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Cosseting a Poinsettia
I was quite pleased with myself for keeping last Christmas’s poinsettia alive and, indeed, flourishing. It had probably doubled in size so I embarked on the ‘quarantining’ to try to get the bracts to redden again. I started in early October putting the plant in three heavy duty black polythene bags, one inside the other, for the requisite 14 hours of total darkness.
So far one tiny leaf, no bigger than a fingernail, has turned slightly red. Should I expect better progress by now, does anyone know? I have to admit that my care regime is slapdash, sometimes forgetting to bag the plant up until mid to late evening, though it is in an unlit room, and sometimes forgetting to take the plant out of the bag until midday. On two occasions it was even in solitary for 36 hours. Is my lax care regime the reason why it is reluctant to turn red?
Given how cheap poinsettias are in supermarkets I am disinclined to repeat the experiment. Also, in case you don’t know, the branches are very brittle and a once big plant is not happy being put into a sack every day. It is now a lop-sided medium sized plant.
I’d be interested to hear of others’ experiences with keeping poinsettias going.
So far one tiny leaf, no bigger than a fingernail, has turned slightly red. Should I expect better progress by now, does anyone know? I have to admit that my care regime is slapdash, sometimes forgetting to bag the plant up until mid to late evening, though it is in an unlit room, and sometimes forgetting to take the plant out of the bag until midday. On two occasions it was even in solitary for 36 hours. Is my lax care regime the reason why it is reluctant to turn red?
Given how cheap poinsettias are in supermarkets I am disinclined to repeat the experiment. Also, in case you don’t know, the branches are very brittle and a once big plant is not happy being put into a sack every day. It is now a lop-sided medium sized plant.
I’d be interested to hear of others’ experiences with keeping poinsettias going.
Rutland, England
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By the way I never buy from supermarkets ,I always buy from a good nursery or garden centre ,they keep them better and cooler than your average supermarket does ,but I still can’t get them to keep and go red ,in fact I don’t know anybody that ever has .There must be a secret in how it’s done ,but I don’t know the answer .