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Grow your best crop ever! Cultural and technical information for greenhouse professionals.
Episodes
Monday Nov 06, 2023
Monday Nov 06, 2023
COMMON PROPAGATION MISTAKES
FROM THE NOVEMBER 2023 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE
WRITTEN BY LYNN GRIFFITH
NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS
EXCERPT:
Horticulture is an art as well as a science. Propagating plants vegetatively is even more of an art than growing in general. Sure, there’s research data on propagating the more common ornamental plants. However, variables such as variety, season, geography and structures can make large differences in what works and doesn’t work.
Read the digital edition of GrowerTalks Magazine—November 2023: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_23_11/index.aspx
Monday Oct 30, 2023
Monday Oct 30, 2023
FLORAL PACKAGING EVOLVED
FROM THE OCTOBER 2023 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE
WRITTEN BY SARA EVENSON
NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS
EXCERPT:
I’ll be the first to admit that navigating sustainability is complicated. It’s not enough to depict mountains of legal documents I’ve gotten lost under while trying to decipher the best path forward. Is it better to recycle or better to compost? What does post-consumer content even mean? What can I recycle at my house? I’ll even admit I spent the better part of two years tossing a container in my recycling bin only to later discover it wasn’t on the shortlist of items my city recycled. I, an ardent supporter and passionate advocate for all things “recycling and sustainability,” was guilty of contaminating the recycling stream! With so much stacked against us, how do we choose the best path forward?
Read the digital edition of GrowerTalks Magazine—October 2023: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_23_10/index.aspx
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
POINSETTIAS: THE FINAL STEP—SHIPPING
FROM THE OCTOBER 2010 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE
WRITTEN BY DR. P. ALLEN HAMMER
NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS
EXCERPT:
Poinsettia growers have a responsibility for the post-production longevity of the plants we offer to consumers. Growers can’t afford to simply be happy to have the plants out of the greenhouse door. Satisfied poinsettia consumers make for repeat customers. As a poinsettia producer and marketer, you can do a great deal to maintain the potential postharvest beauty and longevity built into the modern poinsettia cultivars.
Read the digital edition of GrowerTalks Magazine—October 2010: https://www.growertalks.com/Article/Archive/Publication/?pubid=619
Friday Oct 13, 2023
Friday Oct 13, 2023
DIGITAL CROP TEMPLATES
FROM THE OCTOBER 2023 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE
WRITTEN BY BILL CALKINS
NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS
EXCERPT:
Remember when the walls of your greenhouse office were lined with file cabinets? Maybe they still are … but perhaps at least a few have been tossed to the curb with the contents now residing on computers and phones. Some of those drawers, no doubt, held files on past crops and your growers could pull a folder and see some notes from years gone by. Unfortunately, there was usually very little consistency and plenty of gaps (not to mention the inability of new growers to decipher another person’s handwriting). Those challenges (and space restrictions) are, thankfully, a thing of the past with new tools like Google Docs and other file-sharing platforms. The system used for storing and sharing crop template files really doesn’t matter, as long as it can be organized, easily updated and shared online for access via mobile devices.
Read the digital edition of GrowerTalks Magazine—October 2023: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_23_10/index.aspx
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
PERFECTING PERENNIAL PROPAGATION
FROM THE JANUARY 2020 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE
WRITTEN BY CHRIS FIFO
NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS
EXCERPT:
My earliest memory of plant propagation was in second grade. I was taking cuttings off my mom’s Swedish Ivy and sticking them in a glass of water. I loved watching them grow roots. My passion for propagation had evolved by the fifth grade and I was propagating spider plants and giving them to teachers. I’ve come a long way since then and my career has focused on perennial propagation and production.
