Poinsettia is undoubtedly the most popular ornamental plant at this time, and as long as you put a pot in your home, you can decorate your home.
However, in the eyes of many people, poinsettia is just a holiday grass flower, and its mission will end after the festival is over, and most of them will be thrown away. In fact, as long as it is properly maintained, poinsettia will welcome you with a smile on the red leaves next year, so let's take a look at the maintenance method of poinsettia this time.
1 Lighting
Poinsettia likes light, but it is a short-day plant, and too long light time will delay the flowering period of the plant, resulting in no red leaves, but insufficient sunlight will make the plant grow and weaken.
This property of poinsettia is related to the environment in which it is located, and it is generally recommended to treat poinsettia in the following way: during the growing season, give poinsettia plenty of sunlight, gradually reduce the light from August to September, put it in a shaded environment (indoors) for at least 12 hours, can be completely shaded, and continue to shine for the rest of the day to promote bud development.
2 Temperature
Poinsettia likes a warm environment, is afraid of cold, and is prone to frost damage when it is below 10 °C in winter, and can safely survive the winter when it is above 15 °C. Therefore, it must be put indoors in winter, and can only be put outdoors for maintenance after the temperature warms up, and at the same time, it is necessary to ensure indoor ventilation to prevent infection with whiteflies and other insect pests.
3 Soil
Poinsettias prefer to grow in acidic soils, preferably with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5, and should be well-drained, loose and breathable.
4 浇水
Poinsettia does not like drought, watering should be moderate, keep the soil moist, but not too wet, so as not to cause root rot. Water once a week during the growing season, every 2-3 days during flowering, reduce the frequency of watering in winter, and water every 10-15 days. When watering, avoid dripping water on the leaves and bracts to avoid spots or fading.
5 Fertilization
Fertilization is mainly foliage fertilizer, which can be applied to the soil with basal fertilizer and subsequent foliar fertilizer, and nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer can be sprayed near the flowering period.
6 Other Notes
In order to make poinsettia have a better ornamental effect on potted plants, poinsettias can be topped and pruned during the maintenance process to make the plant more plump.
The newly purchased poinsettia potted plants have already been adjusted and do not require this operation. Plant type adjustmentFor old plants with long maintenance time, the diseased and weak branches can be cut off during maintenance, and topping can be carried out in June and August during the growth period to promote the meristem of the plant. If your poinsettia is in a perennial state after winter, cut off all the old branches on the ground and wait for new shoots to emerge at the base of the plant, so that the plant will be more neat.
In addition, some people will find that the red bracts of poinsettia disappear in spring and summer, leaving only the green leaves. Don't worry about not raising it well, this is a normal situation, as long as you take care of it properly, these bracts will still appear in winter.
Source: Shanghai Greening and City Appearance Publicity and Education Center