POINSETTIA POPOURRI

POINSETTIA TRIALS

Three Ohio companies, Diefenbacher in Cincinnati, Maple Lee in Delaware, and Lakewood in Toledo, are growing samples of all poinsettia cultivars to be shown the following dates:

November 18, Maple Lee, 2069 Hyatts Rd. Delaware
November 19, Diefenbacher, 11443 Colerain Ave., Cincinnati
November 20, Lakewood, 909 Lemoyne Rd., Toledo

Sample plants from each location will be taken to the OSU Hort.& Crop Sci. Dept. to be shown to growers in mid - January 1999.
THE USE OF MARATHON ON POINSETTIAS
According to Dr. Richard Lindquist from OARDC, Wooster, OH, the following precautions should help ensure success for those using the product again this year:

Irrigate before applying;
Do not leach for a week after application;
Apply after root system is fully developed but before plant growth slows down;
This product works best as a preventative;
Apply the product according to label instructions: applications in greater concentration than labeled rates will not improve control.

STEM BREAKAGE ON POINSETTIA

Nobody knows the whole story in relation to this problem yet. One thing seems to be clear: the greater the number of shoots on a plant, the wider the angle of branches. In turn, as branch angles widen, branch joints at the main stem weaken. Do not pinch high! A high pinch increases the number of branches and the probabilities of stem breakage.