TECH ON DEMAND brought to you by GrowerTalks

Audio Files: Embracing Technology & Sustainability for Growth

EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY FOR GROWTH

FROM THE FEBRUARY 2025 ISSUE OF GREEN PROFIT MAGAZINE

WRITTEN BY AVIVA LeSHAW

NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS

 

EXCERPT: Shoppers today want more than a good deal on plants. They’re looking for an experience—something seamless and personal. Research from the Square Future of Retail Report: 2024 Edition shows that a full 100% of retail businesses prefer automation for tasks like tracking inventory or ordering out-of-stock products, highlighting the growing demand for efficient, technology-driven solutions. For garden retailers, meeting these demands is essential.

 

Read the digital edition of Green Profit Magazine—February 2025: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gp_25_02/index.aspx

Be the Local King or Queen of Tomato Production!

Every garden center—big and small—offers tomato plants for home gardens. Your key differentiators are varieties, container sizes and quality. Be the top wholesale supplier in your market by following Dr. Will Healy’s tomato production advice! In this Ball Tech On Demand crop-specific episode, he takes you through all the key factors necessary to finish high-quality tomato plants and send them to retail ready to sell. Tips for avoiding stretch and building root mass are covered in detail, as well as plenty more strategies Will has helped growers put into practice over many decades.

 

WATCH THE VIDEO! https://youtu.be/Zc4-LGfMTA0

 

RESOURCES:

 

VIDEO: At-Risk Crops—Tomato: https://youtu.be/aCBmuleuVXU?si=JV1wA7tF4ua6NRLb

 

GrowerTalks’ Grower Guides: https://www.growertalks.com/GrowerGuides/

 

Audio Files: Onboarding—The Root of Long-Term Engagement

THE ROOT OF LONG-TERM ENGAGEMENT

FROM THE JANUARY 2025 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE

WRITTEN BY HARRISON DOWNING

NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS

 

EXCERPT: Just as early root health is the foundation of explosive plant growth in its influence on a plant’s ability to develop properly and produce high yields, so is the importance of a thorough onboarding program for new hires in a company. 

 

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

Joan Mazat & Dave Dowling: All Things Cut Flowers and the ASCFG Dowling Scholarship

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/

Audio Files: Common Sense for Unknown Payroll Pressures

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

Audio Files: Right Plant, Right Time, Right Source

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

Finishing Vegetative Angelonia—Promote Branching & Avoid Boron Deficiency

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

Vegetative Angelonia Propagation—Temperature, Light and More!

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

Audio Files: Taking Control Early

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

A Fresh Take on Campanula ft. Sakata’s Bob Croft

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/