How to get Pointsettia plant to start blooming again?

Well ill im in highschool and dont know %26quot;to much%26quot; about growing plants, but are biology teacher gave all of us a plant as a christmas gift(2007), and I dont like seeing things like plants die, and currently it has %26quot;red leaves%26quot; but no flowers.





How do I get it to bloom again?


Thanks

How to get Pointsettia plant to start blooming again?
Poinsettia go through a cycle of growth... then rest.


After the %26quot;blooming%26quot; season, %26amp; when the leaves begin to drop, gradually decrease water, allowing the plant to get dry between waterings. Be careful the stem does not begin to shrivel. This is a sign the plant is too stressed and is dying. In a week or two, when the plant has acclimated to this drying process, move it to a cool spot like the basement or a heated garage. You want to keep it at about 60 degrees F.





In late spring, cut the stems back to about 4 inches and repot in a slightly larger container, with new potting soil. Water it well. Place the newly potted plant back into the brightest curtained window you have and once again keep it at a temperature of 65 - 75 degrees F. Water whenever the surface of the soil feels dry.





Watch for new growth. Once new growth appears, begin fertilizing every two weeks with a complete fertilizer. Follow fertilizer label recommendations. After all danger of frost is over, acclimate your plant for growing outdoors %26amp; then plant it or put the potted plant on a patio or porch.


In early July, pinch back each stem by about one inch to encourage a stout, well branched plant. If left unpinched, the poinsettia will grow tall and spindly.


http://gardening.about.com/od/winterinth...





Bring your plant indoors in the fall before it frosts. Beginning in September,keep them in darkness for 14 hours at night %26amp; in light the other part of the day.





%26quot;Put the poinsettias in a closet or other dark room at night for 14 hours – they cannot be exposed to ANY light at all.


During the day you can bring your poinsettia out for lots of sunshine for a maximum of 10 hours. These long, dark nights will encourage the poinsettia bracts to change color creating your very own holiday gift containers with bright Christmas Poinsettias!%26quot;


http://plantsbulbs.suite101.com/article....





Around Thanksgiving, you%26#039;ll notice your plant turning leafy %26amp; the color returning. They can now stay all day in filtered sunlight. Stop fertilizing about December 15th. Keep watering and treat your plant the way you did when you first brought it home in bloom.





P.S. If you live in a warmer climate zone, like Mexico, you can leave it outside all year %26amp; it will color-up naturally.





Good luck!!! Hope this helps.
Reply:Believe it or not.....stick it in the dark!





It is just FINE without the %26#039;red-flowers%26#039; and they are only supposed to %26quot;bloom%26quot; once a year anyway.


(The flowers on that plant ARE leaves...not really flowers)





Make sure its in good soil and damp...not wet...but damp.





Then in November stick it in the closet! Don%26#039;t forget to water it! And bingo! You%26#039;ll have the %26quot;red-flowers%26quot; again.





Keep it away from the cat and dog, it%26#039;s poisonous.
Reply:Poinsettias are a photo period plant. That is they need about 16 to 18 hours of uninterupted total darkness for 6 - 8 weeks. This period is what sets the plant to flower. The red part is actually a leaf (Bract) that surround the small yellow flower head. This is natures way of attracting Bees to the flower, because they are small and the bees can see the red. keep the plant in a warm sunny area and don%26#039;t over water. Give it a dilute amount of Miracle Grow fertilizer, (I like Miracle Grow because it has a few trace elements in it ). If you want the plant to turn red for Christmas, you can start the darkness in the early part of November. Don%26#039;t leave it in the closet for that period as others have said. It still need a little daylight sun to grow. Poinsettias are native to Mexico. Since Mexico is in the southern part of the world It gets longer nights during the summer as the sun works it%26#039;s way to the southern hemisphere increasing the day length. This is why it blooms at Christmas time naturally. The plant grows like a weed in Mexico and was discovered by U.S. Ambassador Joel Poinsett, which gets it name from him. If you don%26#039;t care about when it blossoms stick it out on the deck after all danger of frost has passed. Here is a small Mexican folk lore about a poor small boy who saw a bright star in the sky and followed it until he came to a place with a small infant in a manger. There were kings, and a lot of other people bearing gifts. Being poor he had nothing to offer. As he came closer to the manger he bent down and grabbed a handful of weed and as he laid the in the manger they turned a bright red. This is why the Spanish call them the flower of the night (La Fleur da Noche)
Reply:you will need to put the plant in total darkness for at least twelve hours (fourteen is better) each night for approximately ten weeks.
Reply:place it in the dark for a day or so



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