A poinsettia plant with active, green growth. If your plant has a foil gift wrapping, either remove it or poke holes to allow water to drain. Keep Warm: Cover your new poinsettia when taking it to and from your car as they are susceptible to cold. Flowers are reproductive blossoms found within plants, and while plants can consist of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits, they don't always have all. The ideal plant size is about 2½ times the pot’s diameter. Sterilized growing containers, such as small nursery pots, plastic cups, or a seed starting flat. A holiday gift of a poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is almost a certainty. Allow to Drain: Poinsettias don’t like to sit in water. If your poinsettia is going to be a permanent resident in your garden, and you want it change colors in time for Christmas, plant it in a spot that stays completely dark for about 12-14 hours every night starting in early October. Poinsettia is more than just a Christmas flower. Poinsettia Houseplants 1 A sterilized, sharp pair of pruners or scissors. Poinsettia seeds can be a bit difficult to find, but you can order them online or harvest them from established plants. Intensive breeding programs have produced new varieties—or cultivars—that retain their foliage and bracts indoors. It is an indoor plant that you can grow throughout the year, allowing it to provide a splash of color within the household. Varieties. Poinsettia (botanical name: Euphorbia pulcherrima) has certified itself as the UK’s number one houseplant over the Christmas season.. His son, Paul Ecke, Jr, sent free plants to television stations to use as set decorations from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Since poinsettia plants are from the tropics, they prefer surroundings that simulate that type of environment. Poinsettias need this prolonged period of darkness to rebloom. Poinsettia thrives in bright light as a houseplant and also outdoors in partial shade in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11. Poinsettia plants grow best during the winter months, which is why they are the most popular potted plant during the holidays. Until about ten years ago, poinsettia bracts dropped off the plant if it was kept indoors for more than a few days. Place the plant in a cool (not cold) room with curtain filtered sunlight and cut back on the watering. He became fascinated with poinsettias and began selling them at a street stand in Los Angeles. How to Plant Poinsettias in a Warm Climate. And, with good care, a poinsettia plant can maintain its beauty for much longer than the Christmas season. Growing medium, such as coconut coir, potting soil, or a mixture of vermiculite and perlite. Harvest the seed pods in the center of the bracts when the foliage begins to brown. It comes as a hostess gift, a … With over 34 million poinsettia plants ($140M) sold each year¹, it’s rather heartbreaking to imagine how many of those potted flowers are tossed in the trash bin when the holidays are over.¹[2013 USDA Floriculture Statistics report]Because poinsettias are not frost hardy and do not tolerate temperatures below 50°F (10°C), our only option in a cold climate is to grow them indoors. His son, Paul Ecke, developed the technique of grafting two varieties of poinsettia together to produce bushier plants. Poinsettia plants come in many sizes and their bracts come in a wide range of shapes. Luckily, succeeding in growing poinsettia does not need to be a hard task, even if you are a novice gardener.