Poinsettia farms ready to spread all that red
By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor
Last week's powerful winds gave poinsettia growers a bit of a scare, but otherwise this year's crop is blooming right on time for the holiday season.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Nurseries have begun delivering pots of the vibrantly colored tropical plants to markets.
Bill Durston of Leilani Nursery in Waimanalo has been growing 100,000 pots of poinsettias this season. With the exception of last week's winds, which gave growers a scare, "it's been an exceptionally good year weather-wise," Durston said. Some markets already have poinsettias for sale.
"The weather has been excellent for poinsettias this past season, with both dry days and warm nights," said Howard Takishita of Howard's Nurseries in Ha'iku, Maui. "With the weather cooling off, it's bringing out the color."
Howard's Nurseries increased production to 50,000 pots this season, about 15 percent more than last year. Poinsettias make up about a fourth of Takishita's business.
The Hawai'i Agricultural Statistics Service reported the statewide poinsettia inventory at 367,000 pots, as of Oct. 1. That's about 1 percent lower than last year's total.
Half are grown under shade cloth, up from 26 percent just five years ago, when most of the plants were grown in open fields.
A smaller number were grown under glass or a glass substitute. Shade cloths and greenhouses helped protect the brittle-stemmed plants from the strong winds.
Bill Durston of Leilani Nursery in Waimanalo is growing 100,000 pots this season.
"It's been an exceptionally good year weather-wise," he said. Except for last week's aberrant weather, "we've had little rain this year and lots of good sun."
The Freedom varieties of poinsettia remain the most popular, accounting for 41 percent of the crop statewide. The Freedom Red is the overall favorite — 30 percent of the poinsettias being grown this season.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
"They are the most guaranteed one to turn red in a timely manner. It's a safe bet they'll be ready between Thanksgiving and the first week of December," Durston said.
Hawai'i's climate is ideal for poinsettias, with the right length of daylight for getting them to bloom on time.
Takishita said he has been increasing the number of pots of the Prestige variety, which is more squat and has stronger stems.
Poinsettia varieties are patented, so nurseries can't propagate the plants unless they pay royalties. Most growers import cuttings from the Mainland in August, in time to grow them out for the holidays.
Ken Leonhardt, professor of horticulture in the University of Hawai'i department of tropical plant and soil sciences, said poinsettias — native to Mexico — are the No. 1 flower crop grown to meet a holiday, far outpacing hydrangeas, tulips and Easter lilies.
He said Hawai'i has ideal conditions for poinsettias, which are often seen growing wild along island roadsides. While nurseries in other geographic areas must simulate darkness or daylight to trigger reproduction, the natural day length here is just right for getting the plants to flower in November and December.
Home gardeners who want to grow the plant year-round can stick it in the ground when the holidays are over, and should cut it back in February or March and again in August, Leonhardt said.
"For most people it's too much of a hassle, and the plants in the stores look a lot better and the price is right at the holidays," he said.
Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
