i grow points real close. i'm finding some of my stems are soft at the base and than the plant collapses. any ideas? thanks

I see this same problem on Whitestar. I also see it on Maren. I always attributed it to the fact they are such sturdy, strong, aggressive growers. I think sometimes the weight of the flower and branch just cracks the base of the branch.

I'm going to keep tabs on this to see what Ecke thinks. If there is a way to avoid it, I'd like to do something about it.

My experience is that the closer together you grow Poinsettias in the last half of the growing cycle the shorter you have to keep them in order to keep down stem breakage.....Michael Pawelek

themick1st - The fact that you mention that the stems are soft at the base makes us think you might be dealing with more than just stem breakage. If stem breakage where the issue you would see plants falling apart and stems breaking but when you inspect the tissue it will appear healthy otherwise.

When you look at affected plants do you see necrosis or lesions on the stem that may be black or brown? How do the roots look? Please let us know as we think you might be dealing with a pathogen such as pythium or phytophthera. Thanks!