Growing conditions for beautiful poinsettia and caring for it at home

the onset of New Year's holidays, flower shop counters are literally filled with amazing plants with red, pink or apricot bracts, which stand out favorably against the background of lush green leaves. It is not for nothing that the beautiful poinsettia is called in another way the "Christmas star", because it is during the days of Christmas that the flower takes on a particularly decorative look.

Poinsettia is a very picky culture and requires special conditions, so many unlucky growers prefer to get rid of a plant that has stopped blooming. However, if you take care of the flower with knowledge and love, poinsettia can grow beautifully at home, every year, from the beginning of December to the end of March, delighting with its extraordinary outfit.

Description and features of the plant

The botanical name for beautiful poinsettia is Euphorbia pulcherrima. In the wild, it grows in the form of a lush bush, reaching a height of 4 m. The plant belongs to the genus Euphorbia, its homeland is Mexico and Central America, where the bush, hiding from the tropical heat, chose semi-shaded places on fertile soils.

Euphorbia is the finest (this is another name for the plant) has straight, hollow stems and elongated oval leaves with intricately cut edges. The flowers that the plant throws out once a year are nondescript in appearance and are small yellow balls. The bracts, the leaves located on the stem of the flower, give the poinsettia a special appeal. If in other plants the bracts are usually small and barely noticeable, then in this culture they have the same size as the main leaves, moreover, they are painted in a bright red color. In nature, this challenging color is necessary to attract bees and other flying insects to pollination.

For poinsettia to bloom, it must be in the dark for more than 12 hours a day. This is due to the fact that the bracts of this plant contain unique photoreceptor proteins, which, with a significant reduction in daylight hours, contribute to a change in their natural color. With the onset of late autumn, when the day decreases sharply, the bracts acquire a bright red color. In crops bred by breeders, they can be not only red, but also apricot, pink, yellow and other colors. There are varieties with variegated and striped leaves.

In nature, the most beautiful poinsettia blooms for no more than two months. At home, with proper care, new varieties of this culture can delight with their flowering appearance for six months, after which the color of the bracts begins to fade and they fall off. The plant enters a dormant phase.

Like all representatives of the genus Euphorbia, poinsettia secretes milky juice. This pungent white substance that appears on the cut of the stem or leaf is considered mildly toxic. Scientists have proven that poinsettia juice is safe for human life, however, pruning and transplanting the plant should be carried out with rubber gloves.

Buying poinsettia

Traders and carriers of flower crops do not always comply with the rules for transporting delicate goods. The flower may freeze, stand in a draft, or suffer from improper watering. Therefore, before you buy a poinsettia, you need to consider the plant from all sides and pay special attention to the following nuances.

1. The plant should be compact, with many dark green tough leaves. You should not buy a flower with brown leaves at the edges, as this defect is a sure sign of damage by harmful insects. If the leaves turn yellow and curl, the plant may have suffered from dampness and cold, and this leads to the appearance of root rot.
2. A plant that is just about to bloom has many light green or pinkish buds without pollen. Yellow pollen is a sign that poinsettia has been in bloom for a long time and will soon be dropping off its bright decoration.
3. The soil in the pot should be moderately moist. The flower does not tolerate complete drying or waterlogging of an earthen coma.
4. Bracts should have a uniform saturated color, without spots and blotches. Any deviations in the color of the bracts indicate improper growing of seedlings. Such a plant may soon die.

Having bought a vending copy, you need to properly transport it home. Since poinsettia is usually bought in winter, you must first of all take care that the plant does not freeze on the way. The flower pot must be placed in a cardboard box and delivered to its destination as soon as possible.

Advice

You should not buy fine poinsettia from outlets located on the street. After standing for several minutes in the cold air, the flower will inevitably die.

Poinsettia care

The life cycle of poinsettia has three phases: flowering, dormancy, and vegetation. At home, the plant does not always bloom again. This is because few growers know how to care for this plant, how often to water the poinsettia, how to properly prune and propagate it.

