Thursday, October 8, 2009

Poinsettia Production Primer

Our production greenhouses are now in full swing with poinsettia production for our Holiday Show, which opens December 5th. The growing process actually started way back in late June when our small rooted cuttings arrived. Our ace Horticulture staff has been fussing and nurturing the tender plants for the last 3.5 months to produce luxuriant foliage that is free of insects, disease and nutrition defficiencies or excesses. This crop can be rather demanding in its care!






We are now at the stage of there growth when they need the long 13 hours of darkness each 24 hour period, and then for the other 11 hours, they need strong, strong sunshine. We achieve these 13 hour nights by pulling a shade cloth over the plants at 6:00 PM and then opening the cloth at 7:00 AM.






Our Holiday Show this year will feature many new cultivars and will have a warm orange, blush pink, creamy yellow and cinnamon color theme, a little something to warm up our visitors as winter settles in on us.