2004 Visions of Grandeur
Growth Regulators Applied / Height graph
Graph shows projected plant heights during production of the crop. Dots are plotted actual height each week. Arrows indicate when PGRs are applied with details in the weekly notes. We use the “late” graphical tracking curve and heights are from bench to height of growing tip. Heights are plotted from date of pinching to projected date of finish.
Notes
11/23
Learning new poinsettia varieties can be fun, sometimes. Last year as a small group of trial plants, half of the Visions of Grandeur plants fell apart because we did not do enough height control. This year we did more growth regulator applications early and finished with a late Bonzi drench, which has produced nice strong plants on the upper end of our 15-17" target height. We probably should have made the drench a few days earlier. Pollen is showing on most of the plants now. However, in 5-7 days the bracts will be fuller and they will have more light pink color.
11/16
Last week's drench is just starting to effect elongation. The pattern of development in Visions of Grandeur is different from most other varieties. There are few transition bracts and the true bracts are more important. By next week there will be pollen on 1-2 cyathia, but the bract development probably needs 2 more weeks to develop a good appearance. We do not have much experience with this variety, but it probably will not elongate much more than about another 1/2 inch.
11/09
Elongation slowed slightly on this crop and the height is at 14 inches. We want to keep it tight now as it finishes, so a Bonzi drench at 0.5 ppm was applied today. We used 0.5 rather than 1 ppm for two reasons. Cyathia develop is much further along on this variety compared to others at this degree of color development, so internode elongation is almost complete. Also, from other Visions crops in the greenhouse we have found that it responds well to drench treatments.
11/02
With the recent warm weather, this crop grew almost 2 inches. Most of the plants are at visible bud and the first blush of color is starting to show. We want to control grow at the end of this crop and not let it stretch too much. We will probably drench next week.
10/26
In our test group of Visions of Grandeur last year, first color was later then other varieties and this crop is not showing color yet. We anticipate seeing visible bud next week. The plants look good and we will see what they do now.
10/19
The Cycocel spray last week had more effect than we expected. We will now let this crop go and see if a late drench is needed. First color has not started.
10/12
We want to keep this crop at less than 1.5 inches per week for about 3 weeks. Then we can apply a late drench. We are spraying Cycocel at 1,250 ppm and hope that provides some control along with the cooler temperatures.
10/05
We have elongation of these plants under control now. We will not spray again this week and will see where they are next week.
9/28
With the cooler weather predicted for this next week we applied the low rate spray of B-Nine/ Cycocel at 1,000 ppm each. The plants do not look like they need another spray this week, but we want to keep this variety in check.
9/21
Because of the vigor of this variety we sprayed it with the standard B-Nine/Cycocel (1,500 ppm/1,250 ppm). The next 2 weeks are important with this crop. If it gets well above the curve, we will be forced to use strong spray treatments in the middle of October.
9/14
Visions of Grandeur (Ecke 975) is a novelty with beautiful soft pink bracts and should be a strong favorite with consumers, especially in more upscale markets. It is very vigorous. We do not want to let it get soft, because the stems will lay down under the weight of the very large bracts. With the upscale market in mind, we are aiming for a little taller plant and we have started it a week later than most other varieties.