When growing this crop in large volumes, various growth inhibitors are used to obtain a lush and even bush. After the purchase, having lost the receipt of additional trace elements, the flower changes - soon its trunk begins to bare, beautiful bracts fall off. This can be avoided by creating favorable conditions for the plant, watering and feeding on time.

Location and lighting

During the period of growth and flowering, the best "home" for poinsettia will be sunny, draft-free places. It is better not to grow this crop on the northern windows, since due to a lack of light, the flowering will be very short.

In winter, for a flowering plant, it is necessary to extend the daylight hours using artificial lighting. In the fall, when the spurge is just about to bloom, on the contrary, in order to reduce daylight hours, the plant is covered with dark material or a cardboard box for 14 hours a day for two months.

Poinsettia does not tolerate drafts, but loves fresh air. Therefore, the room in which this capricious beauty is located must be frequently ventilated.

Temperature

The plant does not tolerate sudden temperature fluctuations. During the growing season and flowering, the optimum temperature is + 20 ° С, during dormancy - + 15 ° С. The minimum temperature threshold that a flower can withstand for a short time is + 12 ° C.

It is not recommended to take the poinsettia out to the balcony or veranda in the cold season, even if they are glazed. In addition, plant leaves and cold glass should not be allowed to come into contact. This can destroy the flower.

During the dormant period, the plant should be kept in a cool room, where the air temperature does not rise above + 15 ° C. Therefore, you cannot put a container with a flower next to heating devices.

Watering

In summer, the most beautiful spurge requires frequent and abundant watering; after flowering, the number of waterings can be reduced. It is necessary to carefully monitor the state of the earthen coma, not to allow it to completely dry out and at the same time not to flood the plant.

Water should completely saturate the soil mixture, pass freely through the drain, and its residues should seep through the drain hole into the sump.

Important!

When watering poinsettia beautiful, you should not allow stagnation of water in the pot. This will inevitably lead to the formation of root rot.

The water used to water the plant should be slightly warmer than room water. The flower sheds its leaves from the cold water. In addition, the water should be free of chlorine and other chemical elements, so tap water should be defended before use.

Air humidity

Like any flower culture, which is home to tropical forests, Euphorbia loves high humidity. Therefore, the air next to the plant should be sprayed with clean warm water twice a day. During this procedure, moisture must be avoided on the leaves, as they can become stained.

If the room is very hot and dry, there is a possibility of reproduction of the main pest of poinsettia - the spider mite. During dormancy, spraying is stopped, and with the onset of the summer season, it is resumed.

Top dressing and fertilizers

Poinsettia is fed only during the period of growth and development. As soon as flowering begins, fertilization is stopped. As a top dressing, you can use complex mineral fertilizers designed specifically for ornamental plants. The flower is fed twice a month.

By the state of the plant, you can always recognize what exactly it lacks. So, if the leaves turn yellow and fall, this is a sure sign that the flower is standing in a draft. Pale inflorescences and spots on the leaves indicate the ingress of a large amount of water on parts of the plant. Root decay, accompanied by the fall of leaves and inflorescences, occurs due to too frequent watering.

Transfer

The best time to transplant poinsettia is late April and early May. At the beginning of March, the stems of the plant, which is planned to be transplanted, are cut by 1/3 and the flowerpot is placed in a warm place until new leaves appear. During this time, it is very important to provide enough light and regular watering with warm water.

As soon as young greens appear on the shortened shoots, the flower can be transplanted. The soil is prepared by mixing turf, peat, leafy soil and sand in equal proportions. The finished mixture should be fairly loose and not too acidic. It is necessary to remember about the drainage device.

The volume for transplanting a plant should be slightly larger than the old pot. The poinsettia is carefully pulled out, trying not to damage the root system, and, placing it in a new container, sprinkle it with soil substrate. Then the plant is placed in a warm place, regularly watered and humidified.

After a while, new shoots will appear. Of these, it is necessary to keep 4-5 of the strongest, and remove the rest.

