TECH ON DEMAND brought to you by GrowerTalks

Ball Seed Cut Flower Business Manager Joan Mazat takes over the golden TOD microphone to join Ball Cut Flower Guru Dave Dowling for a wonderful discussion about cut flowers. Dave shares stories from his beginnings growing flowers, owning a cut flower farm in Maryland for more than 20 years and subsequent career in the world of cut flower supply and product management. He also shares about his long-term involvement with the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG) and how proud he is of the ASCFG Dave Dowling Scholarship that supports the future of the domestic cut flower industry by awarding scholarships to undergraduate or graduate students pursuing a career in horticulture—focusing on cut flower research and production.

 

Learn more about ASCFG’s Dave Dowling Scholarship: https://www.ascfg.org/outreach/dowling-scholarship/

 

Find new varieties, best-sellers and many cut flower resources form Ball Seed: https://www.ballseed.com/cutflowers/

COMMON SENSE FOR UNKNOWN PAYROLL PRESSURES

FROM THE JANUARY 2025 ISSUE OF GREEN PROFIT MAGAZINE

WRITTEN BY BILL McCURRY

NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS

 

EXCERPT: With the country headed in a potentially different economic direction, old truths prevail. All payroll factors are local to your area’s economy, your business realities, and your employees’ financial situations. Let’s look at ways to lessen employee stress, without pay raises that incur employer payroll taxes and employee income taxes.

 

Read the digital edition of GREEN PROFIT Magazine—January 2025: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gp_25_01/index.aspx

RIGHT PLANT, RIGHT TIME, RIGHT SOURCE

FROM THE JANUARY 2025 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE

WRITTEN BY BILL CALKINS

NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS

 

EXCERPT: … the team-based approach Ball Seed and its perennials partners employ to help customers solve challenges and optimize assortments. In this case, the grower worked with their sales rep, who in turn worked with supplier technical experts and R&D managers to find the best solution.

This type of success extends across the entire Ball Seed perennial supply partner network and shines a spotlight on the importance of feedback loops and close communication.

 

Read the digital edition of GROWERTALKS Magazine—January 2025: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_25_01/index.aspx

Ball Technical Services specialist Josh Henry joins host Bill Calkins to talk finished vegetative Angelonia production as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials.

 

From transplanting best practices and nutrition strategies to irrigation management and container selection, there are plenty of nuances to be aware of—especially avoiding boron deficiency—and Josh is here to help.

 

Resources:

 

WATCH THE VIDEO! Finishing Vegetative Angelonia—Promote Branching & Avoid Boron Deficiency: https://youtu.be/qaQ06b3kO7k

 

(ARTICLE) Branching Out with PGRs: https://www.growertalks.com/Article/?articleid=26878

 

(RESEARCH) Going Viral: https://e-gro.org/pdf/2023-12-39.pdf

 

(GROWER GUIDE) Plant Growth Regulator Guide for Annuals 2025-2026: https://www.growertalks.com/pdf/PGR_GUIDE_2025-26_Annuals.pdf

Ball Technical Services specialist Josh Henry joins host Bill Calkins to share best management practices for propagating vegetative angelonia from unrooted cuttings as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials.

 

From receiving, prioritizing and handling through all stages up until transplant, Josh is going to help you reduce risk and produce top-quality liners. Research on optimum light levels and tips for holding cuttings (if that is necessary) are key points in this discussion.

 

Resources:

 

WATCH THE VIDEO! Vegetative Angelonia Propagation—Temperature, Light and More!: https://youtu.be/BbQ9G6z4LaY?si=JJsijOu_ZpRqy6Cz

 

(DOCUMENT) BMPs for URC Hydration: https://www.ballseed.com/PDF/TechOnDemand-URC-Hydration.pdf

 

(ARTICLE) Avoiding Diseases in Propagation: https://www.growertalks.com/Article/?articleid=24435

 

(RESEARCH) Effects of Increasing Light Quantity on Greenhouse Crops: https://e-gro.org/pdf/203.pdf

TAKING CONTROL EARLY

FROM THE JANUARY 2025 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE

WRITTEN BY TROY BUECHEL

NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS

 

EXCERPT:

Building roots on young plants can be challenging. With poor weather conditions in winter and early spring, variable sun appearances, inconsistent rooting or germination, unknown plant genetics, etc., it’s difficult to build great roots. Although these issues are outside of a grower’s control, this article will cover some variables that can be controlled to help build great roots on young plants.

