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Show HOW TO KEEP YOUR CHRISTMAS POINSETTIA Let's get those Christmas plants off to a good start. It's much easier to keep them in good health than it is to nurse them back after they begin ailing. Take the poinsettia wilh rrd, pink or white bracts. It is very sensitive to changes in temperature, so keep it out of drafts. Use water at room temperature. Bracts will last longer if the plant is kept at lower temperature, particularly at night. If it is near a window, win-dow, move it back at night so it won't get a chill. Give it bright light but no sun. Gradually withhold water after the plant is through blooming Store in a cool basement until April or May, watering it oneo a week. When the wea'her warms up cut back stems to about six i inches and sink the pot in a i protected spot in the garden; prune it back in July or August or a couple of times during that period. Before the weather turns cold, bring the plant to a South window; water and feed regularly; give it total darkness about twelve hours a night during October and November. Bracts should show color by Thanksgiving, and you can discontinue the artificial darkness. The prized part of the poinsettia is the colored bracts or leaves, and not the true flower, which often falls soon after the plant is purchased. If the small flower parts do fall, the showy bracts still remain attractive. |