My grandmother could keep a poinsetta year-round and make it bloom
again by putting it in the basement for a while before Christmas.
This was in Iowa and in New York state.

I really want to learn how to do this but maybe it is impossible in
Texas. (?) In any case, I need to know how to keep the darn thing
alive for more than a couple months.

With hope and heart,
Kathleen (Wimberley)
--
If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace,
because you know what you are.
~Mother Theresa

Years ago there weren't hundreds of cultivars of poinsettia. They have bred
that plant to the brink! If you want to try, keep it in a very bright area
outside during the growing season. Indoors, nothing less than dead southern
exposure. Do not over water it or it will get on of the many fungal diseases it
is prone to. In September, bring it back indoors and put it in the closet every
night at 6pm and out again into the sunny window in the morning. Continue to do
this for months. Each night you don' t do this will set the plant forming
flowers and bracts for a week. You may see whitefly on the plant as they are
very prone to that too, but never use insecticidal soap on a poinsettia. It is a
euphorbia and it will melt!

Commercially, they produce these with intensive measures using shade cloth and
other elaborate procedures of pinching and feeding.

If you ask me, it's totally not worth the trouble.

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 08:04:37 -0600, "Kathleen"
opined:

My grandmother could keep a poinsetta year-round and make it bloom
again by putting it in the basement for a while before Christmas.
This was in Iowa and in New York state.

I really want to learn how to do this but maybe it is impossible in
Texas. (?) In any case, I need to know how to keep the darn thing
alive for more than a couple months.

With hope and heart,
Kathleen (Wimberley)

First, if you have a poinsettia left over from Christmas and it has lost its
leaves, don't throw it away just yet. Continue to give it sun and a little
water, and it may grow new leaves. I read somewhere that poinsettias will
drop all their leaves when stressed. Last year, I had the Christmas
poinsettias outside because the weather was nice, then a cold snap was
coming, so I brought them in, and POOF! all the leaves fell off. As is
common, I did not have time to do anything with the plants (like throw them
away) for a couple of weeks, and the leaves grew back.
There are many articles online about forcing poinsettias to bloom---just
yahoo it.

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...
My grandmother could keep a poinsetta year-round and make it bloom
again by putting it in the basement for a while before Christmas.
This was in Iowa and in New York state.

I really want to learn how to do this but maybe it is impossible in
Texas. (?) In any case, I need to know how to keep the darn thing
alive for more than a couple months.

With hope and heart,
Kathleen (Wimberley)
--
If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace,
because you know what you are.
~Mother Theresa

I put 4 poinsettia plants outside for the summer, cut them way back and
fed and watered them all summer. Brought them in in October, put them in
a window in the sunroom that faces south. They all bloomed and are still
blooming. We rarely have a light on in the sunroom at night, so the
hours of darkness worked fine for them. They are tall, instead of low
and bushy.
I think it was worth it, and, a challenge.

I put 4 poinsettia plants outside for the summer, cut them way back and
fed and watered them all summer. Brought them in in October, put them in
a window in the sunroom that faces south. They all bloomed and are still
blooming. We rarely have a light on in the sunroom at night, so the
hours of darkness worked fine for them. They are tall, instead of low
and bushy.
I think it was worth it, and, a challenge.

I put 4 poinsettia plants outside for the summer, cut them way back and
fed and watered them all summer. Brought them in in October, put them in
a window in the sunroom that faces south. They all bloomed and are still
blooming. We rarely have a light on in the sunroom at night, so the
hours of darkness worked fine for them. They are tall, instead of low
and bushy.
I think it was worth it, and, a challenge.

I put 4 poinsettia plants outside for the summer, cut them way back and
fed and watered them all summer. Brought them in in October, put them in
a window in the sunroom that faces south. They all bloomed and are still
blooming. We rarely have a light on in the sunroom at night, so the
hours of darkness worked fine for them. They are tall, instead of low
and bushy.
I think it was worth it, and, a challenge.

Thanks, all! I am going to try it until I get it right. At this
point, it's a sentimental thing. Maybe it took Gram 50 years to learn
to keep them alive and blooming too.
With hope and heart,
Kathleen
--
If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace,
because you know what you are.
~Mother Theresa


: I put 4 poinsettia plants outside for the summer, cut them way back
and
: fed and watered them all summer. Brought them in in October, put
them in
: a window in the sunroom that faces south. They all bloomed and are
still
: blooming. We rarely have a light on in the sunroom at night, so the
: hours of darkness worked fine for them. They are tall, instead of
low
: and bushy.
: I think it was worth it, and, a challenge.
:
:
:
:

Thanks, all! I am going to try it until I get it right. At this
point, it's a sentimental thing. Maybe it took Gram 50 years to learn
to keep them alive and blooming too.
With hope and heart,
Kathleen
--
If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace,
because you know what you are.
~Mother Theresa


: I put 4 poinsettia plants outside for the summer, cut them way back
and
: fed and watered them all summer. Brought them in in October, put
them in
: a window in the sunroom that faces south. They all bloomed and are
still
: blooming. We rarely have a light on in the sunroom at night, so the
: hours of darkness worked fine for them. They are tall, instead of
low
: and bushy.
: I think it was worth it, and, a challenge.
:
:
:
:

Thanks, all! I am going to try it until I get it right. At this
point, it's a sentimental thing. Maybe it took Gram 50 years to learn
to keep them alive and blooming too.
With hope and heart,
Kathleen
--
If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace,
because you know what you are.
~Mother Theresa


: I put 4 poinsettia plants outside for the summer, cut them way back
and
: fed and watered them all summer. Brought them in in October, put
them in
: a window in the sunroom that faces south. They all bloomed and are
still
: blooming. We rarely have a light on in the sunroom at night, so the
: hours of darkness worked fine for them. They are tall, instead of
low
: and bushy.
: I think it was worth it, and, a challenge.
:
:
:
: