The popular Christmas plant is decorating your home this year and you have decided to nurture and care for it in the coming year so that it will shine in its beautiful red (white or pink) again next Christmas. But how does the poinsettia get red leaves?
Maybe you've even managed to keep the poinsettia alive, but are surprised that it hasn't developed its typical leaf colors. For this to happen, certain conditions must be met.
How does the poinsettia get red leaves? Proper preparation is mandatory
Of course you have taken good care of the Christmas plant, but unfortunately that is not enough. Because in our four walls it is not exposed to the normal conditions and you first have to make it clear to the plant that winter is slowly arriving and with italso their flowering phase. What exactly does this mean for care during this time?
Provide the poinsettia with an appropriate temperature
The optimal temperature for the flower is between 18 and 22 degrees. This is not always easy to comply with, as it gets significantly warmer, especially in summer. Fortunately, temporary temperatures of up to 26 degrees are still acceptable for the plant. But what about winter?
During the cold season, things usually don't look any different in your own four walls. It is often too warm in the living rooms. It is therefore advisable to not only bring the plant back indoors (if it has spent the summer outside) from around mid-October at the latest, when the temperatures fall below 12 degrees, but also to maintain the necessary temperatures. Find a room that is cool enough and has the right lighting conditions. It doesn't even have to be particularly bright, which leads us to the next, even more important point: the correct darkening.
How does the poinsettia get red leaves: It has to be dark long enough
In order for the poinsettia to get red leaves again, it has to “understand” that summer is over and winter is approaching. As you know, until mid-December the days are getting shorter and the dark nights are getting longer. The plant knows this very well, but it doesn't notice it because of the artificial light in the house.
Therefore, you need to ensure that the plant receives sufficient hours of darkness (although it usually likes it very bright). Some recommend complete darkness for this, others say only a few more are necessary outside of the night hours. Which of the two options you choose basically depends on how much time you can invest. How to proceed:
The following applies: Start darkening from the end of October or beginning of November or at least 6 weeks before Christmas.
- Find a suitable room
Variant 1:Find a location where natural day-night conditions prevail. For example, a room in which no light is switched on or only switched on rarely and briefly is well suited.
Variant 2:Place the poinsettia in a room that is not lit. This doesn't necessarily have to have windows. Windowless basements, storage rooms, garages without windows and similar are ideal.
- How does the poinsettia get red leaves again if you don't have such space available?
Variant 3:Especially in an apartment, you usually don't have too many rooms available and the few that are available are used diligently (and even lit up for Christmas). How does the poinsettia still get red leaves? Simply cover the plant with a cardboard box, bucket, bag or other suitable container for about 12 hours.
Variant 4:It's better if the leaves get at least a few hours of light during the day, but if you don't want to have to constantly remember to cover the plant and then uncover it again after the 12 hours, you can simply cover it throughout the entire darkening phase let. It should not negatively affect their growth or leaf color.
Important NOTE:While you let the poinsettia rest in the dark, you should definitely not forget:to water him! The plant, which is quite thirsty, dries out quickly and of course you want to avoid that. So continue your usual care accordingly.
Why is my poinsettia losing leaves or drooping?Find out herepossible reasons.
