Bring Christmas stars through the summer
Poinsettias are, in their Central and South American home, up to 5 m tall, stately bushes. At their home locations, older poinsettias bloom all year round.
Often the poinsettias are simply thrown into the dustbin after Christmas, which is a shame because it is a perennial plant.
Perennial culture is very easy if you cut them back in the spring (March to April) and repot them into fresh substrate. In the summer you put them outside, where they enjoy the sun very much.
The flowering can be achieved with small plants in the autumn then very easily by daily covering with a light-tight bucket, for example, a Maurer dough.
Poinsettias are so-called short-day plants that only flower when they are not lit for more than 12 hours. Often, however, the plants also start to flower themselves without artificial measures.
maintenance
Water:
Poinsettias need very little water. The substrate should only be slightly damp. If you put your finger into the substrate and feel the wet already, it is already too wet. A care mistake is too frequent and too abundant watering. Poinsettias do not tolerate waterlogging.
The dipping method works very well, in which the root ball is submerged in water until no more air bubbles rise. Then let the excess water drain for several minutes and then put the plant back into the planter.
The next time you dive, it's not until the substrate has dried up, sometimes after more than a week. As long as the almost always used peat culture substrate is dark on the surface, it is still wet enough.
Light:
A bright, like sunny location is ideal. Even partial shade is tolerated by the poinsettia, provided the temperature is not too high.
Temperature:
During flowering it should be between 15 and 22 ° C. At too high temperatures and too little light, because the plant comes from the tropical sun, vergeilt the plant and get yellow leaves.
Fertilization:
During the flowering period and whenever the plant grows once or twice a week with any solid fertilizer.
propagation:
Through cuttings.
When buying make sure that the actual flowers in the middle have not fallen off yet. Only then you have fun for a long time on the flowering of the beautiful plant.
