Help for the Home Gardener from the Contra Costa Master Gardeners Help Desk

Client's Situation and Questions (in early September)

Poinsettia
photo: ipc.org

CCMG's Help Desk Response (in mid-September)
Thank you for contacting the Contra Costa Master Gardeners. Getting Poinsettia to re-bloom is a fairly simple procedure, though it requires care and follow through.

Poinsettia are a short day flowering plant, which means they begin the blooming cycle with the onset of shorter day length in the growing season. You will need to prevent your plant from receiving any light for 12 to 14 hours during the night. Starting at the end of September/ beginning of October you will need to cover it or place it in a dark space, such as a closet away from all artificial light starting around 5pm and then uncover it during the day around 8am and place it in a bright window. You will need to do this until the red bracts begin to form in about a month or two (usually in November). Just keep checking as you bring it out from cover each day. You will also want to keep the temperature below 70 degrees F and above 50 degrees F at night (55 to 60 degrees F being optimal). Don't leave it in the dark place all day and night for 2 months, it will die.

For watering you will want to water as you do during the normal growing season, just make sure it dries out between watering and that it does not sit in water or remain soggy. Poinsettias, being in the Euphorbia family, are somewhat drought tolerant and don't like to be over watered.

For fertilizer you can just use an all-purpose houseplant fertilizer at the recommended rates in the instructions. You will only need to fertilize when the plant is actively growing, not when it is flowering. That would mean no fertilizer when you bring it out of the closet and it begins blooming. Fertilizing during its active growth phase after it has finished flowering every 2 weeks to every month should be adequate, depending on how strong the fertilizer solution is.

For more information on Poinsettia care and re-blooming please refer to the following websites: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/index.cfm
http://faculty.ucc.edu/biology-ombrello/pow/poinsettia.htm
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/flowers/poinsettia.html

Best of luck with re-blooming your Poinsettia.

Thanks again for your interest in Master Gardeners. 

Contra Costa Master Gardeners Help Desk

Editor's Note: The Contra Costa Master Gardener Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions.  Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA  94523.

We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, and we are on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/