While most people dispose of poinsettias after they finish blooming, with a little effort it is possible to get a poinsettia to bloom again next year.

Once about half of the leaves and bracts have dropped, start to decrease watering until the soil is completely dry. This will cause the plant to go dormant. Store the dormant plant in a cool, dark location, watering only enough to prevent the stems from shriveling. Once new growth begins, usually in early May, cut the plant to within 4 to 6 inches of the soil; this will help encourage new growth. If you wish to repot the plant, now is the time to do that as well. Place the plant in a sunny window and treat it like any other houseplant, watering when dry and fertilizing occasionally with a dilute fertilizer.

Once the danger of frost has passed and nighttime temperatures remain above 50 degrees F, move your poinsettia outdoors, exposing it to direct sun gradually over a week or two to allow it to acclimate to the outdoors. Then dig a hole big enough to hold the pot in an area that receives 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight, with some shade in the afternoon. Turn the pot occasionally to prevent your poinsettia from rooting through the bottom holes. If you can’t put the poinsettia pot in the ground, you may need to water the plant more frequently. To keep your poinsettia from getting too leggy, pinch off the shoot tips, choosing tips with two or three fully expanded leaves below them. Do this every three or four weeks until midAugust to keep the plant compact and bushy. Remember to water your poinsettia regularly, and fertilize it every couple of weeks.

When night temperatures get down to 55 to 60 degrees F, it’s time to bring your poinsettia back inside and place it in a sunny window. Poinsettias are short-day plants, meaning they grow vegetatively during times where there are long days and produce flowers when exposed to short days – or, more specifically, to long nights. For your plant to rebloom in time for Christmas, it needs to be in complete darkness from 5 pm to 8 am from about the end of September until the bracts develop good color, usually in early or mid-December. To provide darkness, place the plant in a closet or cover it with a box. During the day, put it back in the sunny window. Keep up this routine until the bracts are almost fully expanded. Try to make sure the plant doesn’t experience temperatures below 60 or above 70 degrees F. Nighttime temperatures above 70 to 75 degrees F may delay or prevent flowering.