It Really Works!

If you're like me, you've read that you can save your Christmas poinsettia for the following year.  There's a series of steps that you look at, say, "Never mind", throw out the poinsettia after Christmas and buy another one the next year.

This year was different...and it looks like it's working:
Here's the story...after Christmas last year (about February) my poinsettia looked like this:
It was still red and, relatively, happy.  I ignored it, for the most part, gave it some water when it was dry, and sometime in March, I cut it back to about 6 inches and let it grow.  I did NOT repot it, or fertilize it.  It sat on my side porch where it got lots of light.  It became very full.
When mid-September arrived, I started putting it in a dark closet at 5:00 pm and took it out at 8:00 am every day.  The only additional thing I did was water it - no special treatment!
I watched for any signs of change and there was....nothing!
Finally, after about 5-6 weeks, I began to see hints of red:
I know the leaves are a lighter green.  That happened over the course of this whole process and the lighting for this pic was much better.  Here's a close-up:
So, there you have it.  The process actually works without any fussing. Just water and darkness overnight in the Fall does the trick.  I'm so excited that this actually worked, since my husband kept telling me he wasn't impressed every time I took it out of the closet!

Have you tried this?  If not, I hope you'll live it a shot this year.  I am proof that it actually works!

Thanks for stopping by the cottage!
Ann

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Comments

  1. HI Ann, good to see you pop by the #OMHGWW this week. I love that your Poinsettia is starting to turn, I have seen some stay red year round, not sure how that works. Hope you and your husband are doing well, hope you enjoy the fall weather!
    Karren

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    1. Thanks, Karren. I was starting to wonder after a few weeks of nothing happening. I'd love to learn how they can stay red year-round!

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  2. I had one the same size. I planted it outside and didn't do a anything at all. It's still outside and it starting to turn red. I sort of have a photo of it. Every Monday I add a post about Max, our Lab and this week I made sure the plant was in the photo .

    I'm going to try it this year with another plant! I'll have a yard full of poinsettias!

    Linda
    Best of Long Island and Central Florida

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    Replies
    1. What's your secret, Linda? I'm on my way to see your photo! A yard full of poinsettias would be beautiful!

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  3. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop

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  4. I did this a couple of years ago. But, when it got warm outside, I planted it outside!! I am going to try this again this summer, but this time I will bring it in when it starts getting cold!! We'll see how long I can keep it alive

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    Replies
    1. We had many neighbors in Kauai that had driveways lined with poinsettias and they did prune them in the "A" months --right down to bare branches (to keep them same height --not in tall "trees" like ours was at first) they grew new leaves and around Halloween they were red until the pruning in April, and then they grew new leaves til August pruning again.
      latitude was about the same as Mexico and we did not have to darken them because days were about 12 hours light/dark most of the year. We had some white ones that bloomed mostly in front and down low, because the lights in the windows above kept them from blooming "on time"

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    2. I hope it stays alive for many holiday seasons, Jeannie!

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    3. They must have been beautiful!

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  5. It looks real beautiful! The top leaves are actually the "petals" in this kind of plant. They turn red when is the season to do it, mostly around Christmas time. Be careful with pets because is poisonous. The milky substance is.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. I've heard conflicting views on whether they are poisonous to pets, but I like to err on the side of caution... no one wants to make a furbaby sick!

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