Read the digital edition of GROWERTALKS Magazine—January 2025: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_25_01/index.aspx

In this comprehensive episode covering a key cut flower, Ball Seed’s cut flower business manager Joan Mazat and Sakata Seed America’s product technical manager Bob Croft discuss the Champion II series of campanula—with a uniform, shorter flowering window compared to older series, saving time and providing a quicker cycle for growers.

 

Bob shares tips and tricks for based on years of campanula production experience taking viewers from germination to transplant and on to finishing and post-harvest care. Campanula crops certainly have some nuances to be aware of, and Bob provides plenty of critical information for managing all factors of plant growth (light, water, nutrition, temperature and gas exchange), as well as strategies for controlling pests and diseases.

 

RESOURCES:

 

WATCH THE VIDEO! https://youtu.be/UaJZZgj3KfE

• Campanula Champion II from Sakata: https://sakataornamentals.com/plantname/champion-2/ 
• Ball CutFlowers: https://www.ballseed.com/cutflowers/
• Tools from Ball CutFlowers (presentations & literature, market trends, videos, podcasts, Dave’s newsletter, industry resources): https://www.ballseed.com/cutflowers/Resources/

MAXIMIZING PLANT POTENTIAL: SUBSTRATE INNOVATION EXPLAINED

FROM THE WINTER 2024 ISSUE OF INSIDE GROWER MAGAZINE

WRITTEN BY JOSE CHEN LOPEZ

NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS

 

EXCERPT:

Choosing the right substrate for a particular application can be a challenge. Choosing the right beneficial microorganisms for a specific plant, mode of action and ensuring compatibility with other beneficial microorganisms can be excruciating.

 

When choosing and adding beneficial microorganisms to the substrate, growers must ensure that they’re viable, that the carrier is compatible, that the application rate is uniform and homogenous within the whole volume of the substrate, and that they’re from a reputable company.

Read the digital edition of INSIDE GROWER Magazine—Winter 2024: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/ig_24_11/index.aspx

Syngenta Flowers’ Dr. Alicain Carlson joins host Bill Calkins to discuss some key components of successful cut flower mum programs. Dr. Carlson starts by discussing some of the reason cut mums are so popular before highlighting some key varieties in the Syngenta Flowers portfolio. Then she jumps right into cultural and technical tips and tricks for sending high-quality flowers to market.

 

From the start, you’ll need to follow some best practices when receiving and handling young plants—planting immediately, protecting the crop in hoop houses when planting them in summer, using support netting to reduce losses and more. Once they are in production, lighting and temperature are critical, and understanding the impact of photoperiod is necessary for optimum flower timing. Alicain covers all of this, as well as strategies for pinching and bud removal to enhance branching and create different forms (single bloom vs. a spray of flowers). Then she wraps up with when to harvest and tactics for postharvest care.

 

RESOURCES:

 

WATCH THE VIDEO! https://youtu.be/sSURz16OGng

 

SYNGENTA FLOWERS CUT FLOWER ASSORTMENT & CULTURE GUIDES: https://www.syngentaflowers-us.com/cutflowers

 

CHRYSANTHEMUM AGRONOMIC PROGRAM: https://www.greencastonline.com/programs/pdf/mumagronomic.pdf

 

ALL ABOUT SUNFINITY (VIDEO): https://youtu.be/FkNh4yDCTU8

 

GROWING CUT FLOWER DAHLIAS (VIDEO): https://youtu.be/ddd680snZM8

Retired Ball technical services manager Dr. Will Healy joins host Bill Calkins to discuss the ins and outs of finished African marigold production as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials.

 

Will says African marigolds and French marigolds are like oranges and grapefruits when it comes to production protocols—meaning they’re similar (like the two citrus fruits) but very different in many ways. He takes you from plug transplant to shipping, with a particular focus on iron toxicity related to phosphorous deficiencies, tips for minimizing stretch to avoid the need for too many PGRs, nutrition to keep them growing strong and how to avoid Botrytis in the flower heads. Will has worked with many growers dealing with leaf spots and his advice on phosphorous is based on hundreds of crops and decades of experience.

 

Will also spends plenty of time on fall production of African marigolds for Day of the Dead sales, which is certainly a growing market and newer sales opportunity for many of you.

 

WATCH THE VIDEO! https://youtu.be/nfA66OczRQM