TECH ON DEMAND brought to you by GrowerTalks

Solving Top Tech Challenges for Garden Centers with BloomSuite

This episode, host Bill Calkins is joined by two guests representing a company called Brands in Blooms and a solution they’re bringing to garden center retailers—BloomSuite. It’s a click-to-edit website platform built specifically for garden centers, but that’s far from the full story as you’ll hear. BloomSuite also offers an e-commerce component connecting your store to nursery fulfillment partners that ship plants directly to your customers. And if your marketing messages, social media and CRM are disconnected and operating in isolation, BloomSuite ALSO offers a CRM + marketing dashboard to tie it all together with pre-built customer personas, automated content generators, calendars for planning, the ability to send targeted emails and texts, as well as full Meta connectivity to upload your social media to Instagram and Facebook.

Brands in Blooms co-founders Jeff O’Brien and Jon Morrison explain what BloomSuite is all about and why the company is laser-focused on solutions for garden centers. Bill, Jeff and Jon also discuss the importance of having a website you’re proud of, why collecting data is only as good as your plan to use it, the high cost (and confusion) of stacking multiple platforms, how e-commerce opens you up to a new customer base and how advanced tech could possibly allow us to be more human in the near future.

As a listener of this podcast, you’re encouraged schedule a free website audit with the BloomSuite team as a way to learn how these cutting-edge but simple-to-use tools can take your business to the next level. Here’s how: https://brandsinblooms.com/pages/schedule

 

More Resources:

Brands In Blooms: https://brandsinblooms.com/

BloomSuite: https://brandsinblooms.com/pages/bloomsuite

Next-Gen Consumer Insights Masterclass: https://brandsinblooms.com/pages/course

Artificial Intelligence in the Green Industry (Part 2) with Kerrie & Sam from Epicor

In this episode of Tech On Demand, host Bill Calkins is joined by two experts from Epicor—a software company delivering comprehensive ERP solutions, as well as CRM tools and a range of supply chain management systems. Epicor truly understands the green industry and partners with garden centers and nurseries to customize business tools.

Kerrie Jordan, Epicor’s chief marketing officer and Sam Kirkland, a national business development strategist are on the podcast to talk A.I. and ways to take the data you have, digitize it and apply A.I. to use it even more effectively. A.I. has the capability to assist in all fundamental business processes—from product procurement and cash flow management to employee productivity and customer engagement. That’s just a snapshot of what Kerrie and Sam share in this episode.

Bill and his guests spend time discussing what exactly A.I. means for green industry businesses and applications from other industries can be transformational, as well as ways A.I. can help personalize businesses to level up the customer experience. They close looking to the future and what might be possible as this technology continues to evolve.

PODCAST: Artificial Intelligence in the Green Industry (Part 1): https://techondemand.podbean.com/e/artificial-intelligence-in-the-green-industry-part-1-ft-clint-albin/

 

MORE RESOURCES:

Epicor—Artificial Intelligence: https://www.epicor.com/en-us/solutions/technology/people-centric-ai/

ARTICLE: AI—Gaining Back Time: https://www.greenprofit.com/Article/?srch=1&articleID=27602

ARTICLE: Why You Need AI, No Matter Your Size: https://www.greenprofit.com/Article/?srch=1&articleID=27544

ARTICLE: Using AI to Shorten the Customer Journey: https://www.greenprofit.com/Article/?articleid=27702

PODCAST: Next-Level Engagement, Growth & Brand Building with Sam Kirkland: https://youtu.be/P_VMRu0wTHU?si=fBJr9uzxOT4UZu3C

2025 Season Recap ft. Corteva’s Broch Martindale

This episode’s guest should be quite familiar by now as he’s joined host Bill Calkins multiple times to cover a range of topics related to IPM from a pest- and disease-specific angle, as well as seasonal controls and prevention strategies and even weed management.

Broch Martindale is the National Nursery & Greenhouse Strategic Account Manager at Corteva and downloads of his episodes are always strong proving that loyal listeners and many others across the industry are well aware of his ability to share detailed research-based cultural information blended with real-world greenhouse and nursery production experience. Check out the show notes for links to all of Broch’s 2025 episodes covering a range of topics.

This time, Bill and Broch look back on 2025—spring, summer and fall production—to highlight pests and disease that were particularly troublesome over the past 12 months, as well as products and approaches growers used to effectively go to battle before and after symptoms emerged. They talk spring pests like aphids and thrips that were prevalent coast to coast, mum diseases and issues due to warmer-than-average weather and poinsettia growers facing pathogens and insect/mite pests.

