Pakistan Gardening Forum

helloo I was in China for a few weeks was amazed at the quality of this plant I do have a few of these plants but they don't even come close to the plants in the picture, Is it possible to achieve this in our climate ??

AhmadIrfan wrote:helloo I was in China for a few weeks was amazed at the quality of this plant I do have a few of these plants but they don't even come close to the plants in the picture, Is it possible to achieve this in our climate ??

Poinsettias are quite beautiful and are available in bright red colours in November & December as it is a christmas decoration plant. It means that we have to mimic the low light requirements of the winter season- the so called photoperiodism effect in plants. There are plenty of websites if you search how to make poinsettias red. For example, one suggestion is

" Start forcing your poinsettia's color change in October. This change is governed by the amount of light the plant receives. To turn your poinsettia red, you'll need to reduce the amount of light your plant gets to 12 hours or less each day. Put your plant into a closet or another completely dark space from 4 or 5 p.m. until 8 or 9 a.m. You can even put your poinsettia under a box, especially if the closets in your home allow light in through cracks in the door or if the closet where your poinsettia is will be opened throughout the day. "

Nothing is impossible, we lack the know how.

once i used to see these beautiful plants in Capital platers nursery,Islamabad.but now its not available there.these are specially developed for X-Mass after some time they gain normal hight.i agree with sir Arif nothing is impossible but we don,t know the know how.i think may be the imported stuff offered at Lahore nurseries.

I agree with Brig. sb. but you must bear in mind that these plants in pictures are produced only under strictly controlled environment of a green house, they are a disposable product and the plants die within few months, rarely surviving.. you can google and observe the pictures of "poinsettia in garden" or "poinsettias in ground" to see the plants in an open environment, which are just like we grow in our gardens...

agreed there Is proper of lack of knowledge for growIng thIs plant but this Is somethIng I hope to acheIve one day I guess that would only be possIble wIth a permanent green house, rIght Izhar ??

Yes of course these are green house plants.Actually this plant needs long dark nights for two months before it comes to flower.long nights intense the brackets color.u have to provide complete dark.not even tube light or bulbs light.this is the product of controlled farming.there fore many experts say once the flower after first purchase they will never flower like that again.
they require at least 12 hours dark nights for at least a week non stop.this process is called Photoperiodism.this is very true in many other plants.like for the Snap dragon Floral showers they say it flowers at short days light.what i want to say the length of days & nights effects plants greatly.when i first saw Poinsettia plants at Islamabad the idea came to my mind if the growers can do it i can also do it.i tries it & studied many web sites but i was not able to provide the required darkness.Phytoplasma is used to induce the axillary buds.
but despite knowing all this i never got good results.actually time is the big factor.we don,t have that much time.the growers earn their living from it.gardening is our hobby,passion but not a source of income so we do not go to that extent.other wise nothing impossible.i enjoy my giant Poinsettias in my garden & they give me so much delight.

Umar you are right, photoperiodism plays a vital role in blooming of various plants, including chrysanthemums, gardenia, poinsettias, kalanchoes etc

another thing that inspired me I had seen pictures of tomato vine spread across like trees on the internet but always thought they were fake until I saw these with my own eyes

Did you get any of these tomato vine seeds??.. these must have genes to grow such plants...