Part 2 of our coverage from the 2023 California Spring Trials looks at what’s new and innovative in perennials. By Rodger Tschanz | 8
of the Year 14 The new normal 24 Garden centres have been a flurry of activity this spring and summer
Greenhouse Canada’s Grower of the Year for 2023, Rodney Bierhuizen of Sunrise Greenhouses Ltd. See page 14
BY DR. SARAH JANDRICIC
Container
A unique operation in Alberta takes controlledenvironment agriculture to the next level BY
JOHN DIETZ
DR. MOHYUDDIN MIRZA
Connections made at 28th annual Grower Day
Earlier this summer, Greenhouse Canada was honoured to host the 28th annual Grower Day in St. Catharines Ont.
Growers from across Ontario, Quebec and even some from the U.S. made the trek to the event that featured enlightening presentations from eight industry professionals and showcased the latest greenhouse innovations and services on a sold-out trade floor.
The presentation topics were quite varied, as they ranged from surge and lightening protection and health and safety planning to greenhouse lighting, pest management and AI and automation, among others. Ideas were shared, connections were made, good food was eaten, and everyone left having (hopefully) learned something they can use in their operation.
Canada as we look at what’s available to Canadian growers to control the Thrips parvispinus pest affecting some crops. Dr. Sarah Jandricic, Greenhouse Floriculture IPM Specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) discusses what’s available and their impact on controlling the pest on page 18.
We also return to the 2023 California Spring Trials in this issue. Our contributor, Rodger Tschanz, offers a glimpse of some of the stunning perennials on display at the event and shares some details on their cultivation and habits. Coverage and photos start on page 8.
As we head further into the dog days of summer, and garden centres resume a less frenetic pace than that of spring and early summer, we take a step back and analyze what consumers were buying for their home gardens. By all accounts, the COVID gardening
Ideas were shared, connections were made, good food was eaten, and everyone left having (hopefully) learned something.
Towards the end of the day, we also took the opportunity to celebrate the winners of Greenhouse Canada’s Top 4 Under 40 and our Grower of the Year for 2023. Both awards look to honour those in the greenhouse industry who demonstrate effective leadership, a strong work ethic and forward-thinking.
In last month’s issue, we introduced readers to our Top 4 Under 40 winners and in this month’s edition, our Grower of the Year for 2023, Rodney Bierhuizen of Sunrise Greenhouses Ltd., is profiled. Read more about him and his passion for the business on page 14.
Pest management is also top of mind in this edition of Greenhouse
trend seems to be sticking around in this post-pandemic world. Garden centres and nurseries share some of their insights on the 2023 spring/summer season on page 24.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in making this year’s Grower Day such a success. Vendors, sponsors and attendees: you all make it possible.
We look forward to hosting more events in the future and welcome feedback from readers on how we can make them better. Please feel free to reach out with your ideas.
Canada saw decline in availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in 2022
Statistics Canada said fewer fresh fruits and vegetables were available to Canadians in 2022, due to factors such as ongoing supply chain issues, labour shortages and price increases.
StatCan said the amount of available fresh fruit declined by more than five per cent in 2022 from the previous year, to 72.9 kilograms per person.
Even though there was a 12.7 per cent increase in domestic fruit production, it was not enough to keep up with an increase in exports and a decrease in imports, the agency said in a report released in June.
The availability of fresh vegetables — excluding potatoes — was 64.7 kilograms per person in 2022, a decrease of nearly six per cent from 2021.
HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY MOURNS
PASSING OF PETER KOPPERT
Peter Koppert, one of the founders of Koppert Global, passed away on June 20 after a brief illness at the age of 73. Until just a few weeks before his death, Peter remained closely involved with Koppert through his role as a member of the Advisory Board. Koppert became involved in his father’s cucumber business at a young age. Together, they started the search for alternatives to chemical pest control and found a natural solution. With great enthusiasm,
Vineland opens new innovation space for sustainable horticultural environments
Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has officially opened the doors to its newly restored and renamed Jordan Building.
