Thousands of colorful house plants went on sale Friday at the plant shop on Cal Poly campus.
The poinsettias, vivid flowering house plants that range from red to pink to white, are sold to the community after Cal Poly Horticulture and Crop Science students raise them in the school's greenhouses.
The school sells between 2,000 and 2,500 poinsettias each year.
The department gets baby poinsettia plants from Ethiopia and Mexico, which students learn how to grow and prepare for sale.
Horticulture student Matthew Martin told KSBY he has enjoyed being part of the program this year.
"I didn't get a chance to last year because of COVID, and I wasn't part of the actual sale my freshman year," Martin said. "So it's great to actually be able to grow the plant and say, 'Yeah, I started this. Here you go. Enjoy.'"
The plants vary in size from four-inch pots to 3 ft. tall poinsettias, and plants cost between $8 and $75.
This year's sale opened up on Dec. 3 at 11 a.m.
Sales are made at the Poly Plant Shop on campus off Via Carta Rd. The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The plants can be purchased between those times on Dec. 3rd and 4th and Dec. 9-11.
Drivers headed onto campus are asked to enter on Highland Dr. and turn left on Via Carta Rd. before heading to the top of the hill. Masks are required inside the plant shop.
Wreaths, centerpieces, succulents, ornaments and gifts are also available for sale.
