what to look for when buying a poinsettia

Festive ruby-red and dark-green poinsettias take begun popping up in grocery stores and flower shops across the country which tin can only mean one affair—the holidays are near. This cheerful plant is basically everywhere (including in our own homes) over the winter months, and for skillful reason. Later on all, the colorful leaf on these beauties is sure to bring joy to any room...so long as you know how to go along this popular holiday constitute live, that is. Read our guide on how to intendance for a poinsettia to ensure your holiday decor survives until the New Twelvemonth and beyond.

What Is a Poinsettia?

A fellow member of the Euphorbia family, poinsettias are mutual fixtures on the Christmas scene thank you to short winter days that provoke these 'long-nighttime' plants to bloom and don their vibrant, and almost often red, hue. (Information technology's also worth noting that you tin can alter up your holiday color scheme if you then cull—there are white, stake pinkish and even bright orange varieties of poinsettia to be found.) Native to Mexico (the poinsettia is also known as Mexican flameleaf), this holiday plant is actually a shrub. And if you lot're considering buying a poinsettia for a houseplant, y'all should know that despite the rumors, this plant is non toxic to people or animals. Information technology can, nevertheless, irritate a dog or true cat's oral cavity and esophagus and potentially induce nausea or vomiting if ingested, although Purina notes that your pet would need to ingest a significant corporeality to cause a more serious reaction (and Fido is unlikely to consume more than just a little considering of the irritation it causes).

How to Selection a Poinsettia

Before we get into the nuts of caring for a poinsettia, we should probably mention that if y'all bring domicile a sickly one, you lot don't stand a chance. To selection the perfect poinsettia it's important to turn your attending to the light-green leafage, the colorful leaves known as 'bracts' (i.e., the red part), and the flowering buds that grow at the center of the bracts. Hither'southward a breakdown of what to expect for when y'all're shopping for a poinsettia plant:

• Robust, dark green foliage is a sign of a healthy institute. Take a hard pass on a poinsettia that has stake green or wilted leaves.

• Vibrant bracts are a no-brainer. Still, it's particularly important that those colorful bracts don't have whatsoever hint of green. Consider this a reminder that you need not settle when shopping for a show-stopping centerpiece.

• Wilted leaves are bad news. Don't take a poinsettia home expecting it to change.

• Inspect for bugs. Itty bitty aphids tin wreak havoc on a poinsettia, so exist sure to search the establish for insects earlier you hit the cash register.

• Bank check out the flowers. These guys tin can be found at the eye of the bracts, close to the stalk. The poinsettias with the most longevity—those that aren't too mature—volition take plump greenish buds with no sign of yellow pollen at the fourth dimension of buy.

How to Care for a Poinsettia

Y'all made it this far, which ways you merely brought home the creme de la creme of holiday houseplants. The bad news is that, for a wintertime staple, the poinsettia is a tad bit fussy about common cold atmospheric condition. Don't worry though—you tin can keep your constitute happy by following these elementary poinsettia care tips, courtesy of the experts at the University of Minnesota.

1. Low-cal

Poinsettias might come up into their own when the days are short—but, oddly enough, they really similar sunlight. The pros suggest putting your indoor poinsettia in a "south, east or west window" where the constitute tin can get every bit much brilliant daylight equally possible.

ii. Temperature

Given that poinsettias typically brand an appearance during the winter months, yous might be surprised to learn that this plant really prefers moderate temperatures of 65 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit and will die when exposed to freezing temperatures. (In fact, they can't handle annihilation below l degrees.) The takeaway? Keep your poinsettia indoors where it'south nice and cozy.

three. Watering

Moisture is key to maintaining a good for you poinsettia, so information technology'southward important to keep your poinsettia abroad from radiators, infinite heaters and other elements that may dry information technology out, and to water the plant whenever the soil feels dry to the bear on. Don't overdo it, though, because poinsettias are susceptible to rot if they're kept besides wet. To avert this scenario, just be sure to permit the soil to drain well after each watering.

How to Go along a Poinsettia Alive Subsequently Christmas

Keeping a poinsettia healthy afterward the holidays is no small task, but there are some things you can exercise to increase your chances of success. In order to get a poinsettia to rebloom, yous demand to know when to requite information technology light, and when not to. Here's what the experts say:

i. Proceed your poinsettia indoors and ensure that it gets plenty of light from New year's until the first of summer.

two. In one case summer is in full swing, move the establish to an outdoor area and give it plenty of sun.

3. At the start of fall, bring the plant back inside and give information technology 16 hours of total darkness and viii hours of brilliant light every day. Annotation: Total darkness means stashing your poinsettia in a closet you never open for 16 hours a day. (So yeah, these guys are a piddling high maintenance.)

iv. Come up Thanksgiving, discontinue the routine described to a higher place and relocate your poinsettia to a spot where it gets plenty of indirect light.

5. That's information technology! If you followed the above advice and continued to prune and water your plant adequately throughout the yr, it may just re-bloom in time for Christmas.

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RELATED: 12 Winter Houseplants That Tin Survive (and Thrive) Throughout the Colder Months

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Source: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/care-poinsettia-holiday-shrub-survives-210000114.html

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