| UMC Horticulture
majors producing this year's poinsettia crop include (from
left): Rachel Sundbom, Jody Page, Heather Greicar, Christina Grove,
Joy Carlson-Dale, Julie Gronfeld, Matt Fredrickson, Derek Dehn, Mary
Wingert, Luke Shields, Jon Ackerman, and Bill Wandrie.
Click photo for larger version. |
- Posted 12/05/2000
Contact: Andrew Svec, 218-281-8435
UMC Students Produce Poinsettia Crop
Christmas began in September for members of UMC’s “Commercial Floriculture Crops” class at the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC).
The class began working with their annual poinsettia crop at the beginning of fall semester. Rooted cuttings from a specialized propagator arrived in early August and were potted the first week of classes by the students.
In October the students started the process of getting the plants to bloom in time for the Christmas holiday season. Students work in teams of two to cover the plants at 4 p.m. and uncover them at 8 a.m. each day, including weekends.
Poinsettias form their colored “flowers” only if the length of days and nights are carefully regulated, according to Roger Wager, associate professor of horticulture at UMC and instructor for the class. By mid-December the poinsettias are ready for sale.
“The poinsettia really doesn’t have a bloom like most flowers. Instead, the colorful red, pink, or white petals are modified leaves known as bracts. The real blooms are those small yellowish clusters in the center,” says Wagner.
UMC’s horticulture program offers the commercial floriculture class in order to acquaint students with producing plants for a specific date. This is a very necessary skill for employment in a greenhouse or garden center operation. For seasonal plants such as poinsettias, timing is extremely important.
As students in the class think about timing, they realize that it is time to think ahead to spring’s Easter season. While the poinsettias are still in the greenhouse, the students will begin the process of forcing the bulbs that will become Easter lilies. During the same period, the students grow potted mums, cineraria, calceolaria, and a variety of cut flowers.
Although Wagner is the instructor, this class really proceeds in the hands of the students. Wagner makes suggestions on what to do, but the doing is entirely the responsibility of the class. As instructor, he often lets problems develop to see how the students will solve them—something they’d have to do in an employment situation.
The class demands hard work, dedication, and a strong team effort to grow the best poinsettias.
Students enrolled in the class include Jon Ackerman of Cosmos, MN; Joy Carlson-Dale of Fertile, MN; Derek Dehn of South St. Paul, MN; Matthew Fredrickson of Mondovi, WI; Heather Greicar, of Pisek, N.D; Julie Gronfeld of Johnson, MN; Christina Grove of Crookston; Jody Page of Pine Island, MN; Luke Shields of Park Rapids, MN; Rachel Sundbom of Clearbrook, MN; Bill Wandrie of Crookston; and Mary Wingert of Dover, MN. All students are majors in Plant Industries Management-Horticulture at UMC.
For more information on UMC’s horticulture program, contact the Horticulture Department at 218-281-8117, or check out the Hort Department's website at http://www.umcrookston.edu/academics/Hort/index.htm.