Poinsettia - growing and care at home, photo species

Poinsettia or the most beautiful euphorbia is an evergreen shrub of the euphorbia family, growing in nature up to 3 meters high. Has lanceolate green leaves 12-15 cm long, as well as miniature, rosette-shaped inflorescences with milk, scarlet, pink or variegated bracts.

The homeland of poinsettia is the subtropics of Mexico and Central America. At room conditions, the flower is cultivated as a perennial ornamental plant measuring no more than 50 cm. In a favorable environment, it has a high-intensity growth - the increase in length is about 30-40 cm before flowering.

Be sure to read in detail about pedilanthus and the euphorbia mile.

Poinsettia: Signs and Superstitions

The second popular name for the flower is "Christmas Star", since poinsettia is considered a symbol of this bright holiday and is endowed with some mystical power. So, for example, if a detractor is in the house or a strong negative appears - the plant turns yellow and can even die, taking on negative energy.

In addition, there is a belief that the poinsettia that adorns the bedroom of the newlyweds will bring the family early offspring, give the woman even more charm, and the man will close his desire to look at someone else besides his wife.

Poinsettia: home care. Briefly

Poinsettia at home is considered a rather troublesome plant, but if all the requirements for care are met, there will not be any special problems with the cultivation. The main parameters of a favorable environment for the flower:

Poinsettia care at home. In detail

Flowering poinsettia

"Christmas Star" blooms in the midst of winter - from December to February. These are very small inconspicuous inflorescences in the form of greenish button flowers, surrounded by large bracts, which just create the appearance of flower petals, give the plant a rich decorative look.

Bracts have a wide variety of shades depending on the variety, from burgundy red to peach tones. At the end of flowering, the leaves fall off, after which not everyone can reanimate the flower, save it until the next flowering cycle.

How to make poinsettia blossom

To resume the life of the flower and its repeated flowering, it is recommended to observe several simple rules for care:

• pruning the plant, leaving 4-5 the strongest shoots;
• from the end of September, the plant must be covered with a dense opaque cap made of paper or polyethylene and with the onset of twilight removed in a dark place for at least 12-14 hours;
• in the morning the flower returns to the window, and with the arrival of the evening it is also hidden from any kind of lighting;
• the plant is provided with moderate watering.

After about 2 months of such storage, poinsettia begins to "wake up" and grow young foliage. Two weeks later, flower buds appear and bracts open.

Near the blooming poinsettia, it is not recommended to put vases with apples, bananas, pears and other fruits, since the plant gas emitted by them is ethylene, destructively affects the bracts - they quickly wither.

Temperature mode

Home-made poinsettia feels comfortable at a constant temperature of 20-21 ºС during the day, and at least 16 ºС at night. In this case, it is very important to exclude any contact of the flower with cold - drafts, frosty glass windows, cold streams from the street. All these factors can cause a sharp fall of foliage.

At rest, when the flower is devoid of leaves and does not spend energy on development, storage in a room with a temperature of 10 ºС is enough.

Spraying

In the summer season, the poinsettia plant at home does not tolerate dry air, so it is very important to maintain a stable high humidity with the help of special moisturizing devices, or through regular spraying. To do this, use soft filtered or settled warm water.

Lighting

Poinsettia is a photophilous flower requiring diffused sunlight with shading from the scorching midday light. But for the timely laying of flower buds and successful flowering, he artificially reduces daylight hours, completely covering the bush for 12-14 hours.

Such differences stimulate the development of poinsettia - the bracts will color brightly and evenly. If you neglect this rule - the leaves may become covered with dark spots.

Watering poinsettia

The main rule of poinsettia watering is moderation. In the phase of active flower growth, the soil is moistened only if its upper layer has dried to a depth of about 1.5 cm, that is, no more often than after 2-3 days. Overfilling, as well as excessive dryness, are equally detrimental to the plant.

For irrigation use softened, settled water warmer than room temperature by about 3 degrees.

Poinsettia pot

As a rule, poinsettia is transplanted into the pot a couple of centimeters wider than the previous one. The size is selected in such a way that after the transshipment of the root coma there remains 2–2.5 cm of voids around which are subsequently covered with fresh soil.

Too deep bulk containers will contribute to a longer retention of moisture, and poinsettia is extremely sensitive to overflows and fluid stagnation.

Priming

The plant prefers slightly acidic nutrient soil. It is recommended to use a special primer for euphorbiaceae. But more often a mixture is used that includes the following components:

• clay soddy soil (3 parts);
• leaf soil (2 parts);
• peat (1 part);
• coarse river sand (1 part)

In addition, you can use a lighter, permeable substrate, consisting of 3 parts of humus, 2 parts of peat and 2 parts of vermiculite. With any type of soil, a full drainage layer is required.

Fertilizer and fertilizer

Care for poinsettia at home includes the regular introduction of feeding products. In the vegetation phase, the flower is fertilized with liquid mineral complexes with a frequency of 2 times a month. It is recommended to use special feeding for milk plants, fertilizers for succulents are also suitable.

