Poinsettias ready for holiday season

Students in Malaspina University-College’s Horticulture Technician program are hoping to spread a little holiday cheer.

The students have raised and nurtured 1,500 poinsettia plants, which are now for sale and ready to brighten offices and holiday tables.

“We started growing the poinsettias in July,” said Connie Kuramoto, a technician at Malaspina’s 32-acre G.R. Paine Horticultural Centre on East Wellington Road in Nanaimo. “The plants began as small root cuttings from Burnaby Lake Greenhouses. Students potted the cuttings during the summer, and spent the past few months monitoring the fertilization and irrigation process.”

The poinsettias were placed in total darkness for 14 hours a day beginning the first week of October. Restricted light stimulates the plants to flower. “We kept this up until the first week of December when the first red bracts appeared,” said Kuramoto.

The poinsettias are being sold through community groups and local stores such as Dig This and Superette. Individuals can also drop by the G.R. Paine Horticultural Centre at 2324 East Wellington Road in Nanaimo between 9 and 4 pm Monday to Friday to purchase plants. Prices range from $4 to $20 for four, six or ten inch poinsettias.