Analysis: Behind the vintage Christmas plant decorating your home is a high‑tech nursery business operating on thin margins
The red bracts and green foliage of the poinsettia may be a seasonal icon, but behind every flawless display is high‑tech glasshouse production, round‑the‑clock attention and thin margins. Today, only four Irish nurseries produce poinsettias (down from seven a decade ago), growing over 500,000 plants on about 18 hectares of climate‑controlled glasshouses. Here’s how they do it — and why growers must get everything right to make a living.
Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) originate in Mexico and Central America, where warm, sheltered winters favour the development of their showy coloured bracts. Over the last century European breeders have turned the wild plant into the uniform, robust varieties we buy. While red remains dominant in Ireland, growers in continental Europe sell more novelty colours such as pink, white and speckled types.
It’s a different market on the continent: "We sell 90–95% red locally, but on the continent it’s closer to 50/50," says Paddy O’Dwyer, Grower Manager at the Uniplumo nursery in North Dublin. Good varieties combine dark green foliage, pointed bracts, regular branching and a neat V‑shape — traits breeders aim for to help growers and shoppers alike. O’Dwyer says on variety selection: "our range is a bit like potatoes, with early, main and late selection spreading out the flowering season. Our first variety to colour up is called Christmas eve and Christmas time is the last".
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Ray D'Arcy Show, Paddy O'Dwyer celebrates poinsettias, the festive plant
Ireland’s four poinsettia growers supply supermarkets and large DIY chains, so meeting retailer specifications for size, bract count and presentation is critical. That matters because production costs have jumped: Teagasc’s Horticulture Input Cost report shows input costs for amenity horticulture rose roughly 37% in the past five years while consumer prices have increased only modestly. "With such high input costs — heating, labour and crop protection — growers must sell every plant," says Teagasc Head of Horticulture Michael Gaffney.
Poinsettias are extremely light‑sensitive: long, uninterrupted nights trigger flowering, so crops must be protected from light pollution. Commercial nurseries use blackout screens to create true night; small amounts of light can prevent or delay flowering, ruining uniformity.
Temperature control is equally critical. "They need warmth — no less than about 16 °C," says Nicholas Roche, production manager at Springs Nurseries in Cork. "From the moment young plugs arrive in late June, they must be kept warm and free from cold drafts. Good roots are essential — I call them 'good feet.’"
Read more: The 12 plants of Christmas
Modern glasshouses use automated fertigation, thermal screens and precision sensors. Heating is typically supplied by biomass boilers burning locally sourced wood chip or pellets; rainwater harvesting and nutrient recirculation are routine. Growers are also reducing peat in potting mixes, and several now produce significant volumes in peat‑free media. Weekly checks of plant height and development keep crops on target for retailer deadlines.
Young plants in plugs arrive in July. They are potted and kept tightly together to maximise space, then pinched to promote branching — the side shoots that later form the coloured bracts. Plants are progressively spaced by machine or hand to ensure even light and compact growth, essential for retail presentation and efficient packing.
Water management is vital, pots must remain moist but not waterlogged to avoid root rot and excessive stretch. Benches on rails allow efficient movement through the greenhouse and often recirculate nutrient solution back to a central sump for reuse after treatment — a practical sustainability measure.
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From RTÉ News in 2014, nurseries are trying to keep up with Christmas demand for poinsettias
Pests, biosecurity and biological control keep growers busy. They rely heavily on biological controls. "We release packs of predators every two weeks through the season," says Andrea McMahon from Kilmoon Cross Nurseries. "We check crops multiple times a day — irrigation, nutrition, pests and disease — to meet our quality benchmarks." Ireland’s island status helps, tobacco whitefly, a major poinsettia pest, is absent here, and strict phytosanitary checks help keep it that way.
The human side growing poinsettias is labour‑intensive and exacting. "This crop can kick you right up the backside if you’re not prepared," says Nicholas Roche. "From rooting to pinching to spacing and late‑autumn temperature control, there’s always something to stress about. But when you finish and see a blanket of red across the benches — everyone says ‘wow’."
Poinsettias are a seasonal crop that demand year‑round technology and vigilance. For the Irish nurseries producing at scale, success combines horticultural skill, modern greenhouse technology and tight commercial discipline — and delivers one of horticulture’s most spectacular seasonal displays.
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Dónall Flanagan is a Nursery Stock/ Ornamentals Specialised Advisor in the Horticulture Development Department at Teagasc.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
