Fall 2009

[ BACK ]

Poinsettias Help Hort Club Bloom

Evan Schnabel, a junior in horticulture, is part of a team that coordinates the care of more than 1,000 poinsettias for the Horticulture Club's annual holiday plant sale.

If you want to grow poinsettias by the hundreds, Evan Schnabel can give you some tips.

Schnabel, a junior in horticulture, managed more than 700 poinsettias as part of a Science With Practice research project in 2008. Working with Richard Gladon, associate professor of horticulture, he evaluated plant size, blooming times and flower numbers for 29 varieties.

"We also evaluated the sturdiness of the plants," Schnabel says. "You don't want branches to break off when you're shipping plants to retail stores."

This fall he and Ben Matthews, a senior in horticulture, grew and monitored more than 1,100 poinsettias for the Horticulture Club's annual winter sale.

Coordinating the care of the poinsettias and organizing the winter sales is almost a full-time job. In July, Schnabel took time off from his summer job at a nursery near Adel to return to campus to plant 1,111 poinsettia cuttings. As soon as the fall semester began he and Matthews began coordinating schedules to oversee the greenhouse full of poinsettias.

Timing is critical, Schnabel says, because the plants need to bloom during the winter holiday season when consumers are interested in poinsettias. Along with caring for the plants the team also organized volunteers to staff the four-day sale held in early December.

The plants are sold in high-traffic buildings across campus. Last year the club made $3,400 from its poinsettia sales. Those profits, along with the Veishea spring plant sale profits, are used to fund trips, competitions, supplies and industry tours for the club.

"We also began planning next year's poinsettia project during the fall semester," Schnabel says. "We have to evaluate which varieties were popular, which ones grew well in the greenhouse and how many plants we can handle."

Students are required to take Gladon's greenhouse production and management class to manage the club's plants. Although working in a greenhouse full of poinsettias may sound pleasant, especially in the winter, Schnabel says it's a lot of work.

"It takes a lot of time. Plants don't grow overnight. There are a lot of tasks, such as watering and pruning," Schnabel says.

It's important for horticulture students to join the club, especially if they plan to go into greenhouse management or sales, Schnabel says. His experiences have helped him focus on greenhouse management, which is what he hopes to pursue after he graduates.

Schnabel is from Brookings, S.D. and visited Iowa State on the recommendation of a friend from church. Besides being active in his church, Schnabel is a member of Pi Alpha Xi, the Honor Society for horticulture. Only the top students in the junior and senior classes with a demonstrated interest in horticulture are invited to join.

STORIES online extra:

Learn Schnabel's tips for poinsettia care