Poinsettia Update: Nip and tuck, aka pinching.

Over the past week, we have pinched most of the poinsettias.  Pinching is the practice of removing the tip of the plant to encourage side branching.  Side branching occurs at the node of the the stem.  The node is the location where a leaf is attached to the stem.

Our goal is to have 5-7 side branches per plant.  Each side branch will develop a flower.  Here are a couple pictures of the poinsettias after tip removal.  Review last blog for comparison.  The pinched poinsettias no longer look as lush as the previous non pinched version, but they will make a much showier plant.