What to Do With Last Year's Poinsettias

Last year's Christmas poinsettia can give added enjoyment in the landscape if cared for properly now.

Many of the new varieties of poinsettias will retain their leaves and decorative bracts far into the New Year. Eventually the lower leaves will begin to drop and the bracts will loose their brilliant color. At this point the plant should be placed in a cool dry location. Give the plant only enough water to keep the soil from becoming entirely dry so that the stem won't wither.

After the danger of frost has passed, the poinsettia can be planted outdoors in the warmer parts of central and southern Florida. The poinsettia is very sensitive to cold and many years the plants are frozen before they have a chance to bloom. Freezing is particularly severe in unprotected locations of the northern sections of the state.

Choose a sunny, well-drained location protected from north winds and frost for poinsettias. Also select an area where plants will not receive any light at night. Poinsettias must have almost total darkness before flower buds are formed. Plants are prevented from flowering when they are exposed to electric lights from the streets or in the home grounds. Even a brief exposure to electric lights will prevent poinsettias flowering or markedly delay flowering.

In order to keep plants bushy and compact, thus yielding more flowers, pinch the top one-half inch from new shoots when they reach the length of four to five inches. The branches that are pinched will develop two or more shoots. When these shoots grow to four or five inches, pinch them. Repeat the pinching process when there are enough shoots to do so. However, do not pinch poinsettias after the first week of September. To do so will delay or prevent flowering at Christmas time.

After the plants have been in the ground about a month, apply one or two tablespoons of a complete garden fertilizer such as 6-6-6 or 8-8-8. Usually, 3 applications per year are recommended - the first when growth starts in the spring, the second in June and the last in late fall after the bracts have set. This last application promotes large bracts with good color and aids in promoting root growth during the winter months. Occasionally, a fourth application will be needed in mid-summer if extremely heavy rains follow the early summer application. Water well each week during dry weather.