If your holiday décor includes live poinsettias, their beauty doesn’t have to end when the holidays are over. Though poinsettias are tropical and relatively delicate, they are a perennial and can keep coming back each holiday by following this advice from the experts at Texas A&M AgriLife:
- Take care in transporting—if they’re not already in a protective sleeve at purchase, place them in the car where they remain upright, stable and not crushed by any objects.
- Make sure the soil is draining well and water only when you feel the soil surface is dry. (Be sure to remove any decorative outer foil when watering and make sure plant is finished draining before replacing the foil.)
- Keep the plant housed in temperatures between 50 and 80 degrees.
- A fully colored poinsettia needs 6-8 hours of sunlight daily.
- After the holidays, cut plant back to about 6 inches, repot it into the next largest container, and follow the directions for water, fertilizer, pruning, and nighttime light deprivation (that’s needed each fall), located here.
Be sure to check out the City’s poinsettia tree that’s located in the lobby of the Eisemann Center (see News story above).
