End of summer just another transition in greenhouse business

As the last warming rays of the summer sun fade away into the crisp days of autumn, most people are putting their gardens to bed for another year.
But not Donna Lowey.
For Loweys’ Market Garden and Greenhouse, the end of summer merely means it’s time to get ready for the next season.
In addition to outdoor and greenhouse vegetables, Loweys’ has a year-round operation on their farm on Colonization Road just west of the Fort Frances town limits.
That means there’s no “slow” period throughout their calendar year.
Lowey admitted this summer was a poor one for all but cool-weather vegetables, but that certainly won’t change her plans for the upcoming winter. In fact, things are just getting started.
In two of her greenhouses are row upon row of green plants that have a vaguely familiar look. They just look out of season.
They are, in fact, poinsettias—those traditional Christmas decorations that are found in almost every household during the holiday season.
These ones are green—for now. But with the days getting shorter and the nights growing longer, they gradually will begin the transformation from ordinary green to extraordinary shades of white, red, and pink.
“They will start to turn colours around the second week of November,” Lowey predicted.
Even now, the stems on some of the upper leaves are hinting at the hues to come in the next few weeks.
The key, said Lowey, is the amount of daylight they receive.
In order to bring about the annual transformation, the poinsettias must be treated to a specific daily ritual of light and darkness. For most people trying this at home, it means faithfully monitoring the amount of light exposure they receive.
That means eliminating all sources of stray light during the dark period which, in the home, can be quite difficult.
Lowey, however, does not have that problem since these plants are in a greenhouse far enough from the house and street lights that she can just let nature take its course.
The lengthening nights over the next few weeks will trigger the transformation right on schedule.
By the time the Christmas Market opens at the farmers’ market site on McIrvine Road in early December here, they should be fully decked out in their winter colours—and ready for the dining room table to accent that turkey dinner.