fertilizer. Gradually increase the amount of sunlight your poinsettia receives, remembering that everything in our area appreciates shade in the late afternoon. If you move it out when the weather first warms, as it tends to do in February, be aware that you might have to move it back inside if a freeze is forecast. If you want to plant it in the ground, wait until after all danger of frost has passed. Select a site with full sun and fertile, slightly acidic soil, which ideally is about 6.0 pH, but anything between 5.0 and 7.0 should be fine. Considering the amount of work you’re going to have to do to get this plant to behave as you want it to, you might want to get the soil tested first. Kits and instructions are available at no charge at the It is essential Leon County Extension Service; that your plant the lab in Gainesville charges a fee to analyze your soil be in complete nominal sample. darkness — Set it at the same level it was in the pot and water thoroughly to no streetlights, remove air pockets. Feed it with no security an all-purpose (15-0-15) fertilizer monthly from May through lights, no September. Keep the soil evenly glow from the moist but not wet. Pinch back window — new growth throughout the summer to promote a bushy shape, but for 14 hours stop pinching around Labor Day, a night for to give the last flush of growth time to initiate flower buds. six to eight Now here’s where the work weeks before comes in, whether your plant is flowering. in a pot or in the ground. It is essential that your plant be in complete darkness — no streetlights, no security lights, no glow from the window — for 14 hours a night for six to eight weeks before flowering. If your plant is in the ground, cover it in the evening with a cardboard box and then throw an old quilt or bedspread over it, making sure it is completely covered. Take it off the next morning, 14 hours later. Do this every single day for six to eight weeks. Every day you miss is a day’s delay in blooming. If your plant is in a pot, do the same thing, either on the porch or in the house. You’ll have to protect a poinsettia in the ground from freezing, just as you would any tender perennial. This is definitely a high-maintenance plant. Given the great variety of colors and the reasonable prices, I usually don’t bother trying to save mine from year to year. However, most gardeners have a plant or two they treasure and are willing to devote a lot of effort to maintaining, and if a poinsettia is yours, give it a try. You can always buy another one if you don’t like how it looks next year. ©2013 PostScript Publishing, all rights reserved. Audrey Post is a certified Advanced Master Gardener volunteer with the University of Florida/IFAS Extension in Leon County. Email her at Questions@ MsGrowItAll.com or visit her website at msgrowitall.com. Ms. Grow-It-All® is a registered trademark of PostScript Publishing. ec
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