7 Care Tips for Big, Bushy Poinsettias

Poinsettias are interesting plants—they originate from regions of Mexico where they reach up to ten feet tall! Indoors they stay much smaller, remaining between one and three feet tall. Keeping them bushy and full involves precise pruning, transplanting, and relocating. 

These shrubs are safe for outdoor growing in USDA hardiness zones 9 through 11. They’re frost-tender in zones 8 and below, requiring indoor care to stay warm throughout the winter. The following methods work best for potted houseplants, although they’ll also help outdoor specimens grow full and bushy.

Grab your pruners, and get ready to dive into poinsettia care! We’ll use these seven tricks to help your poinsettia grow bushy and full while avoiding legginess.

Choose a Bright Location

Your potted plant needs bright light to continue thriving after the holidays finish. Give it at least bright indirect light while it’s indoors. Full sun is better. Dark rooms lead to your plant entering a premature dormancy, which isn’t desirable if you want the bushiest specimen possible. A window with a south, west, or east-facing orientation is perfect.

Temperature, like light, is also important for poinsettia health. Keep your houseplant away from drafty areas near fireplaces, heaters, or open windows. Cold and hot air can threaten the plants, causing leaf drop and slow growth. If your window leaks cool air, place the poinsettia a short distance away from it so it avoids the frosty chill.

Some direct sunlight is okay if the indoor plant is already under bright lights and has ample new growth. It’s best to avoid harsh direct sun rays longer than an hour or two; they can lead to leaf and blossom scorch. Outdoor plants tolerate partial shade or full sun after they adapt to their new environments.

Keep Them Happy

Poinsettias are drought tolerant but dislike drying out completely. They also don’t like sitting in standing water from pots without drainage holes or pot saucers. Water your plant when the soil surface dries so its roots have a chance to breathe.

A good way to test whether it’s time to water is to use the finger test. Stab your finger, or a stick, into the container and pull it out. If you sense moisture, it’s best to hold off on watering. Dry fingers (or sticks) indicate it’s time to water your poinsettia. 

Water with filtered water, applying plenty so that it comes out of the drainage holes. Dump extra water so the pot’s bottom doesn’t sit in stagnant water. This method ensures all the soil turns moist, but not soggy, keeping poinsettia roots satiated and happy. 

Poinsettias need nutrients once they start pushing out new growth. Give them a half dose of organic fertilizer every month while they grow new leaves and shoots from spring through late summer.

Trim Leggy Stems

Even after giving your poinsettia continuous care, it may fail to grow bushy foliage if you don’t prune. Leggy growth often happens indoors with bright indirect light. Late February is a good time to take a look at your houseplant and determine how to best prune it. If the stems grow long and thin, cutting them back encourages more buds to form for bushier growth through spring and summer. 

Trim leggy stems by pruning each long branch back to about five inches tall. Remove any dead or diseased foliage with pruners already in hand. If you see roots popping up above the pot, now is a good time to add additional potting soil to the surface.

Continue caring for your houseplant as normal, letting it dry out between waterings while giving it bright indirect sunlight. 

Cut Back New Growth

The end of May is another ideal time to prune the growing tips and encourage bushy growth on a poinsettia. Timely prunings throughout the growing season encourage side shoots to grow off the main branches. 

Unlike in February when we cut the plants to five inches tall, the end of May is best for trimming the stem ends. Instead of cutting back your plant to five inches tall, remove two to three inches of the tallest branches. 

Leave some stems untouched if they look bushy already. Opt for lengthy shoots with a single leader and minimal buds, as these benefit the most from end-of-May trimmings.

Transplant into a Larger Container

Come the end of May, your potted plant grows ready for a new home! Giving your poinsettia a bigger container encourages additional sturdy roots and bushy shoots to grow for the remainder of the growing season. Waiting until May gives the shrub ample time to adjust to indoor growing, allowing it to adapt readily after transplanting.

Start by trimming the branches by two to three inches. Remove your houseplant from its container, freeing the roots so they’re easily visible. Prune off any circling or upward-growing roots, as these can cause issues for your plant as it matures. Prepare the new container with fresh potting soil. Use a mix with good drainage, rich in organic matter and drainage materials like perlite or vermiculite. 

Place the shrub in the new container, then backfill the soil until it reaches the surface. Water the shrub well, then remove excess water from the pot saucer. Put it back in its home near a bright window and watch it thrive with new growth!

Bring Potted Plants Outdoors

June and July arrive with warm summer days and ample greenery and blooms. As plants outside flourish, it’s time to bring your potted poinsettia into the summer sunshine! It’ll transition easily, as your home’s conditions begin to mirror those found outdoors. 

Avoid bringing poinsettias out earlier than June, as late frosts can freeze their tender new growth. Where frosts are infrequent you may bring the plants outdoors once temperatures hover above 60°F (16°C).

Choose an outdoor location with bright indirect light or dappled sunlight. Direct sunlight is too harsh during the early transition and can cause leaf burn and scorch marks. A covered patio, porch, or balcony is perfect for poinsettias.

Starting in July, you can move your poinsettia closer to full sun or partial shade conditions. It’ll need more water, so compensate with more watering sessions throughout the month after the soil dries. Give it regular doses of fertilizer along with the additional water to ensure it grows big, bushy, and full. 

Choose Your Preferred Style

When you move your plant into full sun or partial shade outdoors you’ll also want to give it a final shaping. These two options create different styles so you can choose to shape your plant how you’d like. 

Growers that prefer large flower bracts with lots of flowers should choose to thin the existing branches so that a few remain. The poinsettia diverts energy from the cut branches into the remaining ones, causing them to grow bigger and fuller than normal. 

The other option creates a short but bushy plant with many small flower bracts. Snip each branch back an inch or two to promote more side shoots throughout your poinsettia. This bushy style is better if you have many poinsettia plants, as you can tuck them all over your home. Their small stature helps them fit in easily amongst books, other houseplants, or decorations.