I received a Poinsettia as a gift last Christmas (2005) and have somehow managed to keep "Audry" alive and green (and red, woohoo!). Audry was repotted in July from her 6 inch pot into a 10 inch pot (I had it done at a nursery, I was afraid of murdering her), enjoys consistantly moist soil, and a monthly fertilizer(Miracle-Gro Houseplant formula). She flowered nicely this year, though the bracts didn't redden until mid-January (not complaining, I took no special care to time light/dark to encourage holiday dressing). I've noticed a few seed pods plumping up under the remains of the flowers (will those even sprout if I experiment with them?) My biggest worry is that nearly every one of the green leaves are going brown around the edges while the red bracts remain normal. Audry lives alone in my office with no open windows, so I doubt she's caught something. Normal post blooming leaf drop? Roots rotting away despite my best attempts to not over/under water? Leaf burn?
ive got mine in a east facing window its doing good, leaves are healthy looking,hmmm, maybe you should take her home,lol.
Audry you might like to have a quick read through these websites about caring for poinsettias. http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/poinsettia/care.html http://www.ecke.com/html/h_corp/corp_pntcare.html I managed to keep one alive for three years that I got from my youngest son so I hope yours will survive for you. :-D
Thanks for the links! Great information on them. Clicking through on the second link I found a Diagnostic Key - Yay! Matching photos and descriptions I'd say she has a potassium deficiency-or at least I'll try adding some potassium to her system (okay, how will I do that exactly?) I didn't know Poinsettias could be pruned, I think I will consider pruning her this week as she'll be riding in the car with me next week (moving there, I'm not quite so attached as to take her on vacation ) - I was worried about stems breaking as she is a huge leggy thing (she'd easily fill the pax seat in the jeep).
