SAN ANTONIO – Poinsettias, the beautiful holiday plants with a tricky name.

It’s pronounced poyn—seh—tee–uh….not point-setta….which I am guilty of doing for half of my life.

Poinsettias are the diva’s of the plant world and are very high maintenance.

But here is how to keep them alive at home:

• If keeping them outside, you want to bring them inside if it drops below 55 degrees.
• If if gets above 80 degrees, they will lose their leaves or will stop blooming.
• If inside, keep them by a window or at least some source of indirect sunlight.
• If you want to display them away from a window, make sure you move them every other day for light.

Poinsettias like light constant moisture, but don’t soak them. Add about a cup of water to soil or so every couple of days.

If you let them dry out completely, unfortunately there may not be any coming back.

Keep them away from your pets, it can give them a stomach ache.

Poinsettias are native to tropical places, and most that consumers buy are carefully cultivated in greenhouses. If you plant them in your garden, like I did, they most likely won’t bloom again and require shade in the summer and daily water.

In order for them to bloom next year they need complete darkness for 12 hours from September to December, even artificial light will impact this.

If you don’t feel like putting in the work, I suggest composting them and buy another for next year.

Source: ksat.com