Agent -- Roy W. Van Denburgh Source: Society of American Florists Poinsettia Care The length of time your poinsettia will give you pleasure in your home is dependent on (1) the maturity of the plant, (2) when you buy it, and (3) how you treat the plant. With care, poinsettias should retain their beauty for weeks and some varieties will stay attractive for months.

• After you have made your poinsettia selection, make sure it is wrapped properly because exposure to low temperatures even for a few minutes can damage the bracts and leaves.
• Unwrap your poinsettia carefully and place in a sunny window. Keep the plant from touching cold windows.
• Keep poinsettias away from warm or cold drafts from radiators, air registers or open doors and windows.
• Ideally poinsettias require daytime temperatures of 60 to 70°F and night time temperatures around 55°F. High temperatures will shorten the plant's life. Move the plant to a cooler room at night, if possible.
• Check the soil daily. Be sure to punch holes in foil so water can drain into a saucer. Water when soil is dry. Allow water to drain into the saucer and discard excess water.
• Fertilize the poinsettia if you keep it past the holiday season. Apply a houseplant fertilizer once a month.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are poinsettias poisonous?

Poinsettias are not poisonous. For nearly eight decades, this rumor has continued to circulate because of one unfounded story in 1919: that an Army officer's two year old child allegedly died after eating a poinsettia leaf. While never proved by medical or scientific fact and later determined to be hearsay, the story has taken on a life of it's own. But, the defenders of the poinsettia have pulled out all the scientific stops to allay public fears. The Society of American Florists (SAF) worked with the Academic Faculty of Entomology at Ohio State University (OSU) to exhaustively test all parts of the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). OSU researchers established that rats exhibited no adverse effects - no mortality, no symptoms of toxicity, and no changes in dietary intake or general behavior patterns - when given even unusually large amounts of different poinsettia parts. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) accepts animal tests as valid indicators whether any product or natural growth is harmful to human health.

The OSU research was conducted 23 years ago and other sources have continued to reinforce the poinsettia's safety.

According to the American Medical Association's Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants, other than occasional cases of vomiting, ingestion of the poinsettia plant has been found to produce no effect.

After reviewing all available poinsettia related information, the CPSC denied a petition in 1975 to require warning labels for poinsettia plants. Despite its continued circulation, the myth of the poinsettia is gradually losing steam.

How do you get a poinsettia to bloom?

To get a poinsettia to reflower you have to keep it in total darkness between 5 pm and 8 am. Start this around October 1st and continue until color shows on the bracts; usually around early to mid-December. Any little exposure to light can prevent flowering. Covering the plant with a light-proof bag and placing it in a closet might work. Night time temperatures above 70-75°F can decay or prevent flowering.How can I make my poinsettia last during the holiday season?

Place the poinsettia in a sunny window.
• Do not let any part of plant touch cold window panes.
• Indoor temperatures from 60 to 70°F is ideal for long plant life.
• High temperatures will shorten the life of the colorful bracts.
• Water only when the soil is dry.
• Placing your poinsettia in a cool room 55 to 60°F at night will extend blooming time.
• Do not fertilize when plant is in bloom.
• Avoid temperature fluctuations and warm or cold drafts.

I want to keep my poinsettia plants. When can I take them outside?

Move your poinsettia plant outdoors when all danger of frost has passed. Place it in a sunny area but where it will get moderate shade in the afternoon.

Should I fertilize my poinsettia if I am keeping it past the holiday season?

Fertilize once a month with a water soluble houseplant fertilizer.

How often should I water the poinsettia?

• Be sure to remove foil covering drain holes before watering.
• Water only when the soil is dry.
• Do not let the poinsettia wilt.
• Do not let it sit with water in the saucer.
• Empty the saucer.

Poinsettia Facts

• Poinsettias are native to Mexico.
• The Aztecs called the poinsettia Cuetlayochitl.
• Chile and Peru called the poinsettia the "Crown of the Andes."
• Poinsettias are part of the Euphorbiaceae family. Many plants in this family ooze a milky sap.
• In nature, poinsettias are a perennial flowering shrubs that can grow to ten feet tall.
• The showy colored part of poinsettias that most people think are the flowers are actually colored bracts (modified leaves).
• The flowers or cyathia of the poinsettia are in the center of the colorful bracts.
• Poinsettias have been called the lobster flower and flame leaf flower.
• Poinsettias are not poisonous.
• A study at Ohio State University showed that a 50 pound child who ate 500 bracts might have a slight tummy ache.
• A fresh poinsettia is one on which little or no yellow pollen is showing on the flower clusters in the center of the bracts.
• Poinsettias represent over 85 percent of the potted plant sales during the holiday season.
• Poinsettias were introduced into the United States in 1825 by Joel Poinsett.
• Poinsettias are commercially grown in all 50 states.
• California is the top poinsettia producing state.
• December 12 is National Poinsettia Day.
• The Paul Ecke Ranch in California grows over 80 percent of poinsettias in the United States for the wholesale market.
• Ninety per cent of all the flowering poinsettias in the world got their start at the Paul Ecke Ranch.
• There are over 100 varieties of poinsettias available.
• $220 million worth of poinsettias are sold during the holiday season.
• Seventy-four percent of Americans still prefer red poinsettias; 8 percent prefer white and 6 percent pink.
• Eighty percent of poinsettias are purchased by women.
• Eighty percent of people who purchase poinsettias are 40 or older.
• Poinsettias are the best selling potted plant in the United States.
• Poinsettias are the most popular Christmas plant even though most are sold in a 6 week period.
• Sixty million pots of poinsettias were grown in 1997.
• The cost of a poinsettia is determined by the number of blooms.