How to Care for Poinsettias After the Leaves Fall

Provide excellent drainage for your poinsettia by removing any foil or other decorative container around the pot. Water the plants every other day. Check the tray underneath your poinsettia after an hour, and pour out any excess water.

Apply a general-purpose houseplant fertilizer monthly after the colored bracts have fallen off according to the manufacturer's directions. If you merely want to keep the plant alive and enjoy its shapely green leaves, continue this treatment year-round -- it will not rebloom unless you exclude light at night. Place it out in the summer sun once the temperature reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Protect the plant from bright afternoon sunlight.

Cut the poinsettia stem back by one-third prior to July, leaving several leaves intact on each branch. Move the poinsettia to a larger container if it has nearly filled the current container. Add a high-phosphate fertilizer as well as a slow-release fertilizer while repotting it. Mix the high-phosphate fertilizer into the new potting soil. Apply the slow release fertilizer to the surface according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Bring the poinsettia indoors in the fall once temperatures begin to fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Place it in a sunny location near a window or under bright plant lights.

Assemble a box to go over the top of your poinsettia. If your box is too short, take the flaps together at the corners to add height to the box. If the box is tall enough on its own, remove the flaps for easy handling. The box should leave sufficient space around the plant, not restricting the leaves.

Place the box over the top of the poinsettia each night for 14 hours. Remove the box during the day, and provide the plant with at least eight hours of sunlight. If you must leave early or be gone for several days, it is better to give the plant more darkness than not enough. Once the plant's bracts begin to turn red, discontinue use of the box and stop fertilizing the poinsettia.