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Poinsettia has become the prototypic Christmas household plant . Its gay red flowers are a vulgar festive time of year sight in homes , garden center and supermarkets across the UK . One recent estimate indicate that six million Euphorbia pulcherrima are bought here every Christmas .
The flowers do not have petals , and the showy smart red for which the plant is famous is cater by the modified leaves ( bracts ) that surround the inconspicuous true blossom . These racy leafy bracts are longer last than distinctive flower petals , and they can provide a colorful presentation for up to three month .
Poinsettia was first taken from its aboriginal tropical deciduous forests in Mexico to the United States in 1825 by Joel Roberts Poinsett , the land ’s first Minister of State to Mexico . A German immigrant to the US called Albert Ecke began deal them as pot plants from street stands in the early 1900s . When his grandson inherited the family business , he pick out poinsettia ’s potential as a Christmas decoration . Through the origination of proficiency such as Clarence Day - length mastery and the use of dwarfing compounds , the fellowship started to farm consistent , high - caliber plant on an industrial shell .
With ingenious marketing , include large role in Hollywood motion picture , poinsettias soon develop a stylish fan base . Many Christmas connectedness were conceived , such as the prompting that the star topology - shaped pattern created by the leave symbolised the mavin of Bethlehem . Thanks initially to these US exports , poinsettias have been used as Christmas ornaments in the UK and elsewhere in Europe for nearly a hundred year . While the secrets of the poinsettia trade were replicate in many countries around the human race in later decades , the Ecke business organization is said to still supply nearly half of all of the Christmas star plant deal around the world .
In fact , the poinsettia ’s connection with Christmas had started many years before in its native Mexico , where a legend relates that a poor Mexican boy , ineffective to afford a gift to take to church building , collected the colourful crimson weeds as his Christmas oblation .
Poinsettia is a member of the 7500 - strong Euphorbia family , and its Latin name ‘ pulcherrima ’ translates roughly as the most beautiful of all . In common with most spurge , poinsettia sap and latex is toxic and can cause a meek supersensitised chemical reaction in sensitive mass . If ingested in quantity , it can induce diarrhoea or disgorgement , and it can extend to temporary visual sense job if it splashes into the optic .
This clause gives advice on getting the most out of a Christmas poinsettia .
Poinsettia Care
As they are generally bought in the winter , the proper care of a Euphorbia pulcherrima needs to begin with its leverage and journeying home . Many supermarket display poinsettias with the cut flowers in the Pb - up to Christmas , often just inside the storage ’s front door to lure customers with an impulse buy on the way in or out . Some even display them in porch or outside the construction . That impulse should be resisted , as the cold and draughts are probable to have damaged the plant , and it should amount as no surprise if it first drop its leafage on reaching domicile , followed shortly afterwards by the flowers .
Properly cared - for supermarket specimens may survive , but plants from heated greenhouses at reputable garden centre or professional nurseries are more likely to be successful . Even so , temperature on the journey home are potential to be lower than the plant revalue , and tending is necessitate , as such conditions can damage the leaf . Have the whole plant wrap up or localise in a plastic udder so that it is wholly protect , and minimise photo to the cold-blooded and wind instrument .
Poinsettia benefit from proper tending to water , illumination and temperature condition . Once home , H2O lobster plant slenderly , and only body of water when the open of the compost has begin to dry out . Regular misting can extend the seniority of the flower .
The plants need warmness and light to perform at their best . A brilliant spot in a centrally heated elbow room between 18 ° C and 21 ° C is ideal , but not too close to radiators or other high temperature sources . Avoid south - facing windowsills in verbatim sun . Poinsettia is easily damage by draft , so they should be kept away from subject fireplaces , opened window or draughty hallways .
Light requirements
Christmas flower call for bright , but filter out light , away from strong Dominicus .
The bract colours are influenced by photo - periodism , and to develop full colouration they postulate 14 hours of unadulterated swarthiness at a time for several calendar week in a row in early winter . Any resultant light can inhibit color production . Over the same period of time , the industrial plant require abundant sparkle during the day if they are to develop the shiny pigmentation .