Broch also went into detail about how investments in research and development by companies like Corteva drive product effectiveness, even when active ingredients might look alike on labels. Did you know that particle size can dictate the amount of active ingredient actually getting to where it needs to be for full mortality—which, in turn, reduces the risk of resistance?

As you wrap up your year, take a listen to this episode to hear about things you might have faced OR challenges you might encounter in future years. And check out the resources below for trialed, tested and proven products to add to the proverbial toolbox.

 

Past 2025 Episodes with Broch:

Integrated Pest Management & Resistance Management

Safely Managing Whitefly (and more)

Pre-emergence Herbicide Tips & Tricks for Perennial Production

 

Resources & Products Mentioned:

CORTEVA NURSERY & GREENHOUSE

XXPIRE Insecticide

CONSERVE SC Spinosad Insecticide

FLOXCOR Fungicide

FLOXCOR + EAGLE Fungicides

GALLERY Herbicide

DIMENSION Herbicide

SNAPSHOT Herbicide

A Million Dollar Idea ft. Tom Van Wingerden

In this episode, host Bill Calkins is joined by Tom Van Wingerden from Van Wingerden Greenhouses in Blaine, Washington, to discuss a business angle that isn’t new but like many things these days, rapidly-evolving tools and technology are increasingly available to take it to the next level.

Tom is Sales Director at Van Wingerden Greenhouses in Blaine, Washington one of the 100 largest greenhouses in North America and a gold supplier for Ball Seed. He has a degree in business management, is a proud father of four and was a blueberry farmer in the past. Tom is an outside-the-box thinker who’s always looking for ways to do bigger things with fewer resources. That comes across loud and clear in this podcast.

The topic is fundraisers—which can be a love-hate topic for many and although some greenhouses businesses have found success with fundraisers over the years, many have not and thus given up the opportunity to create a profit center working with local organizations who are hungry for plants and ways to leverage plant sales to fund projects.

Of course, greenhouses need to make money from these efforts because they require plenty of work but what Tom’s team has developed has more than tripled the company’s fundraiser sales while requiring fewer people to manage the segment.

This isn’t just an episode about how Tom and the Van Wingerden team have grown sales. They actually developed a software system called PlantBuy.com that’s now available for other greenhouses who want to streamline the fundraiser process. It’s a system developed specifically for the commercial horticulture industry that could (in the future) result in a network of greenhouses across the country fulfilling orders from organizations who want to raise money through plant sales.

In the episode, Tom and Bill discuss the overall opportunity for fundraiser business, what is required by greenhouses and the organizations they partner with, how plantbuy.com simplifies marketing, ordering and fulfillment, as well as best practices Van Wingerden Greenhouses has picked up over the past 20+ years supplying fundraisers of all shapes and sizes. If you also have a garden center operation (like they do), the marketing potential alone might be worth the effort!

Resources:

Learn more about PlantBuy: www.plantbuy.com

Book a demo: https://www.plantbuy.com/schedule-a-demo/

Do Better! Ft. Susannah Ball & Seth Reed

In this episode of Tech On Demand, host Bill Calkins sits down with Susannah Ball, fourth-generation owner of Ball Horticultural Company, and Seth Reed, Ball’s Global Sustainability Manager, for an inspiring conversation about what it really means to “do better” when it comes to sustainability in horticulture.

They break down how a 120-year-old global company focuses on people, community and the planet—from aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to empowering the launch of impactful initiatives at Ball companies around the world. You’ll hear how teamwork drives innovation, how smart sustainability can lead to resilience and why Ball chose this moment to release its 2025 sustainability report titled “Sowing Sustainability.”

Whether you manage a greenhouse or garden center, lead a team or just want to make your business more future-focused, this episode offers practical insights and plenty of inspiration to grow greener and stronger—together.

WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION!

Read the 2025 Ball Sustainability Report (English & Spanish)

Avoid Garden Mum Production Pitfalls!

In exactly 30 minutes, Ball Seed Technical Services specialist Dr. Josh Henry covers garden mum production best practices, tips and tricks to help you avoid common issues experienced by growers. He basically offers concise “checklists” for you and your team to use during mum production—from propagation to finish. From managing all stages of prop to crop nutrition and environmental management to disease/insect control, this is an excellent overview that offers tactical solutions to help you produce your best mums ever.

WATCH THE VIDEO! https://youtu.be/nNlrEREN7lo 

Josh mentions many Tech On Demand resources, linked below. Many of these and more can be found at https://www.ballseed.com/Products/Mums. Scroll to the bottom of the page for an Excel-based Growth Tracking Tool!

