People are getting ready for Christmas earlier and earlier each year Production and marketing companies are ready to launch their plants onto the market. The solar greenhouses in Almeria, the largest poinsettia-producing area in Spain, are dyed red, the traditional color of poinsettias. However, the number of consumers choosing pink, glitter, and tricolor poinsettias has grown.
Worldwide, 200 million poinsettias are produced each year with a commercial value of 1,000 million euros. Europe produces 95 million of these plants, 10 million of which come from the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands. In Spain, Almeria is the main producer, followed by the Valencian Community, Catalonia, and Galicia.
Almeria heads this ranking with 3 million poinsettias, i.e. 33% of Spain's production, which is practically all destined for the national market. "This plant doesn't fare well when transported; except when it's in very small formats. The only country that exports it is the Netherlands to the United Kingdom," stated Francisco Rubio, head of Plantaespaña, the Ornamental section of COEXPHAL (Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers' Organizations in Almeria), which brings together 40 companies covering 300 hectares (160 under greenhouse and 140 outdoors) which last season had a turnover of almost 60 million euros.
Almería has the ideal weather conditions and number of daylight hours to grow this crop. The process begins in August with the sowing of the cuttings and the appropriate treatment so that they develop correctly until they obtain their characteristic color at this time of the year. The production challenge is to control the consequences of heat stress on the poinsettia. The high temperatures in greenhouses cause the plants to suffer affecting their tissue and causing root damage, resulting in leaf deformation, sprouting problems, tender growth, weak structure, loss of phytoplasma, and delayed flowering.
Specialists also highlighted the importance of carrying out marketing and promotion campaigns to capture the attention of new groups of buyers and younger generations.
For more information:
COEXPHAL
www.coexphal.es