Water and Fertilization

• Water your poinsettia when its soil feels slightly dry to the touch at the top. Keep the soil slightly moist, but never wet, around the roots at all times. Apply a quality water-soluble, general purpose fertilizer after blooming. Water on a consistent schedule, applying fertilizer to the roots at the base of the plant every three to four weeks during non-blooming periods.
  
  

Light and Warmth

• Give poinsettias at least least six hours of indirect, bright sunlight every day. Maintain an average room temperature ranging from 64 to 70 degrees F. Colder rooms begin to kill the tender greens and warmer rooms causes wilt and desiccates the soil and blooms. Also, avoid both cold and warm drafts of air, which destabilize the plant. Poinsettias look beautiful flanking a holiday fireplace, but remove them from the area when the fireplace is lit to prevent damage or death.
  
  

How to Make Your Poinsettia Bloom Again

• After the holiday bloom period subsides, poinsettias can be nurtured to bloom a second year, possibly even more. In late spring, cut the plant back to approximately 7 or 8 inches tall. Water regularly, allowing a short dry-out period of a day or so before watering. Apply a water-soluble, general purpose fertilizer every few weeks. By June, vigorous new growth should sprout. Allow the plants to grow outdoors in light sun to partial shade for the temperate spring and summer and bring indoors before temperatures drop to 55 degrees F. Prune for shape in July or August, at the latest, to avoid disturbing the bloom setting. Transplant to a larger pot, as needed.
  In early October, place the poinsettia in a completely darkened room or covering for 14 hours every night and give 6 to 8 hours of bright sunlight daily until it begins to bloom.