With Christmas coming up, it's time to begin decorating — and there's no better place to start than at the Spriet Family Greenhouse (also known as N-building).

The greenhouse is alive with deep red, creamy white and soft pink poinsettias. The plants are for sale every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until December 15. Plants will also be sold outside the bookstore in F hallway.

The cost is $10 (including tax) for a 6" potted poinsettia, or $25 for three. A large, decorated poinsettia planter costs $30. Students also create custom baskets. The program will accept cash or cheques. "All proceeds support student learning at Fanshawe," said Michael Drohan, a horticulture student.

The plants represent over four months of hard work by Fanshawe's second-year horticulture technician students. "It's an interesting student project," said Jack Parker, a professor in the horticulture program. After planting poinsettia cuttings on August 1, summer students tend to the plants until September, when the fall semester students take over.

The plants are housed in the campus greenhouse, where they are tended to carefully. The horticulture program made a commitment to keep the plants pesticidefree, and used natural methods — such as predator bugs like swirski mites — to keep hungry or diseasebearing pests at bay.

The plants also need special care due to the amount of sunlight they need to grow. Blackout curtains are used from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. to create inductive cycles to make the plants grow. This lasts for 60 days. Once regular day cycles are introduced, the plants stop growing, explained Charlie Briggs, a horticulture technician student.

For more information about the sale, call 519-452-4430 ext. 4859, or email professor Parker: jparker@fanshawec.ca.