How to look after my poinsettia?

[abrogard]

I have this poinsettia we got from the store and had as an indoor plant for a while.
Then I decided it needed a bigger pot - it was only in a tiny thing - and I took it outside and repotted it.
I used 'vegetable loam' I got from the landscapers. Seemed a bit sandy and dense to me but I"m really no gardener.
Well it has shrunk. Shrunk is the word.
The green leaves got smaller the red bracts got smaller.
I put it in full sun and that seemed to hurt it
So then I put it in morning sun - i.e. east of a north south wall so's it is shaded all afternoon.
It didn't improve.
then I saw a place where they have a lovely poinsettia doing well in permanent shade down the side of their house.
I thought this might help. so I've moved it to the southern side of an east-west wall. Bright indirect light all day but never any full sun.
That's where we are up to.
I thought I might ask for advice right now to try to get off on the right track..
I've got a better potting mix now: equal parts potting mix: sharp sand: compost and I'm thinking it ought to be in that but I worry about shocking it again while it is struggling. (if that's what it is doing)

 

[cpp gardener]

They will grow in full sun or moderate shade. The issue is the soil in the pot. Remove all of the mix you made without disturbing the original roots and repot into something smaller than that pot with that good quality potting soil. Using that pot may lead to the soil staying too wet unless you're careful about frequency of watering.

 

[abrogard]

something smaller? isn't bigger always better? it's going to be hard to repot without disturbing. best chance if I wet it all well first I think?

 

[cpp gardener]

Somewhat bigger than what it was in originally is good. A LOT bigger can be problematic for watering. It's hard to keep the soil right around the plant at an appropriate moisture level without keeping the rest of the soil soggy. That limits where new roots can grow. Shifting up is easy enough to do without damaging a lot of roots.

 

[abrogard]

the soil mix i thought i had it turns out i don't have. i have potting mix and sharp sand but the compost i thought I had I haven't got. The compost pile in the corner turned out not to have composted.
So a mix of 50:50 potting mix: sharp sand would be good enough for the poinsettia?

 

[cpp gardener]

Should be fine.

 

[abrogard]

thanks for that. but i'll go buy some. bit slow thinking sometimes...