Poinsettias are like most Christmas shoppers’ budgets — they are in the red.

So if you don’t have red poinsettias to keep company with your broke budget, now’s the time to get some.

ADVERTISING

Purchasing potted stock from a garden center or nursery is the easiest way to establish plantings of the holiday ornamental. However, some green thumb operators scavenge the neighborhood for hardwood cuttings when fellow gardeners prune their poinsettias following the flowering season. Getting plants this way can bring frustration if you choose cuttings from diseased plants. If you get healthy plants, you can get off on the right foot.

There are a number of poinsettias now on the market. If you desire red-bracted varieties, buy such plants as Fireball, Annette Hegg, or C-1. You can enjoy color combinations indoors and in the garden if you mingle the red plantings with white or pink varieties. Poinsettias such as Annette Heggs will give color from now through March. Massing plants in the garden will brighten things up for more than just the holidays.

Poinsettias will grow on a wide range of soils, including sand, rocky soil and clay. Good drainage is a must.

In spite of the wide adaptability, the plants will present you a better show of color if you take proper care of them.

Poinsettias are light sensitive, so plant them where they are protected from streetlights or house lights during the night.

Fertilizer application is important. An application of 1-1-1 fertilizer earlier in the fall should now be producing large colorful bracts. The plants will need repeat applications of plant food in early spring, again in June and perhaps during mid-summer if there are heavy rains.

For best results, prune poinsettias back in late winter or early spring after blooming is finished. Cut them back to within 12-18 inches of the ground.

You’ll find a compact plant will furnish more color than a plant with few unbranched stalks. To promote a riot of colored bracts, prune the plants several times during the growing season. Nip the new growth back after it is 12 inches long, leaving four leaves on each shoot. Be sure to stop the pruning in early September, because the “flowering” buds are set in early October.

Poinsettias show their color according to day length and temperature.

A plant near a lighted window or a streetlight often refuses to color up like a neighboring plant in a nearby darker corner. Dreary skies in September and early October will shorten the days, causing plants to set buds and flower before the holiday season.

You’ll find that temperature is a limiting factor for a good show of flowers. If the night temperatures are much warmer than 70 degrees, bud forming will be retarded. Freak periods of hot weather during this critical time might not permit buds to form at all. The best flower development is when the night temperatures range from 60-62 degrees.

Poinsettias can be used as cut flowers if the stems are treated to coagulate the milky sap and reduce wilting. As soon as the flowers are cut, immerse the cut ends in hot water for about a minute and then place them in cold water. Be sure the steaming water does not damage the bracts.

ADVERTISING

An alternate method of halting the oozing sap is to singe the cut ends of the stem over a flame for a couple of seconds and then place the stems in cold water. For best results and longer lasting beauty, cut the poinsettias about 18 hours before they are to be used in an arrangement. Store the cut “flowers” in a cool, draft-free place during the waiting stage.

Anyone with home garden questions can call the Master Gardener Growline at 322-4769 for answers. Master gardeners are also available Friday mornings at the Kona Outdoor Circle; call 329-7286.