I have a white poinsettia from last year that somehow, by some miracle, is still alive. Not only is it still alive, but it kept some of its white leaves. They started to get a bit of a green tinge to them, but they stayed. The process of forcing a poinsettia to change colour is a tedious one. They need a certain amount of light and a certain amount of dark every day. And it has to be at the same time every day. Every day. For several weeks.
I never thought I would do it. Who has time for that? And sometimes it doesn’t even work! But since this poinsettia had gone to all the trouble of staying not only alive but seemingly relatively healthy, I thought I had to try.
So I looked up how much light and dark they need each day, how many weeks it needs to be done for, and when I should start. Then I looked up when I should start in my area. Mid-September and it needs to be in the dark 5:00 pm to 8:00 am, then in bright light every day until mid-December. Well, it was already late September. Hmmm…
I had always heard that you have to put it in a dark room every night. We do not have a room in our house that is in complete darkness from 5:00 pm to 8:00 am. And besides, who wants to move it to another room twice a day for several weeks? So, what to do? Then I read that an easier way is to put a box over it. Aha! Now we’re talking!
I finally found a box that would be big enough and tall enough. This particular box had had some damage, so I had a bit of an arts and crafts project ahead of me. I put black paper over the spots where light could get in, and used a LOT of packing tape to make sure the inside top of the box was stable. All I needed after all this work was for the box to collapse on top of this poor poinsettia. My husband watched while I stood inside the box getting it ready. Then he took pictures. I was quite the sight!
Soon I was all set. When I realized that 8:00 am and 5:00 pm just might not work I adjusted the plan. The poinsettia would go in the dark at 5:15 pm (poinsettia jail, I started calling it) and come back out into the light at 8:15 am. I set alarms on my phone to go off every day so I wouldn’t miss it.
I have been taking pictures every week so I could monitor its progress. Soon I could see that the white leaves were losing their green tinge. Then they were white! Hooray! Success! Now I just needed the green leaves to turn white…
A week later, when it was picture time again, the white leaves had almost all fallen off. But… I could just see the beginning of some of the green leaves starting to lighten. I told myself that they have to fall off. Don’t give up. Trust the process. My husband’s theory was that the change from light to dark every day was simulating fall, so the leaves must have to fall off.
Now, I am continuing to put it in poinsettia jail every night and letting it out every morning, waiting to see what will happen. For the most part I have been on time. There have been a few times where I was off by a few minutes. I read that can make a difference. Does it make a difference if it’s not every day? I don’t know, but I’m doing my best.
I don’t feel like I did that much this year to keep it alive. Poinsettias are picky about their location so when I found a spot it liked I just kept it there. I didn’t bother with the things you should do through the year if you want to keep it as a houseplant. I just let it do its thing and watered it every once in a while. Honestly, I was going to keep it until it was done and then send it to compost heaven. But it survived, and then I felt like I had to help it come back in all its glory.
A friend told me that while I don’t feel like I did that much, it’s a good comparison to the crazy world we live in. I watered it, gave it some light and hopefully a good environment for it to live in. We do our best, but we all need some help along the way. And you may never know how you have impacted someone else. The person you opened the door for at the store, the person you smiled at as you walked by each other, the person you let go ahead of you in line at the grocery store… We never know what others are going through and what may make a big or small difference to them and to their lives.
And the poinsettia? I’ll let you know what happens.