{"id":105572,"date":"2025-12-01T14:03:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T14:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=105572"},"modified":"2026-02-10T22:30:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T22:30:45","slug":"poinsettias-in-bloom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/poinsettias-in-bloom\/","title":{"rendered":"Poinsettias in bloom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 December 1, 2025 \u2013 The poinsettia\u2019s vibrant color and distinctive blooms make it one of the most iconic ornamental plants in the United States. According to available data, more than 70 million poinsettias are sold nationwide each year, contributing $250 million to the national economy. At the 溏心vlog免费B站, students are learning to grow this important crop\u2014one that is surprisingly complex to manage\u2014in Professor Camilo Villouta\u2019s<\/a> “Horticultural Plant Production\u201d course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Built around managing a real crop in real time, the course responds to industry demands. \u201cWe keep hearing from growers that they need students who can walk into a greenhouse or nursery knowing how production works with schedules, environmental control, crop quality, and timelines, not just theory from a textbook,\u201d says Villouta, who is an assistant professor of controlled environment agriculture in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Department of Plant Sciences and Entomology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Camilo Villouta teaches \u201cHorticultural Plant Production\u201d and says the course teaches important lessons about crop management, while helping to train the future generation of plant growers. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Poinsettias are an ideal teaching crop because of their fixed holiday production schedule. \u201cThey need to look perfect in a narrow window,\u201d Villouta says, which helps students understand real-world production pressures. Students learn to manipulate light, temperature, nutrition, and pinching techniques to create the desired shape. Weekly recordkeeping on plant height, pH, and electrical conductivity mirrors industry standards, and students synthesize their observations into detailed crop management reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents have to bring together physiology, nutrition, pest management, ecophysiology, and basic economics to make decisions,\u201d Villouta says. \u201cAll of that complexity translates into a lot of learning value for them.\u201d The 溏心vlog免费B站 greenhouse, located just steps from their classroom, is central to the \u201clearn by doing\u201d experience. \u201cThe greenhouse essentially functions as our lab,\u201d Villouta explains. \u201cStudents can walk out, look at their plants, and apply what we just discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The poinsettia\u2019s vibrant color and distinctive blooms make it one of the most iconic ornamental plants in the United States; managing its light, temperature, nutrition, and timing gives students essential skills for careers in nurseries and controlled-environment agriculture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Plant production is \u201cboth a science and a craft,\u201d Villouta adds, one that requires daily attention, observation, and informed decision-making. Even crop problems are treated as research opportunities as students learn to diagnose issues and adjust their strategies. \u201cWhen something goes wrong\u2014maybe plants are stretching or color isn\u2019t quite right\u2014they now have tools to troubleshoot: adjust nitrogen, rethink temperature, look at light levels,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re building the ability to solve real-world problems in a greenhouse or nursery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching students gain confidence is the most rewarding part of teaching the course. \u201cBy the end, they\u2019re not just guessing\u2014they have informed opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poinsettias are the focus, but the lessons are translatable. The course is part of a broader effort to connect students with meaningful careers. Real-world relevance is woven throughout the semester as guest speakers share firsthand experience from commercial operations and field trips expose students to greenhouse production in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just an academic exercise,\u201d Villouta says. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole industry that needs people who can grow the food we eat and the ornamental plants that make our homes and public spaces beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He encourages more students\u2014even those who don\u2019t see themselves as \u201cplant people\u201d\u2014to take the course and experience the challenge of managing a living crop. \u201cIt changes the way you look at a poinsettia on a shelf or a head of lettuce in a store when you understand all the logistics, decisions, and care that go into producing it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Villouta also credits the success of the course to the people around him. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to our greenhouse staff and local growers,\u201d he adds. \u201cTheir support and input are key to making this course practical and grounded in reality. The class works because it\u2019s connected to a real community of people who care about plants and about training the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow @uri.plantsciences on Instagram for updates from the department\u2014 poinsettia -related and beyond!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was written by Anna Gray in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 December 1, 2025 \u2013 The poinsettia\u2019s vibrant color and distinctive blooms make it one of the most iconic ornamental plants in the United States. According to available data, more than 70 million poinsettias are sold nationwide each year, contributing $250 million to the national economy. At the 溏心vlog免费B站, students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":105573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,1906,1916,1915],"class_list":["post-105572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-the-environment-and-life-sciences","tag-experiential-learning","tag-partner-produced","tag-undergraduate"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105572"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105610,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105572\/revisions\/105610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}