A Gardener Blushes in December

One of the blooming businesses during the Yuletide season is that of selling poinsettias. Aside from tinsel, paper, and plastic decorations, people can't seem to get enough of this foliage that turns the garden crimson during the months of October to December.

However, not too many people are very keen on propagating poinsettias, as a grower must maintain the health of the mother plant for the entire year while the business only lasts for about three months. Nevertheless, Theresa "Tess" Rio-Taleon of The Flower Place in Bacolod City painstakingly pursued the propagation of this festive plant and has continued to reap good business from it.

This year, Tess joined the Garden Show sponsored by the Negros Occidental Orchid Society last October and has already experienced how fast moving poinsettias are even that early. And the demand continues as the month of December approaches.

Tess is not very interested in fashion trends but she relates the business of flowers to fashion. "We have programmed our garden in such a way that when people come here they see something new," she says, as she explains why they have concentrated on poinsettias for the last quarter of the year. This year, Tess has prepared about 3,000 pots of poinsettias, which by the way has made her farm teem with giant patches of red from afar, and a big number of them have already been sold out. Although there is still a greater demand, her green houses could not keep up with accommodating these plants for the season. That's why she intends to add another green house to have room for the demand. Her clients are mostly in Bacolod City, in neighboring towns, and in Iloilo. They also ship a small number of potted plants to Cebu, but they have problems with handling. "Poinsettia leaves are very sensitive, they get easily folded and the creases are very obvious because they turn brown," she laments.

Propagating poinsettias are relatively easy, as they come from cuttings and only take about four months until the leaves mature to their rich colors. The propagation stage lasts for about three weeks until the cuttings develop roots. The rooted cuttings are then re-planted into bigger pots for the vegetative stage, which takes about five weeks. The covering stage lasts about eight weeks until the colors reach the desired tint. In Tess' green house, the roofing is made of UV-treated plastic on top but it has a second layer of black plastic installed across mid-way to the ground. This black plastic is used to cover the rows of potted poinsettias to ensure that the plants only get the enough amount of sunlight. "These plants are photo-periodic because their flowers respond to the length of time that they are exposed to natural light. They need 14 hours of darkening and only eight hours of daylight each day," Tess explains. If poinsettias are placed at the mercy of natural light, the foliage do not change color in time for the holidays. "The plants will probably mature in February if darkness is not induced. We just sort of simulate nighttime to get the best results," Tess adds. For those who have potted poinsettias at home, she advises owners to just cover the plant from 5 o'clock in the afternoon to 7 o'clock in the morning the next day with a cardboard box. Tess also shares that poinsettias best thrive in soil-less mixture, that's why she uses only coco quire dust and sand for her potting material.

Although there are many varieties of poinsettias available, Tess only propagates the red variety and some of the light yellow ones. "There are still far more beautiful poinsettias but they only develop their colors if they are grown in highland areas," she reveals.

The Flower Place is located at the Circumferential Road, Taculing, Bacolod City. They have countless of varieties of ornamental and flowering plants for every plant lover's desire available all year round. They also cater to the needs of landscapers. However, Tess continues to produce flowers that are distinctly needed for specific seasons or events of the year, such as Valentine's, summertime, All Souls Day, and Christmas.

But her main goal is to be able to market rooted cuttings all over the country, especially the mandevilla plant. "Some people would rather buy the mother plant and propagate their own plants from this only one. But it takes time to do that, as well as it is very expensive and difficult to ship big mature plants to other places," Tess says. With these small plants, other ornamental plant growers may save themselves the waiting time and the necessary preparations needed for propagation. She also acknowledges that some people are wary about buying rooted cuttings for they are not sure whether they are getting the real thing. That's why Tess advises that buyers should only source out their plants from reputable growers, not from fly-by-night vendors.

Tess says that they can efficiently propagate plants because they have a misting room where the plants stay for a certain number of weeks, depending on the plant variety, until the plants grow roots and are ready to be re-planted. The misting room is watered by an electric-driven deep well pump and is timed by a special timer designed by her engineer-husband, Albert. Her husband is very supportive of all her endeavors, and although she handles the propagating and management of their farm, Albert takes care of the technical side of the operations, including infrastructure.

With her dedication and the support of her husband, it is not surprising that Tess has stayed in this business for almost 10 years now. And it will not also be a surprise when the world of flowers will see The Flower Place bloom even more in the years to come.