Poinsettia
Euphorbia pulcherrima
Through the year 🗓️
🍂 Fall now
From early October, 14 hours of total darkness every night and bright days for 8–10 weeks, if you want color by Christmas.
❄️ Winter
In color: bright light, 60–70 °F, no drafts, and water only when the top inch dries. No feed.
🌱 Spring
When the bracts fade, cut the stems back to about 6 in and repot. Start feeding once new shoots appear.
☀️ Summer
Grow it on in bright light (outdoors in light shade is fine above 55 °F), and pinch the tips until midsummer for a bushier plant.
The details
Light & placement
- Light
- Bright indirect to a few hours of gentle direct sun; six or more hours of bright light keeps the bracts colored
- Ideal PPFD
- 200–400 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹
- Grow-light distance
- 12–18 in below LED
Water & feed
- Watering method
- Water thoroughly when the top inch feels dry, then empty the saucer or the foil sleeve within 15 minutes. More holiday poinsettias die from sitting in water trapped by that decorative foil than from anything else.
- Fertilizer
- None while it's in color. Balanced feed at ½ strength monthly from spring to early fall, once new growth starts.
Home & habit
- Soil
- Light, peat- or coir-based potting mix with perlite; pH 5.8–6.5
- Humidity
- Average (40–60%)
- Temperature
- 60–70 °F; below 50 °F or a cold draft drops leaves within days
- Mature size
- 1–2 ft in a pot (a 10 ft shrub in the tropics)
- Repotting
- In late spring after cutting it back, one pot size up
- Propagation
- Stem-tip cuttings 3–4 in long in early summer: let the milky sap stop running, dip in rooting hormone and root in moist mix.
When something looks wrong
- Overwatering signs
- Yellowing lower leaves, wilting while the soil is wet, stems soft at the base
- Underwatering signs
- Sudden wilting and leaf drop; bracts curl and fall early
- Common pests
- Whiteflies, fungus gnats, mealybugs, spider mites
Common problems 🩺
The usual suspects when Poinsettia looks unhappy. Most houseplant trouble is watering or light, not disease — see all plant problems if you are not sure which plant is the culprit.
Leaves dropping all at once
Likely cause
A cold draft, a chilly trip home from the store, or a sudden move.
What to do
Keep it at 60–70 °F, away from doors, windows and heat vents. Once the shock passes, it holds on to the leaves it has left.
Wilting while the soil is wet
Likely cause
Water trapped in the decorative foil sleeve, rotting the roots.
What to do
Remove the foil or poke holes in it, empty the saucer after watering, and let the top inch dry before the next drink.
Stays green, with no red the next winter
Likely cause
It colors up only after weeks of long, completely dark nights.
What to do
From early October, give it 14 hours of total darkness every night for 8–10 weeks. Even a lamp switched on for a minute resets the count.
Tiny white insects fly up when it's touched
Likely cause
Whiteflies, the poinsettia's signature pest.
What to do
Hang yellow sticky traps, rinse the leaf undersides, and spray insecticidal soap weekly until they're gone.
More like this 🌿
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