deciding where to cut....)

Oh! If it's been 5 years, the plant might/is likely to be root bound, so it may not be just a matter of shaking loose soil off but plying wrapped roots from the mass. With badly rootbound ones, I try to unwrap roots from the top corner of the rootball and loosen roots from the bottom in the middle -- these are usually the easiest. Bottom corner and up the sides are often so tightly wound that you are more likely to break the roots. Slide the rootball out of the pot (take a picture) and show us so we can give you suggestions on how to proceed. Sometimes, all you can do is make vertical slits in the rootball in 2 opposite to several places (4, 6) around the perimeter.

[crazypoinsettia]

I finally got a new pot and new soil for my poinsettia !! it was a bit heartbreaking but I trimmed some of the branches and I put some of the "healthy" cuttings in another smaller pot.

Here are the pictures I took during the process: first one is when I took my poinsettia out of the old pot soil was pretty packed and as imafan26 pointed out I would say the soil was spent

Out of the old pot

Second picture is after I've loosen most of the old soil.... not much left of a root system, eh? I didn't want to completely undo the "ball of soil" since it was pretty packed, is that a good thing? or should I try to uncover more of the root system?

Roots

Roots.JPG (50.13 KiB) Viewed 3790 times

And the third one is after I placed it on the new pot (approx. 2.5 in bigger than the old one), after I watered it I could see some of the roots exposed.. is that okay or should I cover them with more soil?

More roots

New_pot.JPG (83.89 KiB) Viewed 3790 times

Also, I left most of the "curly" branches, only the ones that have some new growth coming out of them. I am wondering if I need to cut more of those branches or just wait and see how it responds to the new pot/soil combo.

PS: Applestar your poinsettias look great!

[roseycheeks]

my small poinsettias that my neighbor look dead, no new leaves or nothing. Should I try to bring them back or wait until spring? I tried watering it and that did not help, I even put Miracle-Gro on them and again nothing seems to be helping. What should I do?

[roseycheeks]

Here is the poinsettias that I was talking about in the earlier post.

Please help! I realize that keeping poinsettias alive over the winter is a challenge so if you can help me I would truely appreciate it.

[applestar]

Try bending the branches. If they don't feel hollow and snap, then they are still alive. Even though the bottom of the trunk looks woody, that might just be bark because I still see some green section in the middle.

It's a common mistake to fertilize plants when they are not doing well. It could stress it to death. You don't feed steak dinner to an invalid. Keep it in a cool place -- doesn't need much light until new growth starts -- and let it nearly dry between watering. Someplace on the floor level or even basement is probably cooler than on a table, desk, counter. Once temps outside stays above 55°F, you could put it outside in a shady location or under a tree on the north/east side of the trunk where it will not get any noonday or hot afternoon sun. Sometimes, I've had them start to grow after I've forgotten about them. Make sure it's not sitting in a catch/drip tray of water. I put almost all my container plants directly on the grass/ground. Earthworms move in from below and help to fertilize and condition the potting mix.

[roseycheeks]

The coolest place and safest is the table in front of the picture window, it gets indirect light but not direct light. I will put them both there with the large poinsettia. Thank you for your help.

[roseycheeks]

The little ones leaves have curled up and dropped off, they now have not leaves on either one, they look dead to me, the big one however has new growth on it and quite a few leaves. I just don't know what to do with the smaller ones. Do you think repotting them will help? The big one seems to like where it is, it is in front of the picture window where it gets indirect light and far enough away to keep from getting cold. It likes it there, so there I am going to leave it, I just watered it last night, watered it enough that it ran from the drainage holes, now won't bother it until the next time.