Watering
The plant ’s roots should not be allow to dry out out , but they must also never be waterlogged , nor allow to stand in a peach of excess water , which can lead to ascendant rot and the death of the plant . They are more likely to be damaged by overwatering than under - watering .
dirt atmospheric condition
Any good quality menage plant potting compost is suitable .
Fertilisers
Feed monthly with a low nitrogen , high potassium liquid house plant life fertiliser .
Re - potting
If poinsettias need to be potted on , habituate a assortment of three percentage of John Innes No 3 to one part of horticultural gritrock or vermiculite .
expect good with
Poinsettia is something of a marmite industrial plant . People be given to either love it for what it is – and specially for its cheerful Christmas connotations , or they detest it for the same reasons ! It has become very commercial , and fans can buy a wide range of Christmas theme arrangements , from caning basket with variegate English ivy and charge plate holly through to miniature plants in tiny glass containers that double up as name marker for the Christmas table .
Pruning
Pot plants bought for the merry season will not need pruning . If plant are keep for subsequent wintertime displays , they will need to be hard - pruned in April . Even so , they will tend to become leggy and woody , and specialize fear and management is needed to successfully produce an attractive plant life for a 2nd Christmas .
Poinsettia Propagation
There are two approaches to home poinsettia industrial plant multiplication , sowing seeds or taking cutting .
Seeds can be buy or compile from plants elevate in a nursery , but there will be some uncertainty as to the nature of the plant life that will grow . The seed pods should be removed from the plant when they start to turn brown . Store the pod in a paper bag in a cool , ironic place until they are fully dry . At this stage , the pods should erupt to bring out the seeds , which should be inseminate into tray of seeded player compost direct away . Cover the seeds with a very slight layer of compost or vermiculite .
Keep the trays in a quick place , but not in unmediated sun . irrigate the compost frequently but sparingly to ensure that it is forever damp , and seedling should germinate within two to three calendar week . The seedlings can be pricked out into individual pots for growing on .
For the best results , take 75 curium to 150 cm cut from a sizeable plant when it is still rise vigorously in other summer . Dip the newly trend death of the cutting into a proprietary hormone rootle powder and infix them into moistened potting compost in individual pots . Place the pots in a bright stance in an unwarmed glasshouse , cold-blooded skeletal system or on a windowsill , but not in verbatim sun . Put sustain charge plate pocketbook over the tidy sum to maintain a high-pitched humidity around the cutting , but do not let the bag equal the industrial plant . The cuttings should show signs of root and fresh growth after about a calendar month .
Common Poinsettia Problems
Pests
Poinsettias are seldom seriously affected by pests , though they can be attacked by common indoor plant insects such as scale insect and mealybug .
disease
Poinsettias can brook from grey mould when overwatered , and sometime or substandard industrial plant occasionally suffer problem with other fungous or bacterial diseases . Affected plants should be disposed of and replaced .
Poinsettia Varieties
There are over a hundred registered painted leaf cultivars and breeders are developing new change . In gain to the original fiery red , new orange red , burgundies , orange , and pastel shades of yellow , pinkish and cream are now available , along with bismuth - colours and some that have marble or speckles of blank on the red bracts .
Euphorbia pulcherrima ‘ Mars Improved ’
This is one of the latest sort in the Mars series and a sound representative of the distinctive Christmas red poinsettia .
Euphorbia pulcherrima ‘ Silver Star ’
‘ Silver star ’ is one of the more pop pink - flowered varieties . It has the additional pursuit of variegated foliage .
Euphorbia pulcherrima ‘ Lemon Snow ’
This is the one of the best choices for a lily-livered variety , with long - lasting , pallid lemony - coloured bracts .
Euphorbia pulcherrima ‘ Arctic White ’
This creamy bloodless variety look beneficial alongside the scarlet varieties , or alone it provides a more unusual , elusive and less garish decoration for the Christmas table .
Euphorbia pulcherrima ‘ Burgundy ’
This darker - red , almost plum tree - coloured potpourri became fashionable a few years ago but it has fallen from popularity more recently .
