Christmas Poinsettias & Amaryllis, How to Prolong Their Lives This Holiday Season

What’s Christmas without a few blooming poinsettias and amaryllis? We want to enjoy these Christmas blooming beauties for as long as we can and here are some tips to prolong their lives so you can enjoy them well after the Holiday season is over.

The first thing to do is to remove, or at least punch holes in the bottom of, the decorative foil wrapper around the flower pots. While the foil wrapper adds to the festive look of poinsettias and amaryllis, it will also prevent water drainage from the flower pot. The water will collect around the roots f the Christmas plants and drowned them.

To prolong the life of poinsettias, keep the soil evenly moist at all times and keep the Christmas flower in full sunlight in a temperature between 65-72 degrees. Protect poinsettias from chilly drafts and heat by placing them away from doors and heat vents.

Place amaryllis away from doors and heat vents also, in a room that has a constant warm temperature between 65-72 degrees. If your amaryllis has been grown in a warm room, it will have a long flower stalk that may require staking to keep it upright. Be careful when you insert a stake in the soil so you won’t damage the amaryllis bulb.

Poinsettias and amaryllis will have received enough fertilize at the greenhouse to get them through the Holiday season, no need to feed them or they might die from over fertilization.