How Greenhouses Grow Poinsettias | MD F&H

sometimes people are born with the perfect name that's the case for ray greenstreet who was born to grow things i used to be a yard boy when i was 13 in middle school and high school and worked for a large wholesale grower they grew a lot of different seasonal plants they also grew a ton of poinsettias and now with a business of his own green street growers in lothian ray and his family have spent the last 21 years providing plants across maryland dc and northern virginia and short of the christmas tree no plant is more popular this time of year than the poinsettia they come from mexico and back around 18 20 18 25 the u.s had an ambassador joel roberts poinsettia he was not only our ambassador to mexico but he was also a botanist as a hobby he fell in love with the poinsettias that naturally grow in mexico and he started bringing up poinsettias to his home in south carolina and started breeding them and playing with them a little bit and then he gave him away as gifts at christmas so that's really how it started 200 years later the ambassador's namesake plant continues to spread holiday magic [Music] we may only see poinsettias during december but for ray and his team the growing process starts much earlier it's a long crop takes a long a long time to grow a poinsettia we get unrooted cuttings in from offshore you know they come from costa rica and other countries and they're flown in here we stick them within 24 hours these got planted believe it or not the beginning of july so poinsettias is probably one of the longest seasonal crop blooming crop that any grower produces while the plants grow rae and his team give them special attention when we first plant them we're really trying to keep it cool in here so there's shade on top of the greenhouse keeps the stress off of them and every one of these you can see them these little white or black tubes those are called spaghettis it makes sure that all the plants get the exact same amount of water and fertilizer and it also helps us be good stewards for our well water and the chesapeake bay so while you're busy with all the other spring stuff that's going on and in fall on the summer programs and things the poinsettias are always kind of here during this time the poinsettias look almost unrecognizable they remain completely green during the summer as the beautiful colors won't emerge until there is less sunlight it's called photoperiod which means that poinsettias bloom under short days so september 23rd 25th that's when the night gets longer than the day and that initiates the flying process the poinsettias develop into a variety of colors and sizes some are white this is a new one called alaska some are red others are pink instead these are the princettias some have two colors this is white glitter and look beautiful beside each other some are short six and a half inch that's the pot size some are tall you got to get it to grow grow grow grow and green street growers has them all my favorite part honestly as a grower is an empty poinsettia house the best part is given to the customers and seeing people's reaction people like to get plants with everything green street has to offer this season they also have a little advice poinsettias can make pets sick but the risk is low if you break a stem or a leaf it oozes that white sticky sap if your cat eats a salad tonight of leaves and stems and stuff yes they may get nauseous they may feel not great that's from the rubbery liquid will it kill them no they'd have to eat many many many many plants before they got sick so unless your pet loves eating house plants poinsettias shouldn't be a problem just in case green street's garden center has lots of other holiday gifts too we're open to the public seven days a week and all my staff and owls are putting decorations on christmas is crazy our greenhouse in our gift shop is filled to the brim with holiday decor there's ornaments reeds everything that you will need to decorate your home this is a one-stop shop and here in lothian they're continuing to grow a 200 year old tradition that started with a few flowers from mexico poinsettias are the staple of christmas i mean you can't go anywhere nowadays without seeing a poinsettia around christmas time so to know that it's coming from our production houses it fills me with a lot of pride to me that's what christmas is all about just making people feel feel special for the holidays [Music] hi thanks for watching maryland farm and harvest if you like this story leave us a comment if you want to see more check out our playlists we've got videos of cute animals big machines delicious farm to table recipes and more

Channel: Maryland Farm & Harvest

Views: 16,005

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Id: 9h4tnsO6DBA

Length: 5min 35sec (335 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 22 2021