In late September, I blogged HERE about my garden poinsettia. The plant flourished outside, and I grew rather fond of it, while knowing it would die with the first frost.
Some of my Facebook friends encouraged me to bring it in the house for the winter; a couple of them even told me that if I put it in a totally dark closet for 12 hours each night for a couple of months, it would bloom beautifully by Christmas. I was pretty sure that wouldn't work for me, because I'm not good with house plants. But I did finally decide that since it was sure to die outside anyway, the least I could do was bring it in the warm house to die.
So I bought some potting soil, borrowed a pot from a friend, and headed to the corner of the garden with shovel in hand. I tried to keep the shovel at least 12 inches out from the plant, hoping not to hurt the roots. But I realized as soon as I lifted it out of the ground that there were many, many broken roots. The only thing I could do was get it in the pot as best I could, water it, bring it inside, and see what happened. I placed it in the bedroom near a south-facing window. The very next day I noticed all the leaves on it were limp and dying. Within three days, the leaves were dried up and falling on the floor, leaving only the green limbs. I assumed they'd die too, but I decided to cut them close down near the bottom of the plant so if there was any life there, the plant wouldn't be overworked with more damage than it could handle.
As I was about to cut the last skinny twelve-inch-high branch, I noticed a very tiny leaf at the top that looked healthy, so I left that branch there, looking like a flagpole with the tiniest flag on it. Soon more leaves joined the first leaf.
Apparently it's impossible to kill a poinsettia.
I won't be seeing any pretty red flowers on the plant come Christmas, but I get to witness a wonderful born-again plant healing and growing all winter, anticipating another summer in my garden. Now I have to decide whether to leave the flagpole branch as tall as it is or trim it down to match the others.
I'm a bit surprised it all died off like that, but yes, it will come back! Poinsettias are very tough and want to live. Just give it a very sunny, and very cool spot to grow. Poinsettias Hate nice warm heater ducts and even warm air blowing against them. Actually, 65 degrees is what they prefer, and you may be surprised that maybe, just maybe by Valentines Day, or possibly Easter, you may have some red leaves showing again. It is all about day length, and poinsettias will only bloom if they have a minimum of 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness. When I had the greenhouse at school, I had to turn off the dusk to dawn streetlight above and in front the greenhouse because it kept my plants from turning red. For all of the experimenting and adventures you like to take, getting this little rascal to turn red again is right up your alley! Also, poinsettias are very hungry! Don't overwater it, and feed it well and it will thrive!
ReplyDeleteSupposedly you can't over water plants in this potting soil. That's what it says on the bag. When it isn't damp any more, I add some water. The plant seems to be happy.
DeleteWell, it was a success. I’m impressed.
ReplyDeleteNot really success. I was hoping to bring the whole plant in and keep it looking like it did in the garden. But the thing is alive and I can have it in the garden again, so that's OK.
DeleteI thought it was the darkness that made it produce the red leaves... I haven't read on that for a long time, but if you want to see those red leaves, maybe you should try that.
ReplyDeleteIt is the darkness. But these baby leaves aren't going to do anything fancy, and I doubt I'll ever try that anyhow. Digging the plant up makes it lose it's leaves. No leaves, no red.
DeleteI can barely keep one alive for a couple weeks and I don't think they're good for cats. Mari is a nibbler of leaves so it's a good excuse not to embarrass myself.
ReplyDeleteI can attest to the fact that it is COMPLETELY possible to kill a poinsettia, having done so many times. But I was going to tell you that they really do react violently to being repotted (the drama queens of the plant world!). I was going to tell you NOT to throw that poinsettia away just yet...but you figured it out yourself!
ReplyDeleteSomehow I have found a "houseplant" I can identify with. I would never have thought that would happen.
DeleteGlad she will love to grow some more and see another summer.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's me...Rebecca H from Dallas County MO...above. Dunno how to sign in from the cell phone...sorry.
ReplyDeleteThanks for not keeping me guessing. There is a drop-down arrow where it says Anonymous. If you hit the arrow you will see choices: Google account, anonymous, and name/URL. Choose Google account.
DeleteWow! It's coming back impressively. You obviously have a green thumb.
ReplyDelete