Today I would like to talk to you about a scarlet overseas flower, which in recent years has become almost the same attribute of the New Year's holiday as a tree or Santa Claus.
Of course, poinsettia is not only red, but also burgundy, white, cream, yellow, blue, and even combinations of these colors are found. There are more than a hundred varieties of it. But, firstly, red is its natural color, all other varieties were bred by breeders, and, secondly, thanks to feature films and advertising, red has become the most popular.
This magical plant has many names: the star of Bethlehem, the Mexican fire flower, the painted leaf, the most beautiful euphorbia. You ask: "Why magic?"
It is customary to decorate the altar at Christmas, and everyone brings their gifts for this. But there was nothing to bring to the very poor Pepita, she collected a bouquet of nondescript-looking shrubs on the way and brought it to the altar, and suddenly this bouquet bloomed with red flowers. Thanks to this legend, the priests gave him the most poetic name - the flower of the Holy Night.
And now I will disappoint you a little. Bright beautiful stars are not flowers, but bracts of this amazing plant. The flowers themselves are more like stamens.
But like all beauties, our overseas guest is also capricious. I want to share her secrets with you, and what I do to make the poinsettia delight with its beauty for more than one year.
The origin of the plant
In order to understand how to care for a plant, it is important to know about its real habitat. Our scarlet flower came from the rainforests of Central America. Poinsettias grow in the middle elevations along the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to Guatemala. Belongs to the Molochaev family. At home, it can reach a height of one and a half meters, and sometimes it grows up to three. In indoor conditions - half a meter.
Buying a plant
What I advise you to pay attention to when buying a plant:
- the stems should have many leaves without signs of wilting;
- bracts should be brightly colored;
- the size of the bush should exceed the volume of the pot by 2-3 times;
- the ground under the flower should be moderately moist.
Do not buy poinsettia in poorly heated kiosks, as the temperature of +8 degrees is critical for it.
Blooming poinsettia care
Like all indoor flowers, our Christmas star must be acclimatized after purchase. It takes about 20 days. The first 2 days I tried not to touch or water it.
Then he began to monitor the moisture content of the coma, since she equally dislikes both drought and excess water. On average, during flowering, I water it every three days. And always with settled water at room temperature. About half an hour after watering, I pour out the rest of the water from the pan. Excessive moisture can cause weeping spots on the leaves.
You should also pay attention to the humidity of the air. It is often very dry in apartments due to heating. The flower will tell you about this by yellowing the edges of the leaves. A damp towel on a radiator or a container of water near the plant will solve this problem.
It is also important to choose the right lighting. Poinsettia loves light, but should not be exposed to direct sunlight. At the same time, she loves an equal alternation of dark and light times of the day. In winter, I use additional lighting for 1-2 hours.
Be sure to make sure that the flower does not come into contact with the glass and does not end up in a draft. In this case, he may simply die.
During flowering, I apply potash fertilizer every two weeks.
Pruning and reproduction
After flowering, the poinsettia sheds its leaves, and many throw it away. Do not hurry. I prune the shoots, which I then use to grow new plants.
Do not forget that, like all milkweed, the flower contains white sticky sap, which, when it comes into contact with the skin of people with latex allergies, causes irritation. Contrary to popular belief, the flower is not poisonous. If the juice gets into the stomach, of course, it can cause nausea or diarrhea. This is also unpleasant. Therefore, I carry out pruning and transplanting with gloves.
I prune in February or early March when the plant is dormant. This annual procedure is mandatory because red bracts are only formed on young shoots. I cut the stems by a third, leaving 5 buds on each. I remove the pot with the cut plant in a cool place (10-14 degrees) for two months, reduce watering. In late April - early May, the plants are transplanted into pots, which are 2 cm larger than the previous ones.
The upper parts of the cut stems 10-15 cm long are dipped into warm water so that the juice does not clog the pores on the cut, then into a solution of activated carbon for disinfection and into a solution of a root growth stimulator. For rooting, I plant it in a pot filled with a mixture of sand and perlite. After two months, I transplant it into a regular pot, and after 5 weeks I do a pinch.
And now my main secret. I am often asked the question: "Why do bracts remain green?"
As I said, our overseas beauty is capricious to the light. And with an excess or lack of staining does not occur. Therefore, from the beginning of October, I put a thick paper bag on the plant from 7 pm to 7 am. You can put the flower in a closet or pantry at this time. This darkening should be done for 8 weeks. After that, I transfer the flower to normal lighting. After a couple of weeks, flower buds begin to form, and bright bracts appear.
I told you my secrets and I hope that the Flower of the Holy Night will settle in your house and become an obligatory attribute on the New Year's table. According to legend, in this case, he brings happiness to the house. It's not for nothing that in America, 6 weeks before Christmas, according to statistics, 60 million of this fabulous flower are being bought up.
Read also: Let's figure out whether it is worth leaving the polycarbonate greenhouse open in winter or not.
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