Potted flowers in winter, poinsettia

Poinsettia, also known as Christmas flowers. It is a kind of discolored foliage plant native to Central Africa. Its flowers are small and inconspicuous, but its top leaves become dazzling red when it comes to winter, with a dignified and beautiful shape.

Poinsettias like light and fat. Suitable for warm and moist environment, easy and fertile soil with good ventilation. In the lack of light, the bracts often do not turn red, even if they become red, the color is also light. Therefore, it should be placed indoors in the sunny place to shine more sunlight. In order to make the bract leaves bright red, some fertilizers rich in potassium and phosphorus can be added.

Poinsettia grows more vigorously. In order to maintain the suitable plant height and beautiful shape, pruning and bending should be carried out in summer. That is, with the growth of branches, the left and right sides take turns to bend and bind and fix, so that the distribution of branches and leaves is symmetrical. Stop watering before bending to avoid breaking branches. Stop binding half a month before flowering.

Poinsettias avoid waterlogging and fear the cold. The basin soil should not accumulate water, and the amount of water should be moderate. Winter should be moved indoors, no longer fertilized. And keep the temperature above 12 degrees to prevent the leaves from falling off and wilting. Poinsettia can be cultured by cutting, which is carried out in spring and summer. Cut 7 to 10 centimeters of branches, the cut should be stained with some plant ash to prevent decay, inserted into the soil, generally 25 days later can take root.