Poinsettia Sudden Death

Question

Hey y’all! So I’ve had this poinsettia 4-5 years. It was one of the first to successfully live past Christmas. Lol I always let it enjoy the spring and summer months outside and brought it back inside with all my other plants in fall. It even got so big and tree-like (around 3 feet tall) that I had to cut it back, which it loved and rewarded me with lush, bushy growth. It was beautiful! But this year it just died. Like it was healthy one day and then overnight DEAD! (She’d already been inside a month or so before this happened so I ruled out shock or stress) I’m struggling to understand what happened to my baby. Of course, the first thing I checked was moisture to make sure I hadn’t accidentally overwatered it. It wasn’t overly wet, nor too dry. And the foliage was fine the day before… nice and green and even a few bracts beginning to turn pink (the color it was). Next day, it was limp and yellowing with leaf drop before totally going kaput. All I can think of is that it had to have gotten sick somehow or could it have just outlived its potted lifespan? It’s been a head scratcher for sure so I’m turning to my fellow experts for help since I will now have to start over with a new plant this season. Sorry, no photo. I was too devastated and just took her to the plant cemetery near the woods. By the way, I miss all of you! Happy holidays!

Answer 1

Heeeey!!!!!!!!!!!

If you decide to try again and this happens, I would check for root damage, as well. Maybe a pest was able to sneak in and do some damage to the root system.

Sounds like it lived for about half its expected lifespan with perfect conditions. I don't think that it would just die out of nowhere because of age.

Another thing that I might Wonder about is being rootbound. It would be odd to see an instant death, though.

Check the rootball for signs of stress, and try repotting after taking off a third of the root mass if it is rootbound.. If there is any life left, it may spring back.