Our practice for years has been to plant the poinsettias put them on the bench pot to pot, pinch when ready, let the plants flush out a bit then give them their final spacing. Can Early Prestige be planted and given its final spacing at time of planting. Or will the plant tend to go outward instead of upward because there is nothing around it to force it upward.

There are many reasons why it's a good idea to wait to go to final spacing. Competition for light between neighboring plants is the driving force in stem elongation and tends to encourage strong v-shaped architecture that is more resistant to stem breakage. While Prestige Early Red is not as susceptible to horizontal growth it can be a concern with all varieties when plants are spaced too early.

Tighter spacing during the vegetative phase and a small percentage of leaf overlap also creates a microclimate around the plants where humidity levels are higher and airflow is reduced. In a hot summer greenhouse at final spacing you would likely notice things like leaf scarring and signs of environmental stresses just because there is more airflow around the plants and the plants will be drying out much faster.

Beside having more vertical laterals on pinched Poinsettias I like to keep my young plants initially spaced close together as it is a huge labor and time saving device. If you hand water, apply granular insecticides, drench or spray having the containers all on one side of the bench saves a tremendous amount of time. You will also save money by using much less insecticide and fungicide sprays since the volume to cover closer spaced plants is sometimes 1/2 the gallonage. All the spraying with huge spaces between the plants costs money and time initially. I space as the crop matures to allow sunlight to reach all the foliage and to increase air movement between plants as they expand.
Michael Pawelek
Pecan Hill Nursery
Pecan Hill Nursery