RESOURCES:

Mum Video Playlist

Properly Conducting a Pour-Thru Test for pH and EC (Video)

Why Mum Foliage Turns Purple (Video Short)

Fast-cropping Fall Mums (Video)

Garden Mum Podcast Miniseries PART ONE

Garden Mum Podcast Miniseries PART TWO

Garden Mum Podcast Miniseries PART THREE

At Risk Crops—Garden Mums (Chrysanthemum White Rust)

Success with Ornamental Peppers—Propagation to Finish

Ball Technical Services specialist Dr. Josh Henry joins host Bill Calkins to share best practices for producing ornamental peppers as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials.

From the importance of sanitation and purchasing tested seed to keeping temperature, light and nutrition up, Josh takes ornamental peppers from propagation through to finish to help you achieve success. He spends time on protocols for preventing INSV and TSWV as key diseases to watch out for, as well as bacterial leaf spot.

WATCH THE VIDEO! 

Resources:

At Risk Crops—Peppers (Bacterial Leaf Spot)

TSWV & INSV Management

Properly Conducting a Pour-Thru Test for pH & EC (VIDEO)

5 Tips to Level Up Your Calibrachoa Game

Ball Seed Technical Services Specialist Chris Ferguson joined host Bill Calkins to share 5 tips to help you take calibrachoa production to the next level—and avoid some common pitfalls.

1. Irrigation—water by weight
2. Pinching—chemical vs. mechanical
3. pH Management—not above 6.2!
4. Thielaviopsis—know your spores
5. Tobacco Budworm—scout and treat ASAP

WATCH THE VIDEO!

Resources:

AlkCalc from e-GRO: https://e-gro.org/alkcalc/dist/index.html

Understanding Water Levels 1-5 (VIDEO): https://youtu.be/LBhc8_KlEBE?si=SimY3iTv72Izp9Rw

Artificial Intelligence in the Green Industry (Part 1) ft. Clint Albin

In this episode, host Bill Calkins is joined by industry strategist and co-founder of A24 Consulting, Clint Albin, to discuss the artificial intelligence (AI) in the greenhouse and garden center industry. Bill and Clint explore the challenges faced by green industry businesses, including seasonal fluctuations and changing consumer behaviors and how AI can provide solutions to enhance customer engagement and streamline operations—what Clint refers to as “the front door and the overhead door”.

The conversation emphasizes the importance of integrating AI thoughtfully and creatively into existing processes, the need for immediate customer feedback and some potential risks associated with AI implementation. Clint shares insights on future Green Profit article and podcast topics related to procurement and local marketing strategies, highlighting the significance of innovation in the horticulture sector.

Some key takeaways from this episode:

• AI can empower businesses of all shapes and sizes.
• Our industry faces challenges due to seasonal business cycles.
• Customer visits to garden centers need to be increased.
• Immediate customer feedback is crucial for improvement.
• AI should not be applied to broken systems.
• The essence of abundance in AI can save time or make money.
• A policy on AI usage is necessary for each business.
• Understanding customer needs is always a key to success.

This podcast supplements an article series in Green Profit magazine.

Why You Need AI, No Matter Your Size (September 2025)

Growing Your Best Begonias ft. Syngenta’s Brian Krug & Jamie Gibson

Syngenta Flowers’ Dr. Brian Krug and Dr. Jamie Gibson join Tech On Demand host Bill Calkins to discuss the exciting world of begonias, focusing on both vegetative and seed varieties. They explore the latest introductions, production best practices and the importance of lighting and PGRs in growing high-quality begonias. The discussion highlights the growing popularity of begonias in gardening and their versatility in various applications.

One of the top new introductions at California Spring Trials in 2025 was iCandy, a vegetative series of hybrid begonias for quarts and up—with double flowers and dark foliage—and Brian spends time detailing production best practices before moving on to other vegetative series including Adora (perfect for baskets), Birthday Bash (more traditional, waxy foliage and double flowers) and Florencio (a boliviensis hybrid).

Then Jamie goes through tips and tricks for producing a few newer seed-raised series from Syngenta including Bossa Nova (boliviensis types), Bionic (large, interspecific landscape type) Tophat (early-to-flower interspecifics with huge flowers) and Limitless (tuberous).

For each series, Brian and Jamie discuss production recommendations from propagation through finish—including lighting protocols, PGR regimes, temperature requirements and much more. Strategies to reduce the risk of blind cuttings are also shared.

WATCH THE VIDEO!

Resources:

Syngenta Flowers Website

Syngenta Flowers Technical Library (Search “Begonias” for culture on all varieties!)

Vegetative Begonia Photoperiod Effects