Poinsettias in the summer?

[sethward]

Hello,

I've read about how to force poinsettias to bloom in time for Christmas, but I have a different idea. Would it be possible to force poinsettias to bloom indoors during spring such that I could transplant blooming specimens to my flower bed for the summer?

Thanks,

Seth

[Kisal]

I don't think it's likely. In order to set buds, they require a short day, or rather, a long period (14 hours) of total darkness in every 24-hour period. (Even a streetlight shining on the plants at night is enough to disrupt the process.) You could probably provide that artificially, but I think it would be an awful lot of work. It has to be done artificially to force them to bloom at Christmas, but since the nights are getting longer then, anyway, it isn't quite such a chore. JMO, of course.

The humidity level and day and night temperatures come into play as well.

I remember a member posted a picture of their poinsettia blooming in the spring, but I don't recall their geographic location, or whether they did anything special to force the plant. You might run across the thread if you did a forum search for "poinsettia".

[lorax]

Alternately, if you can maintain an even 12-hour daylight to 12-hour darkness cycle, they'll bloom almost constantly and go dormant only when the dry season comes.

However, that's assuming a tropical location, which you haven't got. Long days make Poinsettias want to sleep.

[applestar]

So does that mean we should be able to get them to keep blooming through winter with 12/12 artificial light from Fall (for us) Equinox until after Spring Equinox? I always thought the poinsettia blooms just once per year.

The tricky part is ENJOYING it since living areas would be lit up during the night.

[lorax]

AS, theoretically, yes. Certainly, around here and especially in areas that experience a rainy "dry" season (ie the cloud forests), Poinsettias can bloom year round. Here's one at a friend's house in Mindo in August - it is in pretty much constant bract and flower production, and they keep it pruned to help it branch more (if you leave them alone, they get pretty leggy.)

[img]https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5009/5300871774_0084b4ddb0.jpg[/img]

[sethward]

Thank you guys so much for the info. I might try a few anyway just for fun.

Seth

[mansgirl]

I have to say, my Pointsetta is still going strong! : ) We'll see how much longer she makes it!