Many of us get this wonderful plant as a Christmas gift or as a house warming present this time of year. Like most of you and my Mom, we throw them away after the holidays are over. Well don’t do that.
You can keep your poinsettias from year to year. Just remember these beautiful Christmas plants are poisonous and you shouldn’t let your animals chew on the leaves. To keep your animals away from your plants just spray around the base of the pot with a pet keep away spray. It's a mix that my grandmother use to use.
Pet keep away spray:
1: Take a spray bottle fill it half way with water. (You don’t want or need a large bottle)
2: Add one drop of dish detergent. (Lemon scented is the best but what ever you have)
Just remember just a drop. I put a whole bunch in one time and not only did I have
bubbles spewing all over the kitchen, but it made my spray sticky….
3: Add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. If you find that your animals don’t stay away
with a teaspoon put another teaspoon in the spray bottle. Most animals don’t like the
smell of cayenne but there are a few animals out there that love it.
4: Add one teaspoon of Texas Pete. Yes Texas Pete, my hubby almost had a heart
when I took his Texas Pete and put a bottle in my potting shed. If you need to you
can add another teaspoon in the bottle.
5: Finish filling the bottle with water and shake vigorously.
6: Spray around the bottom of all your house plants, or just the ones you don’t want
Eaten. Make sure that you don’t get any on anything light colored. I made that
Mistake one time and instead of a white table cloth now I have a very pink spotty one.
Keep this mixture in your potting shed or under the sink and spray your plants often. You can even take your plants and put them in the shower and spray till run off with this mixture. Just remember though there are some animals that love Texas Pete and cayenne pepper. Yuk !!!!!
Now back to the poinsettias. Once the Christmas season is over remove the foil paper that surrounds the bottom of the plant. Make sure you place the plant on a plate to catch the run off water. Water your plants like any other house plant. You can even put them outside in the summer. If the leaves start to fall off that’s ok. Just keep watering them like you do the rest of your house plants. Don’t over water them. Take your finger and put it in the pot to make sure that the soil isn’t damp before you water.
In the spring you can put your poinsettias out side in the shade. Transplant them into bigger pot about May or June. Make sure to keep them watered and fertilized. In September you place your plant in a closet for 12 hours a day to force them to bloom.
I didn’t get any poinsettias this year but I plan on going to the store and getting some today or tomorrow. I’ll keep an update on what to do and when so that next Christmas we’ll have some beautiful plants of our own………..
For years I had a poinsettia plant that just got bigger and bigger. It was huge. When I moved inland it was dropped off the back of the truck. I haven’t had one since. I’ve always been afraid that Joey would eat it and I’d never know.
Poinsettias are beautiful and come in so many different colors. It’s such a nice addition to the darkest time of the year and they really are so easy to grow and maintain. Just don’t let them dry out and remember to take the paper off the bottom of the pot. I don’t like the foil paper they put around the pot. I like to put them in Christmas popcorn tins. They look real cute and it keeps them from getting water all over the place. No don’t take them out of the flower pot. Just sit them down in side and instant cute……
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