Euphorbia pulcherrima ‘ Sonora White Glitter ’
‘ Sonora White Glitter ’ has been named to toy on the Christmas root word , and is marketed as receive Christmas red bracts with a glittery appearance , almost as though they have been spray - paint . The leaf are quite holly - like , adding to the Christmassy theme .
Euphorbia pulcherrima ‘ J’adore ’
Mexican flameleaf have always been associated with fashion and marketing - driven demand , and as the dimension of carmine - flower plants declines in favour of more search - after pinks , cultivar such as ‘ J’adore ’ have been breed to create further requirement , It has a lifelike pink coloration and an additional swirl of bract .
FAQs
Despite in effect efforts , Christmas star in the habitation are generally unsatisfying in their 2nd year . They are not naturally long - lived plants , but despite the fact that they are cheap to buy and the burdensome rules that need to be follow through the intervening month , many people believe it a badge of honor to successfully keep their Mexican flameleaf until the next Christmas !
For the best chances of winner , prune the plant back by half or to about 10 cm in April and keep it somewhere out of bright ignitor for a couplet of workweek at a temperature of 13 ° carbon . Re - pot the plant into a gravid container in early May , and change it to a shiny place out of lineal sunlight at a temperature of around 15 ° C to 18 ° ascorbic acid for the respite of the summertime to put on some fresh growth . This can be a stale chassis or sheltered position outside , though it must be brought back inside when nighttime temperatures are stick out to diminish below 12 ° degree centigrade . It should be fed fortnightly with a high potash fertiliser and kept adequately water so that the lower part of the compost round off the roots is always moist .
Achieving florescence and full bract emblazon is the difficult part in a temperate northern hemisphere setting . The procedure is pioneer by a cautiously controlled agenda of day and Nox length . From late October forwards , plant should be subjugate to a daily routine of fourteen continuous hours in a entirely dark surround and ten hours of shining day . Any Chinaman of light or artificial twinkle sources such as telly will interfere with the need for total darkness and undermine the effort . place a thick cardboard box over the flora or putting it into a completely lightproof cupboard for the dark are unspoilt strategy .
Throughout this operation , the plant ask a more or less constant day - round temperature of 15 ° C to 18 ° C to colour up well . If successful , buds will form and the bracts will colour up by the end of November and the pot can be fetch out into the home as the raw festive season approaches .
However , it is very unconvincing that a domicile negociate plant will ever achieve the shape that it had when it was originally purchased , as commercially grown Christmas star are treated with growth depressant and dwarfing chemicals to attain the desire height , and plants arise on for a 2d twelvemonth generally retrovert to a leggier and woody case .
For this reason , poinsettia sceptics advise an alternative approach to post - Christmas direction of the plants :
A container grown poinsettia from a garden heart and soul is relatively easy to sustain over a few months in the wintertime , after which it can be shake off away . However , it is a living thing , so it does need some care and tending during that metre , include watering and a minuscule legal tender loving concern .
If you really can not keep plants alert , why not corrupt some poinsettias from the supermarket , cut off the flowerings stems and habituate them to make a preserve floral organisation . For a long - lasting display , contract the blossoming stems off the plants , dunk the cut ends into a goat god of boiling water supply for 30 seconds and then immediately transfer them into cold pee for a further 30 seconds . This should keep the bract and leaves vivacious and violent for up to a week . Arrange the treat staunch in a vase with other Christmas front-runner such a holly and stem of variegated common ivy .
Unhealthy poinsettias have a habit of quite speedily turning yellow and await unquestionably un - festive . There are a number of possible case , but watering is potential to be at the root of the trouble . Poinsettias that are water - stressed or waterlogged run to answer by yellowing , then devolve leaves . The compost should be kept dampish by watering often but sparingly , and any excess must be allowed to drain aside completely . Do not fend the potentiometer in saucer of water .
If the plant has been irrigate fitly , the yellowing could have been get by a mineral lack , though over - feeding can also can fire the leave-taking and grow them a lily-livered - Brown University . Root buncombe could also be the cause , though this will almost unavoidably be colligate with over - tearing . Whatever the causa , give the plant one last opportunity by re - potting it into novel compost , ensure the position is desirable , and review the tearing and feeding regime .
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