The poinsettia or poinsettia is the typical plant that we buy when Christmas approaches. Although its natural flowering time is in the spring, it is forced to do so earlier, in the fall / winter. So we can leave it for example in the dining room, a place where we are going to enjoy the most endearing parties of the year. But if we want to keep it even after the holidays, we have to know how it is watered.
Watering this plant is a somewhat complicated task, because on the one hand it resists drought, but on the other, it is not good for it to spend too many days without water. Then, How to water the poinsettia?
How do you know if you need to water the poinsettia?
Controlling irrigation is not easy, but luckily There are tools such as humidity meters that can be of great help (for sale here). These have a very simple and intuitive way of use: you just have to stick them in the ground, and see where the needle has been directed: if it points to Wet (They usually put it in English), is that it is humid; instead if you go to Dry, is that it is dry.
Based on this information, you can act, or not. Yes indeed, to be more precise, especially if we have it indoors, I advise nailing it in other areas. For example: closer to the edge of the pot, more towards the center of it, etc., since this way we will know if it needs watering or if it is convenient to wait a little.
Another way to know if it needs to be watered is by observing the plant: when it is going thirsty, its leaves and branches will fall a little until it »hangs».. It is not good to take her to that extreme, but if it happens, you have to know that it is because she is dehydrated. In these cases, the soil is so dry and so compact that, if we wanted to remove it from the pot, we would only have to take it from the base of the trunk and pull it up almost effortlessly.
To correct this problem, we must immerse the container in a basin of water for a few minutes, more or less about 20 or 30. From that day on, we will water more often.
Anyway, so that there are no problems, it is highly recommended to let the soil dry completely between one watering and the next. For this reason, it will be watered an average of twice a week during the summer, and once every 10 or 15 days the rest of the year.
How to water it?
To water it you have to take a watering can that has its 'artichoke', fill it with rainwater or suitable for consumption, and water. It must be done by wetting the soil, not the leaves. It is the only way to avoid burning the leaves and flowers. Also, it is convenient to pour water until the soil is well soaked.
If it is planted in the garden, we can make a tree grate with earth. In this way, we will use the water much better, since we will prevent it from being lost.
How to avoid overwatering the poinsettia?
La poinsettia it is a shrubby plant that does not want much water; in fact, it is very important that we plant it in a light and well-drained soil, whether it is going to be in a pot or in the ground. Its root system is sensitive to waterlogging, so if we make sure that the soil absorbs and filters the water quickly, only with that we will have minimized the risk of our plant rotting.
Therefore, we recommend using universal substrate (on sale here) if it is going to be in a pot, or mix the garden soil with 40% perlite if we want it to be in the ground and the soil we have is very compact (if it were not, there would be no need to do anything special).
Now, it is also important that, in case it is in a pot, it has holes in its base, and that if we put a plate under it, we remember to drain it every time we water. In this way, it will be even more difficult for it to rot.
What type of irrigation water to use?
Rainwater should be used whenever possible. It is the most suitable for plants, for all of them, and therefore also for the poinsettia. But if it is not possible to get it, then you can choose to water it with water suitable for human consumption, or we can even use, from time to time, the air conditioning. But it must be borne in mind that the latter has almost no nutrients, hence it serves us little more than to wet the earth.
But do not worry: if you fertilize your poinsettia regularly with a specific fertilizer, it will not lack for anything and you can water with the water you prefer, as long as it is clean.
And if you need to know how it is transplanted, take a look at this video: