Yes, quality poinsettias can be produced without growth regulator with the advent of the naturally short internode plant. When I first started growing them nearly twenty years ago, it was almost a necessity, at least in my latitude, to use them.......but not anymore. The most popular retail poinsettia has been the Freedom series (unless you are a Southern grower) and it's naturally short. In fact I have used lights to retard the bloom so it can size up larger. You can also use temperature inversion to control height, also know as negative diff.

It would help me to help you if you could give me some clue to your latitude or general geographic area.

I am trying 'prestige red' and 'snow cap'. I live in Texas, but latitude shouldn't matter becasue I am growing these indoors, in a storage space I converted into a growing area. Under artificial lights I can give the plants as long and short of days as I want. I guess night time temps will be a little higher than ideal because I like the house warmer than 60-65. Actually, the lights make the room warmer than the rest of the house. But I think making the nights longer might compensate.

Actually I found a source for both Cycocel and Bonzi, but both are really expensive and the cost is not justified in light of the fact that this is just an experiment. I found something called Florel that has etephon as an active ingredient for pretty cheap so I'll try that. Maybe you can help with a few other things...?

(1) the commercial imidacloprid pesticides (merit and marathon) are also super expensive. Retail I can get a product called Bayer. But it also contains relatively little imidacloprid another systemic pesticide and fertilizer which I don't want. Any suggestions (cheap) to prevent pests?

(2) If I pinch the plants after a few weeks can I grow those cuttings into decent plants before The first week in December?

(3) And finally, how to these things hold up in shipping?

Bayer makes several different formulas, none of which are licensed to use indoors. There is a Rose & Flower Spray, a Tree & Shrub liquid systemic, and I think a Rose combo which sounds like what you are describing. They are good products - I've used them outdoors, but I will not use them in my home for safety reasons.

After years of battling whiteflies under growlights (I grow hibiscus, not poinsettias), I finally broke down and bought a jug of Marathon granules. They are safe to use indoors - we use them for fungus gnats at the interiorscaping company where I work. You can get a 4 or 5 pound jug for about $100 at a couple of places online - search for Marathon II granules. For the amount of pesticide you get, I think it's cheaper than retail. The granules are easy to apply - no messy spray or drench, and they last for a year. It was definitely worth it for me.

Willspray, I've grown snow cap but not prestige. I hope you have a lot of bench space, because if these are in six inch pots then you should ultimately give them about an 18 inch square to finish off. Ditto on Marathon if you can get it legally. It is not a restricted use pesticide, but most distributors will only sell it to commercial growers.

The thing with poinsettias is that temperature and length of day/night and intensity of light are all inter-related in when they bloom and how they finish off. Warm nights are just fine to keep them short if you can pull the day temps down a bit. The hot days/cool nights produce a taller plant. The cooler days, warmer nights produce a taller plant with all other variables equal. Inadequate spaced plants make them stretch. Also when you choose to initiate the bloom cycle (start long nights) will impact the height of the finished plant. Holding the bloom off a bit past natural long nights allow the plants to get larger (not just taller) and starting long nights sooner than normal will make them go into bloom mode and bring a shorter plant, but also can also make them come on too early. You shall recieve cultural instructions with your liners and it'll give you a good idea of scheduling. That's a really important aspect of growing a points crop. The new varieties are almost no brainers. LOL. You have to work at messing them up.

The important thing is to give them good aeration to prevent powdery mildew, adequate fertiliser with molybdenum if possible, and for inside growing I am not sure if you need nitrate versus ammoniacal nitrogen .......I've only done them in g'houses. Do watch your watering. They'll get root rot complexes and fungus gnats in a heartbeat if you keep the soil too constantly wet. I have seen the cuttings come with whitefly eggs and instars attached (although this is rare with the advent of marathon) so be on the lookout for them. They love poinsettias almost as much as hibiscus. Make sure your lighting is spot on. I have a light system for photoperiodic control and only ten foot candles is sufficient to affect them or mums. Get a meter and measure the foot candles at all points on your benches if you can. You would be amazed at the variances at different places under lights. Good luck.

For aphids and whiteflies the biological fungicide Mycotrol or Botanigard (www.bioworks.com) have been very successful. I have personally used it on aphids and it was very effective. I would suggest the Mycotrol as it is softer on the plant than the Botanigard due to the inert oil carrier (veg. oil in the Mycotrol, petroleum in the Botanigard).
-Doug