Hugh Jarse wrote:
I have a Poinsettia that I cut down around March after it had finished
flowering. I put it somewhere dark but I've noticed now that it's started
sprouting again. Should I bring it out and water it and let it run it's
natural course?

I'm curious to know why you placed in in the dark after cutting it
down. If you were hoping to persuade it to produce its bracts and
flowers again, it should have been encouraged to make lots of strong
bushy growth after cutting back. The long sunny days of the past 6
weeks would have helped considerably. Short - day (dark) treatment is
only applied to promote flowering *after* sufficient growth has been
made and not prior to making that growth. The plant is never kept in
the dark 100% of the time. Your plant will be weakened by its enforced
dormancy and need very careful acclimatising to full light. You will
need to be careful with the watering at first, so only apply when the
compost is on the dry side until the plant is growing strongly.

Shoots need to be pinched out at about 5-6 leaves to promote branching
and a balanced liquid feed applied every week. Growers usually apply
hormone treatments (not available outside the trade) to keep
stem-length short and increase branching. Short - day treatment is
usually started around the end of September for at least 9 weeks to
initiate flower and bract formation. During this time, the plant needs
to be in absolute darkness (no lights coming on, no light pollution
etc) for 14 hours per day. A few minutes interlude of light (even weak
light) at any stage cancels out the effects of the darkness for that
day. Poinsettias then need very good, all-round light for the
remaining 10 hours.

To be honest with you, very few manage to emulate the right conditions
in the home or greenhouse for that matter. To achieve a strong bushy
plant covered with large, showy bracts in time for Christmas requires
specialised treatment and conditions that are simply too much trouble
for most people. It's cheaper, simpler and easier to chuck the plant
out when the bracts fade and buy new the following winter.