A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 21,2002
Poinsettia Production Requires Precise Attention
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
They are probably somewhere in
your home right now. Perhaps
sitting on a side table, perched in
the living room, or lending their
vibrant hue to the window above
the kitchen sink.
For years now, the poinsettia
has been synonymous with
Christmas, a decoration as much
a part of holiday finery as holly
boughs or evergreen trees.
At Frysville Farm, the Fry
family knows firsthand the work
that goes into producing the viv
idly colored plants that custom
ers cart away.
The family began to grow
poinsettias in 1972, probably
about 5,000 a year in those early
years, estimates Anthony Fry,
son of founders Morton and
Beckie Fry. Fry, along with
brothers Vincent and M. Simon,
work full-time on the operation,
with occasional help from their
parents, spouses, and their sister
Victoria.
More recently, the business has
expanded to include more than
Culturing and training the tall poinsettia
trees begins in February.
These unrooted cuttings, just taken
from the stock plant, will spend three
weeks in misting beds as they grow
roots.
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80,000 plants, most from their
own stock, he said. Hybrids are
brought in from California or
Central America to propagate
from; however, 95 percent is
propagated on the home farm.
The poinsettia is of the Eu
phorbia family, which means that
the vibrant colors of the plant,
commonly mistaken for petals,
are actually modified leaves.
The “flower” is actually a
modified leaf that has changed
from green to a color, said Fry.
The tiny petalless flower the
cyanthia is generally yellow in
poinsettias.
The program starts the first
week of April, when the 4,000
stock plants arrive. The small
rooted cuttings are transplanted
into one-gallon pots and will
grow in the greenhouses until
after July 4, when they have
reached bushel-basket size.
At this time, the top few inches
of the plant are cut off, yielding
approximately 20 tender green
shoots per plant.
These unrooted cuttings, sus-
(Turn to Page A 23)
Anthony Fry, part of the family-owned operation Frysville Farms, shows some of the
plants that are for sale this season.
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