Sirs,
In 2007 we had to throw out all of our Prestige. They did not have adequate height & did not color up. The only conclusion we could come up with was of heat delay. It was devastated for us because we have a small operation.
Now we are looking ahead & we know that we have to change our cultivar & we need some help. We was told that your new variety "Classic" would not be affected with heat delay & would be an excellant variety to change to. Could you please give us info on this new variety & can we order them for our stock plant production?
We sell to florists & we also produce a 3-4 foot tree (would Classic be suitable for this?) Advise us also on your new Early Prestige for these questions as well.
Thank you, Martha

I'm thinking about switching from Freedom to Classic for my poinsettia tree stand -- I need a variety with droopy bracts like Freedom, Prestige is too up-right. How about a good picture of Freedom showing its form? Thanks!

Prestige can be sensitive to heat delay and if there is only so much you can do to control your environment around the time of flower initiation heat delay can be difficult to avoid in which case variety selection and choosing a cultivar that doesn't heat delay is a reasonable solution. We should also talk about the size issue though. When plants don't size up we would need to look at other factors involved such as scheduling and growth regulator applications and cultural practices that would have inhibited are reduced the growth rate.

Classic would be an option if heat delay is a concern for you. It is a mid season family with more vigor than Prestige - but growth is easily controlled with culture and PGRs in smaller container sizes if necessary. Classic is an excellent choice for trees and will work really well for your 3-4’ trees. It has large show flat bracts and large cyathia giving it a traditional poinsettia look. The bracts are not as upright as Prestige and do cascade somewhat. Stem strength is comparable to Prestige. Colors available include Red, White, Pink, and Marble. The family is well matched in terms of timing and vigor so it works really well in combination product forms. Because it is a new introduction for 2008 cuttings will not be available for spring stock and only for summer (June 1st) production. We do have pictures of Classic available and will post them on the board as soon as possible.

Early Prestige would also be a good choice. The only difference between Early Prestige and Prestige would be timing – Early Prestige will finish with Freedom timing under normal conditions. Early Prestige also works well for your large trees. The only consideration with Early Prestige would be that it does initiate earlier than Prestige. In order to size the plant before flower initiation we would recommend planting Early Prestige two weeks earlier than Prestige or Classic. Early Prestige is available for spring stock production.