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Inducing Early Flowering in a Pointsettia
By Jane Keightley of giggleberries
INDUCING EARLY FLOWERING IN A POINTSETTIA Poinsettias naturally flower in late November to early December making them the ideal plant for the Christmas period. Its popularity has created a demand for plants that are in full bloom and ready for sale in early November, therefore flowering has to be artificially induced by growers in order to meet consumer demand. A poinsettia is a short-day plant and therefore flowering is photoperiodically induced. It also responds to temperature for both flower induction and stem elongation. In order to have a plant in full bloom for November 1st growers must control two elements, light and temperature. CONTROL OF LIGHT
Flowering is naturally induced when the number of daylight hours lessens therefore the grower must reduce the light exposure to the plants by using black out screens. It takes approximately 8- 10 weeks for the development of a flower from bud formation to a fully developed flower, therefore the number of day light hours to which the plant is exposed should be reduced to ten hours from the last week in August in order for the phytochrome receptors to receive adequate far red light to activate the apical meristem to flower. This process needs to continue until about mid October when the natural day length is short enough. Light quality also has an effect of the size and shape of the plant. Red light encourages elongation of the stem as the light is filtered by the leaves of the plant before it reaches the stem. The stem elongates to produce large gaps between the leaves to allow light to filter through more easily. The quality of the light should be as consistent as possible to prevent elongation of the stem and plants should be given adequate space to allow the light to penetrate all of the leaves. CONTROL OF TEMPERATURE
Poinsettias originate from semi tropical areas and will not withstand very low temperatures. Temperatures below 45ºf can cause chilling injury. The ideal temperature for Poinsettia growth is between 60ºf and 80°f. The temperature range during the dark period should be 60 °f to 70° f and daytime temperatures should be 75°f to 80°f. Studies have shown that growth is more rapid if the night temperature is at 70°f. These temperatures can be modified to change the growth of the plant. The greater the temperature differences of day and night, the more the elongation of the stem. Therefore it is possible to control the height of the plant not just by light exposure but by keeping the plants at one constant temperature of 75°f rather than imitating the fluctuations that occur in nature. PINCHING
Pinching out the apical meristem encourages the growth of the lateral buds on the stem and so increases the number of flowering bracks per plant. It is also another control of the height of the plant as it encourages lateral growth instead of vertical growth. The timing of the pinching will determine the height as the closer to the flower initiation date the flower is pinched, the shorter the plant will be. This is because the apical meristem will stop producing growth as soon as it is triggered in to producing flower buds. Therefore plants will need pinching the in mid August, just before the flower buds are induced by the artificial photoperiodism. SCHEDULE
Pinching - 18th August
Photoperiodism - 25th August to 25th October
Temperature Manipulation - 25th August onwards
Flowering date - 1st November |
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The copyright for this content entitled "Inducing Early Flowering in a Pointsettia" has been specified by the contributor as:
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This intel was contributed by Jimbob
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May, 2012
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