Read the digital edition of GrowerTalks Magazine—January 2020: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_20_01/index.aspx
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
ACRES & ACRES: GOOD QUESTIONS! (SO-SO ANSWERS)
FROM THE OCTOBER 2023 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE
WRITTEN BY CHRIS BEYTES
NARRATED BY THE AUTHOR, CHRIS BEYTES
EXCERPT: Chris Beytes, as the editor of a horticultural trade publication, you have a unique perspective on industry trends. What recent developments in the horticulture sector do you believe will have the most significant impact on businesses and professionals in the coming years?
I guess my answer is that we’re a maturing industry, and we can’t expect major breakthroughs or developments to come along. Instead, we get small, incremental changes that are hard to recognize until after the fact. Think about this: Houseplants were hot in the ’70s, then they went away. Why? And why did they come back? It wasn’t anything we did. My question is, “What is the next thing we do that will fall out of fashion, or come back into fashion, and how do we recognize it?”
Read the digital edition of GrowerTalks Magazine—October 2023: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_23_10/index.aspx
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
A WAKE-UP CALL FOR BABY BOOMERS
FROM THE OCTOBER 2023 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE
WRITTEN BY AMY MORRIS
NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS
EXCERPT:
The work ethic of Baby Boomers was deeply rooted in their experiences of economic struggle, as many of them grew up during times of scarcity and uncertainty. This instilled in them the value of hard work and the importance of saving for the future. As a result, they often put in long hours and were willing to make personal sacrifices to achieve their career goals.
The children of Baby Boomers, spanning multiple generations, have grown up in a vastly different world. The advent of technology and the rise of the Internet have transformed the way people interact, communicate and work. This has led to a divergence in work ethics, as the younger generations have been exposed to new opportunities and challenges that their parents’ generation could not have fathomed.
Read the digital edition of GrowerTalks Magazine—October 2023: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_23_10/index.aspx
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
If you haven’t already listened to part one of this episode, you’ll want to jump back in the archive and start there. This is part two and we continue the conversation, picking right up where we left off.
LINK TO PART ONE: https://techondemand.podbean.com/e/benefits-of-dynamic-lighting-part-one-with-rose-michael-from-sollum-technologies/
In this two-part episode of Tech On Demand brought to you by GrowerTalks, host Bill Calkins talks to Rose Séguin (agronomist) and Michael Hanan (U.S. senior sales director) from Sollum Technologies about “dynamic” LED lighting and how this new technology allows for multi-zoning to meet the needs of multiple crops, as well as the ability to control light intensity and spectrums. Learn why fully-dynamic LED lighting is good for your crops, as well as your bottom line. Rose and Michael share case studies, new research and a fresh approach to LED lighting.
In Part Two, the team from Sollum explains why the dynamic solution they provide can be installed in just about any greenhouse facility, as well as how true partnerships with grower clients lead from goals to outcomes. Rose and Michael share case studies and past experiences with breakthrough results. Then they detail how their team is constantly learning and using data to help growers make improvements from crop to crop, season to season and year to year. Furthermore, partnering with leading researchers in academia promises to bring even more knowledge to the table that can be implemented at clients’ operations.
You’ll want to listen all the way to the end of this episode as Rose and Michael share thoughts about the future of dynamic lighting and how new research is opening up opportunities to consider how light can be used to reduce disease and truly optimize plant health and quality for growers in all segments of horticulture.
If you have plans to explore new lighting technologies and want to learn more about the potential of dynamic lighting in enhancing plant health and reducing disease in horticulture, this episode is for you! It’s a perfect blend of science and real-world application with two guests who bring passion and tremendous knowledge to an energetic discussion about a critical topic.
Be sure to subscribe to the Tech On Demand Podcast, brought to you by GrowerTalks on your favorite podcast app—that way you’ll never miss an episode!
