376 Relationship of Bract Boron Content and Boron Application to Bracts Necrosis of Poinsettia

One factor in the development of poinsettia ( Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzch) bract necrosis is plant nutrition. Twenty poinsettia cultivars were grown as 15-cm single-pinched plants in Metro mix 510 with standard commercial practices for irrigating, fertilizing, and pest control. Seventy days after initial anthesis, plants were harvested and the number of necrotic and healthy bracts recorded. Mineral nutrients in bract margins were determined. The only nutrient that had a significant relationship to incidence of bract necrosis across the 20 cultivars was bract B content ( R 2 =49.5%, P < 0.001). This suggests that cultivars with lower bract B content are more susceptible to bract necrosis. Using `Supjibi' plants grown in the Metro mix 510, we applied topical sprays of B (0, 4, or 8 m m ) weekly during bract development or once at initial anthesis (8 m m ). Also a weekly drench treatment of B (10 m m ) was applied initially at bract color change and continued for 2 more weeks. By 42 days after initial anthesis, all B treatments averaged together reduced incidence of bract necrosis from 33.1% for controls to 10% for plant receiving B treatment. The B drench treatment resulted in leaf scorching and there was some leaf tipburn with the 4 and 8 m m B weekly sprays. The single spray (8 m m B) treatment at initial anthesis caused no injury. Although B sprays are not a replacement for Ca sprays as a control for bract necrosis, the results suggest a role for B in the etiology of bract necrosis.