The cooling U.S. economy has one P.E.I. business turning down the heat.

Vanco Farms has turned its greenhouse down by 14 degrees to slow the growth of its tulips.

The owners are hoping to hold on to some of the flowers until Easter, when the markets might improve.

"We planted about 4.3 million tulip bulbs in the greenhouse. We hope to harvest 90 per cent of those with any luck," said Willem VanNieuwenhuyzen, who operates the tulip portion of the family farm in Mt. Albion.

Many of the tulips had been destined for the United States, but the Valentine's Day demand is softer than expected, he said.

So Vanco Farms — which recently enlarged its greenhouses, anticipating growing sales — has turned down the heat to buy itself some time to line up customers and better manage the harvest.

"We would be in here 18 hours just picking. Now we can do it in a normal eight-hour day," said Bas Arendse.

Some of the tulips are half the height they could be, he said.

About 500,000 tulips are currently being harvested for Valentine's Day and will be shipped throughout Atlantic Canada and the northeast U.S.