Its scientific name is Euphorbia pulcherrimaAlthough most of us know it as poinsettia, poinsettia, Christmas plant, federal star or poinsettia. It is a very characteristic plant, which has become a Christmas tradition in a large number of countries. Its success is due to the large and showy bracts of its bright red flowers (although there are also Christmas plants in other colors such as burgundy, white, salmon or pink), which grow in winter, usually before the Christmas, and that have made it a classic gift for these dates to give life and color to the home at a time when the vast majority of plants are in a vegetative state. Unfortunately, many let their poinsettia or Christmas flower die after it blooms. Maintaining it is not only possible, but easier than many believe: you just have to attend to its main care. In addition, one of these necessary cares, pruning, allows us to multiply the poinsettia by the most effective and simplest of methods: the cutting.
If you want to learn how to reproduce the poinsettia by cuttings to be able to enjoy more of these showy winter plants in your home, keep reading us in this EcologíaVerde article where you will see an easy gardening guide on how to make poinsettia cuttingsas well as some basic tips on how to care for the poinsettia.
When to make poinsettia cuttings
The best time to do poinsettia cuttings It is when we prune it after its flowering so that it survives until the next season.
This usually happens around february, although it depends on the specific conditions of the plant and the climate. After flowering, when the flowers and their bracts dry up, it is necessary to carry out a pronounced pruning of the poinsettia so that it is prepared to regrow later. When pruning, we will select the most suitable branches to grow one or several cuttings, thus achieving them without the need to damage the plant or weaken it further.
How to make poinsettia cuttings step by step
These are the steps to make poinsettia cuttings and get it to play:
- The first thing, as always, will be to prepare the pruning tools. Choose a very sharp knife or scissors and sterilize them properly with alcohol or a specific solution. As the latex in poinsettias is potentially irritating, as is the case with all plants in the Euphorbias family, it is recommended that you wear plastic or gardening gloves to avoid skin discomfort.
- Begin the pruning of the poinsettia, as long as its flowers and bracts have dried after flowering. Prune all the shoots where there were or still are some drying up and leave about a third of the stems with some knots on them, although you can also pinch the poinsettia to control its growth and regrowth in the next season.
- After pruning, it is highly recommended seal the cuts with paste, so that the plant is much more protected from diseases and dangers. You can make your own healing paste for very little money if you make it with candle wax and a little powdered fungicide, which can be bought at any specialized place.
- Heat the candle very slowly until melted and add the fungicide, then stir until the mixture is even. Take advantage while it is still liquid to spread the paste through the cuts, with the help of a brush or another similar tool. Once it solidifies again, the paste will completely cover the wound, protecting the plant from pests and diseases.
- After this, we can move on to transplanting the selected cuttings. It is convenient to use a flower stem, cut from as low as possible, from which the upper part with the flower that will be drying must be removed. It is also advisable to cut your leaves in half if you still have them.
- At this point, you could directly plant your cutting in a container with the appropriate substrate, but if you put it in water with rooting you will maximize your chances of root poinsettia cuttings. Again, you can use your own homemade lentil- or cinnamon-based rooting agent.
- After the rooting treatment, plant the cutting in a small container with a substrate based on coconut fiber, earthworm humus, peat and perlite. Keep it moist but always without waterlogging and give the new plant some indirect light. If all goes well, in a few weeks it will start to grow again.
We recommend you also read this other article about when and how to prune the poinsettia.
Poinsettia care
After learning about this method of propagating the poinsettia or poinsettia, we will tell you about the basic poinsettia care:
- Light: bright area but indirect incidence. Next to a window, protected by a curtain that screens the sun’s rays.
- Location: safe from drafts and heaters or other sources of heat.
- Humidity: It needs some ambient humidity. It may be necessary to lightly powder its green leaves.
- Irrigation: by immersion or from the plate, only when the substrate dries and without wetting the plant. Approximately every 3 days. In this other post we talk more about the Irrigation of the Poinsettia.
- Pruning: needed after flowering.
- Pass: In autumn and spring, to help it with flowering and regrowth, you can use homemade fertilizer for the poinsettia.
In addition, here you can learn everything about How to transplant the Poinsettia, How to make the Poinsettia or Poinsettia turn red and Why the Poinsettia has withered leaves and what to do. Now you have these basic notions about how to take care of the poinsettia or Christmas plant, but we recommend you learn much more with this other poinsettia care guide and with the video that we leave you below.
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