At the end of flowering, the plant is prepared for a period of rest and feeding is stopped.

Transfer

At the end of the dormancy phase, approximately in March-April, it is desirable to transplant the plant into a fresh nutrient substrate. The transplant is carried out with maximum preservation of the root coma, for which half an hour before being removed from the pot, the flower is well watered. If damaged blackened roots are found, they are carefully cut with a disinfected tool.

Then the sections are sprinkled with coal or ash, and the plant is placed in a new pot and covered with fresh soil without compaction. Poinsettia planted for two days is left in the shade and without watering, in order to stimulate root growth. After which the plant is placed in a sunny place, abundantly watering and regularly spraying.

How to cut poinsettia

Poinsettia at home is pruned annually, either immediately after flowering, before the dormancy period begins, or a week before its end before transplantation. This measure spurs the growth of young lateral shoots and gives the plant a compact look.

. Pruning is also necessary if, during the growth process, the shoots are greatly extended and the bush loses its decorative effect. In this case branches are cut to 15 cm from the surface of the soil. Since they grow very quickly, this procedure is carried out 3 times a year.

Rest period

Poinsettia needs regular rest, which usually occurs immediately after flowering. When the leaves and bracts of milkweed begin to fall, the remaining wilted, dry branches are cut from the plant and put it in a cool place. The soil is moistened once a week very moderately. The end of the period of rest of the flower falls at the beginning of May.

Is it possible to leave poinsettia without going on vacation?

When you need to leave a plant for a long time at home without the possibility of regular watering - there are several ways in which you can maintain the desired level of soil moisture:

1. A plant without a pallet is placed in a large container filled with water. Through the drainage hole, the roots of the flower will feed on moisture when necessary.
2. Wick watering. To do this, a cord of any synthetic material not subject to decay is passed through a drainage hole in a flower pot and its other edge is lowered into a container with water. The flower can be fed in this way for quite a long time. The main thing is to pour enough water.
3. Use of automatic irrigation systems.

Propagation of poinsettia by cuttings

Poinsettia is successfully propagated by apical cuttings, which can be cut from a flowering plant, before the dormancy period begins, and in a new growth cycle when young branches appear. Shoots suitable for propagation should be 10 cm long and have a pair of developed leaves.

Before planting in the soil, the cuttings are soaked in water for several minutes to drain the milky juice, then they are treated with a stimulant and buried in the soil by no more than 1 cm.If planted deeper, there is a high risk of decay of the shoot. For quick rooting, which most often occurs after a month, the sprouts create greenhouse conditions with daily ventilation.

Diseases and Pests

Growing poinsettia, you should be prepared for the fact that you have to face some problems. The most common ones are:

• poinsettia leaves fall at too low air temperature;
• leaves fade before falling as a result of excessive watering;
• PBefore falling, the poinsettia leaves turn yellow and curl, which indicates hot conditions;
• poinsettia leaves wilt with a lack of moisture;
• inflorescences fall off due to excessive air dryness;
• the edges of the poinsettia leaves turn yellow or brown, if the air in the room is not humidified, spraying is not carried out;
• leaves wrinkled and dry due to exposure to gas, combustion products;
• leaves are covered with silver spots with the appearance of fungal infections;
• rotting of the root system occurs due to constant waterlogging, stagnation of moisture in the soil.

Among the pests for poinsettia, the most dangerous are whitefly, thrips, mealybug, spider mite.

Varieties of poinsettia home with photos and names

Beautiful euphorbia has a huge number of hybrid varieties with a variety of shades of bracts. The most popular flower varieties grown at home are listed below.

Red poinsettias

• "Premium Red" - a classic rich red poinsettia with a yellowish core and lanceolate leaves;
• "Cortez Burgundy" - a variety with a crimson crimson color for stipules;
• "Cortez Red" - the variety is distinguished by red leaves with green veins.

Pink poinsettias

• "Cortez Pink" - a soft pink color of the leaves, while the lower layer of bracts is paler in tone than the leaves at the apex;
• "Winter Rose" - terry variety of a plant of a pink shade with a greenish core;
• "Premium Miro" - a variety with white and pink "harvested" bracts.

White poinsettias

• "Winter Rose White" - has small green inflorescences framed by milk-colored terry leaves;
• "White Star" - classically white bracts are characteristic of the variety;
• "Polar Bear" - greenish-yellow flowers with white leaves in green veins.

Variegated varieties

• "Monet Twilight" - pink bracts with the effect of powder spraying of white color;
• "Eckespoint Primero Gingle Bells" - raspberry shade of bract petals with white splashes;
• "Cinnamon Star" is a recently bred plant variety with pinkish, orange-salmon shades of leaves.

Watch the video: How to Grow Poinsettia Year Round - Complete Growing Guide (April 2024).