How to make a Poinsettia turn red

[Klishis, Michelle]

Hello,
Although I never managed to keep a poinsettia over a year myself (I end
up killing 'em off around August) What you need to do is give them
approximately 12 hours of dark a day.  Basically, stick them in a closet
or bathroom on a timer, and this is he time of year to do it.  They need
a couple months of darkness to get into their flowering cycle.  The
problem, if I remember correctly, is that it is the amount of darkness
that is crucial, so you don't want to accidentally be turning the lights
on, upon your plants.  Unfortunately I don't have my books with me here,
so I can't guarantee this 100% but I'm about 98% sure.

Christmas and Easter Cacti are similar - they need specific amounts of
darkness (hence, their blooming in winter, when there is less light)

I hope this helps, and I think I'll have to pick up this newsgroup at
home, where all my books are.

Michelle K.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: pepper99 at NOSPAM.home.com (Mark Morissette)
> [mailto:pepper99 at NOSPAM.home.com]
> Posted At: Tuesday, October 12, 1999 8:12 AM
> Posted To: plants
> Conversation: How do you make a Poinsettia turn red?
> Subject: Re: How do you make a Poinsettia turn red?
> 
> 
> >Last year my boss gave me a great little Poinsettia.
> >To my amazment it is actually still alive!!  Since this
> >is the first Poinsettia I have had that hasn't died by
> >the middle of January, I have no clue as to how to
> >make it turn red.  Can anyone help?  It has grown
> >about a foot this past year and it will be beautiful
> >when it turns.  Does it turn on it's own?
> 
> Can anyone suggest any info for this?  I'm kind of in the same
> situation, and waiting for an answer myself!  :-)
> 
> 
> ---
> Mark,  Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
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