Section B
The News-Journal
Thursday, December 13, 1984
Editorials ? Columns ? Features ? Classified ads
The whole house
This is the length of one of the Plantry's
greenhouses. Most of the poinsettias are the red top -
ped variety, but some are white at the top. At the rear
of the house, there is a large fan, which will pull air
through a wet cardboard mesh and keep the young
poinsettias cool in the hot summer months. The
plastic duct near the ceiling is part of the greenhouse
heating system.
Poinsettia business blooming in Hoke County
By Ed Miller
Step into -the door of the greenhouse and find a
sea of bright red as far as the house stretches.
Ned Webb and his partner Patty Falgiano are
in the poinsettia business, and this time of year is
their big season.
Although there are many different varieties of
poinsettias in different colors and promoters of
the plant have been trying for years to make them
year round attractions, the plants still sell best
around Christmas, Webb said.
Falgiano and Webb have poinsettias. They
have 5,000 of them in the three greenhouses of
their Arabia area business, The Plantry.
The Plantry will sell poinsettias to businesses in
Laurinburg, Aberdeen, Fayetteville and all the
florists in Raeford.
Although few of these places buy exclusively
from The Plantry, it is possible that the best
poinsettias found in this area will be those grown
by Webb and Falgiano.
"Quality is super important," said Webb.
With a smaller operation, and the special care
the two people put into their plants, The Plantry
can grow better quality flowers than "plant fac
tories," said Webb.
There is greater control over greenhouse condi
tions in smaller operations, he said.
The quality and care show in his plants.
Thanks to a plastic duct system that is like a
long plastic bag with holes in it, and heaters and a
fan, temperature can be controlled in each of the
three greenhouses to within 3? throughout the
house.
The greenhouses, built by Webb, can also be
cooled by a system in which water trickles across a
cardboard mesh. Air is pulled through the wet
mesh by fans at the opposite end of the house
and, even in the summer, the temperature can be
kept at about 65?.
Watering 5,000 plants could prove to be
somewhat of a chore; however, with the watering
system installed by Webb, the turning of a few
knobs can water all three greenhouses.
Just behind one of the houses, water pipes stick
up out of the ground. Between these pipes, a fer
tilizer canister can be installed.
Plants can then be watered and fertilized at the
same time.
The life of a poinsettia starts in August at the
Plantry.
Seeds are not used. Cuttings are put in four or
six and one half inch pots and rooted, said
Falgiano.
When the cuttings are placed in the pot, they
must be "pinched."
Everywhere there is a leaf on the very young
plant, a "bract" will grow.
The bract is the portion on the top of the stem
that turns red.
The bract is not the flower of the plant contrary
to popular rumor. The actual flower is very small
and is situated in the middle of the bract.
And, while rumors are being dispelled, it
should be noted that poinsettias are not
poisonous.
In fact, when the plants reach adulthood, small
drops of a clear fluid may sometimes be seen ooz
ing from the flowers.
This fluid is very sweet to the taste, much like
the juice of a honeysuckle, and is not harmful.
Potting the small plants, native to northern
Mexico, is crucial to the later life of the plant.'
According to Webb, the larger the pot, the
larger the plant will grow.
At some point during the growing cycle, a
growth retardant is sprayed on the plants.
The retardant will not stop the growth of the
bracts, but it will slow height growth, said Webb.
Special care must be taken at the beginning of
the growth cycle not to allow disease to gain a
foothold in the crop.
Webb spoke of a virus called Botrytis that is
very harmful.
"By the time you know you have Botrytis, it is
too late. The crop will be wiped out," said Webb.
This year at the Plantry, no such infestations
have affected the crop.
Falgiano and Webb are busily moving and sort
ing very good plants from good ones and shipping
each to vendors.
The four stages of the plant's growing cycle are
over.
By the time Christmas arrives, there will be few
if any poinsettias left in the greenhouses.
The system
This heating system Is used to warm one of the smaller green houses.
Designed and built by Webb, the two heaters on the side put out warm air
which h putted up btto the fan and forced down the plastic duct. There are
small holes all In the duel, and the air is pushed out of each one at about
the same pressure throughout the length oj the house.
The plants
In the middle of these plants, there are small nodes surrounded by rod
leaves. These are actually the flowers of the plant. When ttu plants are ful
ly mature, there may be an occasional drop of a dear fhud found on the
flowers. The fluid is very sweet and, Uke the rest the polnsettla, It not
poisonous. Many assume that poinsettlas are natlv&io the United Stat**.
They are not. They were brought from northern Mexico Into thlt country
in about 1825. They have only been commercial crops for about Mfyoort.