poinsettia

Neighbor gave me a cutting off his Poinsettia a few days ago, which I stuck in a jar of water to see if it will grow roots. I think it would do better with rooting hormone and soil, actually, but I don't have any of the powder (the nurseries are all closed until March). I used to do this with cuttings of my mother's creeping charlie plants. My neighbor told me once when he was a teenager he picked up the leaf of some exotic tropical plant off the floor of an arboretum, took it home and put it in water. When it grew roots, he potted it. It grew very quickly, and before long was a towering lush plant that nearly reached the ceiling. He gave it to a family member who kept it for some five years!

Well, the Poinsettia cutting is not doing too well. The leaves are looking poorly, a bit yellowed and starting to curl. I think it may be getting too much sun, and have moved it to a counter just aside the kitchen window where there's plenty of light still but none of it direct. I also read more about growing poinsettias from cuttings and realized I did it all wrong. Wrong time of year, wrong part of the plant, etc. But still going to try and see if it survives; I stuck it in a small pot of soil and covered with a clear plastic jug as it needs humidity. Hopefully it does better.