Holidays and Christmas. As a tropical plant, poinsettia at home requires special care and knowledge of the florist of all its features. So that the withering shrub will be covered with leaves a month after the celebrations and the ornamental bracts unfurled, the grower will have to:
- adapt to the natural cycle of flower development;
- provide a green pet with nourishing soil and moisture;
- create optimal temperature conditions;
- find a plant a place for active growth and a dormant period.
If you neglect this, and also do not provide a mandatory rest period for 9–10 weeks for poinsettia at home, the faded plant is unlikely to be covered with colored rosette stars by next Christmas. 
Flower care starts from the time of purchase. Since a blooming specimen enters the house, you should not immediately replace it. But the careful acclimatization of poinsettia after the acquisition will be required.
For this, the pot is arranged on a western or eastern window, where there is plenty of light, but there is no risk of sunburn. For 3-4 weeks at a temperature of 18–20 ° C, diffused light and regular moderate watering, the plant will get used to the new habitat, and the florist will be able to ascertain its health and safety for other green inhabitants of the house.
Lighting and location of the poinsettia of the house
Poinsettia is a native of the dry tropics and subtropics, for which it needs a lot of light for comfortable development and flowering. However, sunburns that are likely under direct sunlight are dangerous.
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How to choose the location of the poinsettia at home so that the lighting of the flower would be optimal:
- It is best to find a little meta on the east or west windows. In this case, the peak of illumination occurs in the morning or evening hours, and most of the day the foliage basks under diffused, but rather bright light.
- If the pot is inserted on the south side, especially in summer, you can’t do without reliable shading, or you have to move a decorative perennial into the room at noon.
- North windows fit less than others. Here, the shortage of light is felt not only in winter, but also in the warm season, when the growing season is underway. This means that when caring for a poinsettia, the florist will need special lighting.
Vegetative growth of new shoots at the poinsettia begins when the length of the day reaches 12 hours. In the autumn, when the light becomes less, the shoot formation is inhibited, and racemose inflorescences and bright bracts appear on the tops of the stems.
While the flower goes to the peak of its ornamentation, approximately from September to mid-November, regardless of the location, the lighting of the poinsettia at home is reduced to 10 hours. To do this, cover the bush at night with an opaque cloth or box, transfer it to a dark room.
Temperature profile for the care of poinsettia
The home poinsettia plant reacts equally poorly to its contents at extremely low and high temperatures.
Staying in a room heated to less than +14 ° C faces:
- with pallor and lethargy of bracts;
- slowdown and stunting;
- a significant reduction in moisture and nutrient intake;
- rotting roots and death.
In the hot season, young shoots hang, foliage fallout can begin. To save the plant, you need to choose a cooler, draft-free place and use regular spraying of the bush with warm soft water.
Therefore, since the end of the rest period, poinsettia at home is recommended to be kept at 20–22 ° C.The same temperature is desirable for rooting cuttings obtained field pruning. From the middle of October, when the plant starts planting flower buds, it is useful to reduce the temperature background in the room by 2–3 degrees to 17–19 ° C.
Humidity and Poinsettia Watering
Properly organized poinsettia watering and sufficient air humidity is an important part of the success of growing this original plant. If during the rest period, when growth is almost stopped, the flower almost does not need moisture, then when the kidneys awaken, the plant can no longer do without watering.
The irrigation water should be soft, settled and slightly warmer than the surrounding air. Poinsettia responds to the use of cold moisture by shedding foliage, and its roots may rot.
The frequency of watering depends on the condition of the flower and the soil, as well as on the temperature and humidity of the air. From spring to completion of flowering during the time between watering the surface of the substrate should dry out. If the water that has fed the soil passes through and is in the pan, it is drained.
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In the hot season and in winter, when there is low humidity in the room, poinsettia, except watering, must be sprayed or use a home humidifier.
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Soil for poinsettia and flower fertilizing mode
For active growth of the flower, the soil for poinsettia must be nutritious, loose, moisture-proof and breathable. The optimum acidity level of the substrate is 5.8–6.6 units.
If the pH falls, it affects the development of the flower and causes growth inhibition, deformation of young leaf plates and less resistance to diseases.
As a soil for poinsettia, you can take a universal floral primer or make a mixture of your own. To do this, take:
- 3 shares of turf soil;
- 3 pieces of leafy ground;
- 1 part of the peat cleared of rough inclusions;
- 1 part washed coarse sand.
Useful in the substrate will be small pieces of charcoal, as well as crushed stalks of dry sphagnum. Before planting the flower, the resulting soil is disinfected and saturated with long-acting fertilizers.
At home, poinsettia must be fed, paying special attention to the microelements that are introduced in the traditional and foliar way from spring to late autumn, until the growing season ends.
. To maintain the brightness of foliage, use complex compounds containing iron, potassium and sulfur, zinc and molybdenum. The first application of fertilizer is carried out 10–14 days after transferring the flower to a new soil. Then every 2–4 weeks, the procedure is repeated. At the same time, we should not forget about getting the flower nitrogen, which is necessary for active growth and leaf formation. It is introduced in small doses 2-3 times a month.
Interesting Poinsettia - Video
