Found this in a few of my poinsettia plants. The soil granule piles are about the size of a quarter. The hole underneath is about the size of a coriander seed. Searching has only led me to gnat flies, but this is too big for them. Any guesses? Thanks in advance
p.s. if there are any poinsettia experts here, I really could use some help. I am a new grower and have a few thousand plants to care for but I feel like I’m failing. I’ve researched the hell out of this but I’m having trouble diagnosing everything. Owners have watched it for a long time and have some opinions, but they don’t really match the research I’m seeing. If anyone knows their stuff, please let me know, I would love a side chat.
by blackstar5676
2 Comments
Hello fellow poinsettia grower! Not sure about those odd piles in the soil, but I’d grab a handful of the soil right around the piles to satisfy my curiosity – the plants can take it.
Happy to chat with you about this crop. The greenhouse I work at grows 100s of thousands every year for the holidays.
If you’re on Facebook, Ball Horticulture runs “Greenhouse Tech Team” and another great group is “Greenhouse Grower Talk”. You can post your photos and questions there and get lots of great advice straight from the Ball reps and other growers. There’s been talk of some issues with poinsettias straight from suppliers this year, might be worth checking out.
You can also search “E-Gro Alert poinsettia” in google and it should pop up the Egro website with lots of great articles on poinsettia issues.
Lastly, I’ve had cockroaches do this (unfortunately) in some older greenhouses.