Crown formation

The poinsettia is pruned two times: after flowering and after coming out of dormancy. As soon as the plant has faded, the stems are cut back by more than half, leaving 5 buds. The container with the flower is kept in a cool dry place. The dormant period lasts about two months. Watering at this time the plant should be extremely rare, only when the earthen lump is completely dried up.

With the beginning of the growing season, in May, the flower is transferred to a warmer room and all weak shoots are cut off, leaving 4-5 most developed and powerful shoots. The result should be an even, not too thick crown.

Reproduction of poinsettia

In nature, the most beautiful euphorbia reproduces by seeds, at home only with the help of cuttings. The best time to breed poinsettia is spring and summer.

To rejuvenate or propagate a plant, you need to do the following manipulations.

1. Choose a young shoot and cut off a cutting with 3-5 developed buds. The length of the handle should be at least 7 cm.
2. Trim the shoot as close to the bottom node as possible.
3. For a few minutes, place the cutting in a glass of warm water in order to wash off the milky juice that has come out from the cut.
4. Then the future plant is placed for half an hour in a container with "Kornevin" or another drug that stimulates the formation of the root system.
5. A soil mixture is prepared from peat, humus and sand, watered abundantly and cuttings are planted to a depth of not more than 1 cm. The minimum soil temperature should be + 26 ° C.
6. The pots with sprouts are covered with plastic wrap and placed in a warm, bright room. When growing seedlings, it is necessary to air and spray the plantings from time to time, as well as protect them from direct sunlight.

Rooting usually lasts at least a month. Young sprouts are transplanted into larger pots and cared for as adult plants. The first flowering occurs in a year.

Poinsettia diseases

Poinsettia is often subject to various diseases, the most common of which are gray rot, fusarium, powdery mildew.

• Gray rot

If the room where the poinsettia grows is very humid, the flower can get sick with gray mold. This is evidenced by a gray bloom on the stems and shoots, as well as brown spots on the leaves. If measures are not taken in time, the leaves will gradually fade and fall off, and the plant will die.

You can fight gray rot with the help of the preparations "Skor", "Fundozol", "Chistotsvet".

• Powdery mildew

A grayish bloom that appears on the front and back of the leaves indicates that the plant is affected by powdery mildew. If the plaque is carefully scraped off, then dark spots can be found under it. At the beginning of the disease, you can get rid of the lesion using "Fitosporin-M". If the disease is neglected and has affected most of the plant, stronger drugs should be used for treatment, for example, Topaz or Skor.

• Fusarium

The shoots of a plant affected by Fusarium turn black and gradually die off. To prevent the spread of this fungal disease, the affected plants are removed, and the remaining plantings are treated with "Baktofit" or "Tecto".

Pests of milkweed beautiful

In addition to diseases, the most beautiful euphorbia can be attacked by harmful insects, which, parasitizing on leaves and stems, exhaust the plant, and sometimes lead to its death.

Here are the most dangerous pests for poinsettia:

• mealybug - leaves a thick white mixture on leaves and flowers;
• spider mite - parasitizes on the back of the leaves, sucking the juice;
• whitefly - sticky spots on the leaves indicate the appearance of this insect.

If you find pests in a timely manner, then it will not be so difficult to get rid of your favorite plant. With a small number of insects, you can do with rubbing the leaves with soapy foam. To do this, you need to take a piece of laundry soap, make a solution and wipe the leaves of the plant with it.

In the event that the bush is large, you can spray it with a spray bottle. A few minutes after applying the soap solution, the flower is placed under the shower and the soap residues are washed off under running warm water. To consolidate the result, a plastic bag is put on the plant and tied at the bottom so as to completely stop air access. No pest can withstand such a gas chamber.

When there are too many insects, it is better to use insecticides designed to combat flower parasites. The most famous and effective of these drugs are "Aktara", "Aktofit", "Fitoverm".

Having bought the most beautiful poinsettia once, you will want to admire this peculiar plant every year at Christmas. This is quite possible if you create the appropriate conditions for your pet and competently care for the flower.