my poinsettias keep dying, they seemed to be ok till we turned the temp down in greenhouse, could it be that & the fact that this year the water is nearly freezing that the plants are rotting? I only water when they are really dry.
Also the poins loook really good this year till you pick them up & they fall apart, what causes them to be so brittle?

I've been having a fair bit of branch collapse this year, too. And not just on Freedoms (I expect at least some from them) -- Monet's been a problem this year. I think the very warm temps as the plants were branching made the branch angle weak. Last year it was much cooler and we saw very little collapsing. Wonder if starting PGRs right after pinch might not be a bad idea ...? And maybe Calcium sprays earlier. Also I grow one plant per 8" pot and I think I'll go to 3 next year -- a little competition within the pot couldn't hurt.

Thanks for the info.
It was the 6 inch with 1 plant per pot poins that seem to be more brittle than the others. I only used cycocell on our 4 inch pots & they seem stronger. Our 8 inch have 3 plants per pot & they seem not to bad , but still brittle. i will turn temp down earlier next year.
Anybody had the rotting problem at all?

Most likely you have a pyhium problem. You see that especially at this time with the cooler temps. I have some pyhium myself but I tightened up the interval of my drench and it seems to have helped. You need to drench monthly and rotate your fungicides or you will run into these problems at this time. Also I do think the warm fall had a hand in taller poinsettias this year. I hit my crop fairly hard with multiple growth regulars and still had tall poinsettias. I think by spacing them in a timely fashion, using growth regulators, and making sure you have an adequate supply of Calcium to the plants will make a difference. Also we either tie or cage all of our plants just as an insurance.

Thankyou for the info.
I have been drenching the poins with banrot from end of august onwards every 2 weeks.
I have never used calcium on the poins, what does that do (sorry first time as a grower , growing poins)
There seems to be aleast 2 or 3 plants showing signs of pythium every day, then 3 days or so later there dead.
Is there any MIRACLE CURE out there? ( besides throwing away my whole crop)

animog69, If you will look back on past posts starting in October you will find a lot of information on various root rots and what many growers use to supress and kill the fungus. Some chemicals for root rot (Pythium and Phytophtora mostly) only supress the disease where as other will kill it off where you can attempt to grow new roots and save the crop. This late in the cycle it's near impossible to turn the crop around if it has root rot present. I personally quit using Banrot years ago as the active ingredient for pythium and phytophtora is not strong enough at the recommended rates to do much good. Below is a picture I took a few years ago showing a healthy root system and one with root rot.....Michael Pawelek Pecan Hill Nursery

Below is a picture of a poinsettia that had root rot that was eliminated and then new roots grown before the crop was finished. I do not think this can be done after late October and still have a healthy crop by December the 1st.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Michael Pawelek,

Thanks Michael
What do you use?

For root rots alone a strong drench of Truban will do the trick. If you want to make your own home brew Banrot for a broad spectrum control of fungi you can mix Truban with Cleary's 3336 and just use more Truban in the mix for more killing power on the root rots than the Banrot contains....Michael Pawelek

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Michael Pawelek,

A big problem is your water temperature. With 40 F water, it will take about 6-8 hours for the pot to warm back up to greenhouse temperatures. Root rot loves those conditions. Some cultivars seem more susceptible to root rot than others. We don't drench and we see maybe one or two pots rotting . We did quit growing Success because we had major problems with root rot on it.