How to revive a dying poinsettia

Video: How to save dying Poinsettia plant // Poinsettia plant cutting propagation // Poinsettia plant care

Content

Steps
Method 1 of 3: Taking Care of Your Poinsettia at the End of the Winter Season
Method 2 of 3: Stimulating Growth in Spring and Summer
Method 3 of 3: How to Make Poinsettia Bloom Again
Tips
Warnings
What do you need

Poinsettia (the most beautiful euphorbia, "Christmas star") is an ornamental plant from the euphorbia genus, which is used to decorate houses for the New Year. However, after the holidays, poinsettia often ends up in the trash, although with proper care it could please the eye for a long time. Give poinsettia a little time and attention, and it will come to life and bloom again next year. First, remove all dead leaves so that the plant will sprout new shoots. The poinsettia should receive enough water and diffused sunlight. If the climate permits, the poinsettia can be taken out into the garden. By the time winter returns, your Christmas star will be back in strength and color.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Taking Care of Your Poinsettia at the End of the Winter Season

1 Place the poinsettia where it will receive at least 6 hours of sunshine per day. If you've made the decision to save a poinsettia that is withering after the New Years, move it to a well-lit place in your home. An east or west window with diffused light or a large open-plan living room will do.
- Poinsettia is a light-loving plant; it needs a lot of indirect sunlight to grow well.
2 Water the poinsettia every few days. The exact amount of water will depend on the needs of the particular plant, the size of the pot, and the ambient temperature. As a rule, the poinsettia should be watered so that the soil is slightly damp. It's time to water the plant if you notice that the potted soil is dry to the touch.
- Medium poinsettia require about ¾ cup (180 ml) of water every 1 to 2 days.
- Try not to flood your poinsettia. Excess moisture in the soil can cause the roots to rot. Excess moisture leads to other diseases and death of the plant.
- There must be a drainage hole in the bottom of the poinsettia pot. If not, drill a hole in the bottom or transplant the poinsettia into another pot.
3 Examine the poinsettia and remove the dead leaves. If you notice dried, shriveled or discolored leaves on the plant, pinch them off. Remove fallen leaves from the pot. Healthy leaves can be left.
- After this procedure, a bare trunk may remain from the poinsettia. This is fine. The colored foliage will grow back after the poinsettia comes out of its dormant period in the spring.
4 Cut off branches that have begun to rot. Examine the plant and trim off old, diseased, or dead branches with garden shears. The branches should be cut 1–1.5 cm below the diseased area. You may need to prune any old branches on the bush, leaving only young shoots at the base of the plant.
- In a healthy plant, pruning stimulates the growth of new shoots.
- Rotten branches and leaves can be sent to the compost heap. Use the compost as an organic fertilizer when the poinsettia starts growing again. If the branches are affected by disease or pests, it is better to throw them away, rather than compost them.

Method 2 of 3: Stimulating Growth in Spring and Summer

1 Suitable air temperature for poinsettia is 18-24 ° C. Poinsettia feels best at the same temperature as a person. This means that your poinsettia will fit just about any room in the house.
- Keep the poinsettia pot away from windows or doors that are often opened. Poinsettia does not like drafts.
- Do not place the poinsettia near heaters, radiators or ventilation openings.
- It is not recommended to sharply increase or decrease the temperature in the room when the temperature outside changes.
2 Fertilize the poinsettia once a month in the spring. Fertilizers are necessary for the plant to receive all the substances necessary for growth from the soil. For a whimsical plant like poinsettia, it is safest to choose an all-purpose liquid houseplant fertilizer. Add fertilizer to the irrigation water in the proportion indicated on the label.
- In addition to liquid fertilization, poinsettia can be fertilized with natural organic compost or vermicompost.
- Fertilizer is best applied shortly after watering while the soil is still moist. Do not apply fertilizer to dry soil - this can damage the roots of the plant.
- Apply fertilizer once a month during active growth.
3 Set the poinsettia outdoors in a place with diffused sunlight. If the day is warm, the poinsettia can be taken outside for several hours. Place the pot of poinsettia in a partially shaded area to prevent overheating. The ideal place for growing poinsettia would be a terrace or flower bed, on which the shadow of a large tree falls.
- Train your poinsettia to be outdoors gradually. It is best to start with a few hours early in the morning, gradually increasing the plant's outdoor time by 1–2 hours per day until full daylight hours.
- Choose a place in the garden where there is a lot of sun in the morning and shade in the evening.
- In the hot season, the poinsettia, which is on the street, needs to be watered more often. If the poinsettia is wilted, wilted or wrinkled, it means that you have overexposed the poinsettia outside.
4 In spring or summer, trim the shoots, leaving 15–20 cm. Once the weather gets hot, it is best to trim the poinsettia shoots to about a third or even half their length. Strategic pruning stimulates the growth of new shoots, resulting in a thicker and more branchy shrub. Removing excess shoots helps to redirect the plant's resources towards the formation of new buds and foliage.
- If you think you are pruning the poinsettia early, you can postpone pruning until mid-summer, when the bush reaches its maximum size.

Method 3 of 3: How to Make Poinsettia Bloom Again

1 In the fall, start covering the plant overnight to stimulate flowering. In order for bright red bracts to reappear on the bush after a dormant period, from September to November the poinsettia should spend 12-14 hours a day in complete darkness. Cover the poinsettia with a black cloth bag or cardboard box every night at sunset. Open the poinsettia in the morning to get the right amount of sunlight.
- Once you've covered the poinsettia, you can put it in a closet or take it to the basement. Even the slightest glimmer of light can prevent a plant from blooming in time.
- Poinsettia is a light-sensitive plant; this means that the amount of foliage on a bush directly depends on the time spent in the dark.
2 Transplant the poinsettia into a larger pot. Over the summer, your poinsettia may have grown so large that the pot has become small for her. When the growth of new shoots and leaves begins to slow down, transplant the plant into a larger pot, where the root system has enough room to grow further. When transplanting, try not to damage the roots, they are rather fragile.
- For transplanting poinsettia, any universal soil for indoor plants is suitable.
- After a successful transplant, continue to water and fertilize the plant as usual.
3 Use pesticides to control pests. Poinsettia leaves are popular with such common garden pests as aphids and whiteflies. To minimize damage, it is best to periodically spray the plant with a mild organic pesticide, such as neem oil or insecticidal soap solution. If there are few pests, you can simply pick them off by hand from the bush.
- Remember that organic pesticides tend to be used more often than chemical pesticides because they are milder.
- If you are against treating poinsettia with pesticides, you can prepare a solution of natural liquid soap and warm water.Pour the solution into a spray bottle and spray the plant if you notice insects on it.
4 When the outside temperature starts to drop, bring the poinsettia back into the room. By mid-fall, it gets too cold to keep the poinsettia outside during the day. Find a suitable place in the house where the plant will be warm and it will receive 6-8 hours of diffused sunlight per day. If at this stage the poinsettia is doing well, it has every chance of surviving another season.
- If you live in a region with a very warm climate, the poinsettia can be kept outdoors during the fall and winter period as well. In this case, the temperature should not fall below 10 ° C. It is important to protect the plant from frost and prolonged exposure to low temperatures.

Tips

With proper care, poinsettia can live and bloom for many years.
At any time of the year, poinsettia must be protected from strong winds and precipitation.
The flowers that you cut from the poinsettia during pruning can not be thrown away, but put in a vase.
Poinsettia is commonly used to decorate rooms during the Christmas holidays.
Poinsettia doesn't like drafts, so try not to keep it in the wind.