How to Fertilize a Poinsettia

Poinsettias produce their colorful red flower bracts in winter, usually near the Christmas holiday season. These tropical plants are almost exclusively grown as indoor potted plants since they cannot tolerate cold temperatures. A potted poinsettia is a perennial, so you can keep it alive in the pot for many years if you supply it with proper care and sufficient fertilization. The plant uses up most of the nutrients in the confines of the pot each year, so fertilizer is necessary to replenish these nutrients.

Soluble houseplant fertilizer

Instructions

- 1
  Begin fertilizing the poinsettia eight weeks after it begins to flower, or eight weeks after you bring it home if you purchase an already blooming plant.
- 2
  Dilute a soluble flowering houseplant fertilizer in water at half the rate recommended on the label. Water the poinsettia with this solution every six weeks while the plant is still producing red flower bracts.
- 3
  Increase fertilization to every four weeks once the red bracts fade in spring. Continue this fertilization schedule through summer to keep the green foliage healthy.
- 4
  Stop fertilizing the plant once it begins produce red bracts in late fall and early winter. Resume your fertilization schedule eight weeks after flowering begins.

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