How To Care For Your Poinsettia This Christmas

The velvety red flowers are a sure sign that Christmas is on its way, Poinsettia have earnt a reputation as being hard to maintain but if you follow our foolproof tips your Poinsettia should thrive well past Christmas day.

How To Look After Your Poinsettia

Poinsettias originate from Mexico so they are used to much warmer climates than those of the British winter’s! Thus meaning you will need to ensure your Poinsettias are kept above 13C (55F) if you want them to be making an appearance on Christmas day!

You will need to position your Poinsettia in an area of good light away from any direct sunlight and draughts, a room which the temperature and environment is constant is perfect for your Poinsettias. The find that the biggest mistake people make is keeping their Poinsettia is a room of fluctuating temperatures for example, a living room with an open fire.

Overwatering your Poinsettia is one sure fire way to damage the plant quickly, you need to wait until the surface of the compost beings to dry out, then you need to water the plant thoroughly. For optimum nurture try to feed you Poinsettia once a week with a houseplant fertiliser.

Never get rid of a Poinsettia that is looking a little worse for wear, you should always try to rescue a wilting Poinsettia. Admittedly wilted Poinsettias may have a limited lifespan, soaking the plants root ball in warm water will often give wilted Poinsettias a new lease of live. Plant revival should occur within the first hour of soaking the Poinsettia in the warm water, if you see no improvement then unfortunately your Poinsettia is fit for the compost heap!

Poinsettia Fact File

    • The majority of Poinsettias sold around Christmas time are red; the rest are white, cream and pink
    • Red Poinsettias take approximately eight weeks to turn from green to red
    • Poinsettias have an optimum total height of 32cm
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    • If you carefully look after your Poinsettia they will last until March

Now that you’re a newfound expert on Poinsettia all you need to do is keep this guide to hand and you’ll most definitely have you Poinsettias in full bloom for Christmas day and into the new year!