Resources discussed in the podcast episode:
Sollum Technologies website: https://www.sollumtechnologies.com/
Smart Greenhouse with Dynamic LED Lighting: https://www.sollumtechnologies.com/white-papers/smart-greenhouse-with-dynamic-led-lighting
White Papers: https://www.sollumtechnologies.com/en/white-papers
Case Studies: https://www.sollumtechnologies.com/en/case-studies
Contact Michael Hanan: michael@sollum.tech
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
In this two-part episode of Tech On Demand brought to you by GrowerTalks, host Bill Calkins talks to Rose Séguin (agronomist) and Michael Hanan (U.S. senior sales director) from Sollum Technologies about “dynamic” LED lighting and how this new technology allows for multi-zoning to meet the needs of multiple crops, as well as the ability to control light intensity and spectrums. Learn why fully-dynamic LED lighting is good for your crops, as well as your bottom line. Rose and Michael share case studies, new research and a fresh approach to LED lighting.
In Part One, The team from Sollum and Bill discuss exactly why the ability to control spectrum and intensity via software (versus simply turning lighting like HPS on or off) leads to flexibility and adaptability for specific crops—even down to the variety level. They dig into the ability of this kind of lighting technology to dial into specific stages of crop development—from young plants to finished material—and also how dynamic lighting can be customized to deliver specific outcomes based on diverse crop mixes or monoculture ranges.
Rose and Michael explain the science behind Sollum’s lighting strategies by walking listeners through questions frequently asked and discussed when planning new projects, as well as how their team helps solve problems and put new users at ease. As a partner and not simply a supplier, they don’t install and walk away.
If you have plans to explore new lighting technologies and want to learn more about the potential of dynamic lighting in enhancing plant health and reducing disease in horticulture, this episode is for you! It’s a perfect blend of science and real-world application with two guests who bring passion and tremendous knowledge to an energetic discussion about a critical topic.
Resources discussed in the podcast episode:
Sollum Technologies website: https://www.sollumtechnologies.com/
Smart Greenhouse with Dynamic LED Lighting: https://www.sollumtechnologies.com/white-papers/smart-greenhouse-with-dynamic-led-lighting
White Papers: https://www.sollumtechnologies.com/en/white-papers
Case Studies: https://www.sollumtechnologies.com/en/case-studies
Contact Michael Hanan: michael@sollum.tech
Thursday Sep 21, 2023
Thursday Sep 21, 2023
In this episode of Tech On Demand brought to you by GrowerTalks, host Bill Calkins is joined by Dr. Jamie Gibson, technical lead for Syngenta Flowers, for a deep dive into dipladenia. If you’re listening in real time, plans for 2024 are most likely being made and if you’re like a lot of growers that means you’re looking to add tropical plants to the mix for next year. We’ve seen a lot of interest in Dipladenia recently—for many reasons—and new breeding and introductions are helping drive the category by helping you produce amazing crops that fit different sizes, profiles and uses.
In this episode, Jamie explains how important it is to start dipladenia with the end in mind. This means you should know your target dates to ship and sell, as well as what the end use of the crop is intended to be. As mentioned, new breeding is allowing for careful selection, both with inputs (URC, callused URC, liner, enhanced liner and prefinished), as well as plant profile and habit (from mixed container components to vigorous stand-alone specimens). If you have a plan, you can find a dipladenia to fit it.
Once you know the goal, it’s time to dial in a production plan. Jamie walks you through this piece of the puzzle from propagation from the different forms through finish, with special attention paid to start times and cultural management. He discusses ideal greenhouse environment, nutrition, pest and disease control, pinching and trimming, PGRs and even post-harvest recommendation.
One part of this presentation that you’ll want to pay close attention to is the “recipe” Jamie shares for the final 10 weeks of production. These final weeks of a long crop can make or break your success and sell-through.
The Syngenta Flowers team has put a lot of time and trialing into dipladenia and much of what they learned went into the launch and support of their new collection called Madinia, which includes three types—Petite, a medium-vigor size and Maximo— all with core colors.
Resources discussed in the podcast episode:
Syngenta Flowers Dipladenia Madinia Landing Page—FULL RESOURCES AND COMBINATION VIDEOS: https://www.syngentaflowers-us.com/webcast/dipladenia