Tag: poinsettias

  • Caring for poinsettias

    Caring for poinsettias

    Poinsettia (Photo by Brendan Adam-Zwelling)
    Poinsettia (Photo by Brendan Adam-Zwelling)

    There was a time when holiday poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) were always red. But now the beautiful pink, white, plum, cranberry and variegated versions make them all the more irresistible. And what’s more, they’re so much bigger. With care, poinsettias can stay in good condition indoors over the winter months.

    Poinsettias like consistent moisture, and quickly wilt when their soil becomes dry. The time to water is when the soil surface feels dry, and the weight of the container is lighter. A large pot with three plants clumped together will be filled with roots and constantly thirsty; it may need a drink every day.

    Dropping flowers and foliage is a sign a poinsettia is in distress. The actual flowers are the small yellow berries surrounded with the colourful bracts (petal-like structures). Poinsettias like everything in moderation — flowers and bracts will begin to drop if the plant is in a cold draft or the room lacks humidity or the soil in the pot becomes dry or the light is too low. The best location is near a window with bright indirect light. Turn the plant each day to prevent the foliage from straining for light. Night temperature in the room should be no lower than 15°C.

    When light, temperature and soil moisture needs are adequate, poinsettias will keep their colourful display until mid-spring. Colour will begin fading from the bracts in April and May, and some foliage may fall. If you want to keep the plant going through the summer, cut the stems back to four inches (10 cm), and repot the plant, removing some of the old compost and replacing it with fresh soilless mix. (The cuttings can be rooted to make additional plants, using powdered rooting hormone, clean pots and soilless mix.) Feed with a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) every four weeks. The poinsettia can summer outdoors in indirect light, but avoid direct sun on the foliage.

    By late summer the poinsettia will be quite full, and probably taller than it was when first purchased. (Plants grown in greenhouses are given solutions to keep them bushy and short.) In September, bring the poinsettia indoors to a suitable location. To induce the colourful bracts, the plant must be kept in total darkness for 14 hours every night. Cover it with a black plastic bag in early evening, removing the bag in the morning. Do this for eight weeks, and the plant will once again provide a dazzling colourful display.

  • Discovering new poinsettias

    Discovering new poinsettias

    'Cinnamon' poinsettia
    ‘Cinnamon’ poinsettia

    There is no plant or flower that says Christmas like the poinsettia. This is the time of year where everywhere you look, there is another red poinsettia – rows of them in grocery stores and one at every office or holiday party you visit. Eventually, you can just stop noticing them.

    Last Friday, though, I think I saw more poinsettias in one hour than I had in my whole life (so, a lot of poinsettias). I was invited to the second annual Poinsettia Research Open House at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre to participate in a consumer trial. Located in Vineland Station, Ont., the centre works with the agricultural and horticultural industries, performing research that will lead to more sustainable practices and better products. Consumer trials help growers and breeders get reactions from the public before plants or produce reach retailers, and the feedback helps decide what will make it out of the greenhouses and into stores. Other recent consumer trials at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre have included dried fruits, wine, apples and peaches. The public is, of course, eager to participate and to get a glimpse (or taste) of what new improvements are being made to the plants and produce they see every day. Which brings me back to those poinsettias.

    'Saturnus Twist' and 'Carousel' were two ruffled poinsettias, which I hadn't seen before.
    ‘Saturnus Twist’ and ‘Carousel’ were two ruffled poinsettias I hadn’t seen before.

    At this particular trial, people like me (and anyone else who is on their e-newsletter list or who saw the ad in the local paper) were given two slips of paper – one to write down three favourites, and one to list their two least favourites. I asked what the least favourites were last year, but alas, they wouldn’t tell me. They did share that when it comes to poinsettias, people always love the traditional reds and whites, perhaps because they are, after all, plants for Christmas, which is a time for tradition.

    I spoke to Wayne Brown from the Ontario Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs, the man responsible for growing the hundreds of poinsettias for the trial, while I was touring the greenhouses. He shared some history and insight into growing these “Christmas flowers.”

    The research centre is one of three sites in North America that trials poinsettias every year (the other two are in Florida and North Carolina).  There are five poinsettia breeders in the world who fund these trials, to have researchers test poinsettias under different conditions (light, soil, climate etc.) and to get feedback from local consumers and growers. The plants are grown from cuttings started in July. This year, 110 varieties came to Vineland, 58 of which were red.

    Christmas Beauty Nostalgia poinsettia
    Christmas Beauty Nostalgia poinsettia

    Poinsettias are native to Mexico and South America, and Joel Poinsett, an American ambassador to Mexico, brought the plant to the U.S. (the Philadelphia Botanical Garden, to be exact) in 1825. They started being bred in the U.S., and it was the Ecke family in California, a major breeder, who started marketing them as a Christmas plant.

    Poinsettias bloom just in time for the holiday season. They can live under the worst light conditions for three to four weeks, longer with more light. They need water about once a week, unless they’re in a really hot room. It turns out, they’re not all that toxic to pets. Their level of toxicity is not as high as often thought, and if your pet (or you, for that matter) were to chew on a leaf, the tingling sensation it would cause in your mouth would discourage any further ingestion. Indeed, Princess the cat, who was adopted and given a home at the centre, spends a lot of time in the greenhouses with Wayne and the hundreds of poinsettias. She got almost as much attention from the people touring the greenhouses as the poinsettias themselves. Almost.

    Christmas Day' is one of Wayne's personal favourites, and it ended up on my list as well, because of its rich and velvety colours.
    Christmas Day’ is one of Wayne’s personal favourites, and it ended up on my list as well, because of its rich and velvety colours.
    Princess, who now lives in the greenhouses at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre since being adopted, watched over the many people touring the greenhouses.
    Princess, who now lives in the greenhouses at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre since being adopted, watched over the many people touring the greenhouses.

     

    GaMa recommends: Judith Adam’s tips on Caring for poinsettias

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