The building is intended to provide a centralized laboratory and office space for Vineland’s Plant Responses and the Environment team to develop resilient and sustainable best practices for natural landscapes in horticulture.
This facility showcases a number of advanced capabilities including a climate-controlled laboratory space, a dedicated root washing room, localized venting and specialized fume hoods to allow for soil processing in a centralized location. It includes two state-of-the-art laboratories, designed to handle the analysis of soils and substrates for all types of horticultural production needs.
Koppert, along with his wife Diny, implemented biological pest control in their cucumber crop and in greenhouses of growers nearby. Soon after his father became ill, Koppert took over the business and focused entirely on the production and sales of natural solutions. Following his father’s passing, Peter, along with his brother Paul, and their cousin Henri, carried on the business. Under their leadership, the company grew into the pioneering global market leader it is today.
BY THE NUMBERS
Consumer Trends
Source: The Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) 2023 Canadian Customer Report
19%
of consumers consider themselves responsible for advancing sustainable packaging while 68% put the responsibility on producers and retailers.
Local produce has the highest level of positive purchase intent, at 83%, followed by packaged produce at 65%.
58% of consumers cite high prices as a roadblock to greater produce purchases which increased by 17% from Q1 2022.
IMPACTFUL perennials
Part 2 of our coverage of the 2023 California Spring Trials looks at some powerful perennials
BY RODGER TSCHANZ
The new perennials showcased at CAST 2023 mostly have one thing in common and that is the ability to have great ornamental value in the first year. Many of the perennials are being tested under Zone 5 or lower winter conditions to evaluate true perennial potential. Many of the plants highlighted here have been tested for winter hardiness to at least a USDA Zone 5. In the few instances I have mentioned less winter hardy perennials, it is because of their unique appearance and/or great ornamental potential as an annual.
DARWIN PERENNIALS
Double Scoop Deluxe Series of Echinacea
The Deluxe Double Scoop series (1) is an improvement in branching and flower number over the traditional Double Scoop series. The production timing is like the Sombrero series. It is compact, reaching garden heights of 50 to 60 cm and has reliable first-year blooming habit. Colours currently include: Orangeberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, and Watermelon. (Zones 4a-9b)
Silver foliage plants
On display at CAST was a collection of three silverleafed species that were selected primarily for the ornamental value of their foliage. Silver Scent Salvia (Zones 5a-9b) is a selection of garden sage (Salvia officinalis) with both attractive foliage and purple spring flowers. Little Lamb (Zones 4a-8b) is a selection of Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina) with fine, decorative foliage and shorter flower stalks than is the norm with this species. Silver Swirl Centaurea (2) (Zones 6b-9b) (Centaurea ragusina) may be less winter hardy than the first two selections but has
Darwin's Double Scoop Deluxe series of Echinacea in Orangeberry.
showy silvery white leaves with a wavy edge. It has a compact habit reaching heights of 28 cm.
Dreameria Vivid Dreams Armeria
This is a new, deep purple colour (3), for this series of sea thrift (Armeria pseudarmeria). It is suitable for containers and the landscape with heights reaching 30 cm. It has great heat tolerance and hardiness of Zones 5a-9a.
Emerald Crest Caryopteris
This compact, pollinator friendly selection (4)(Zones 8a-9a) of Caryopteris x clandonensis blooms late in the summer providing a blue floral option for the garden’s fall colour palette. Garden heights can reach 91 cm.
While no new seed propagated perennials were announced from Kieft Seeds, both Kieft and Darwin Perennial selections are included in a new online tool (FYF) for first-year flowering perennials. If you know what week you want to see colour on your Kieft/Darwin perennials, the
tool will help you schedule the rest of the production.
SELECTA ONE
Pashmina Dianthus
Selecta One is busy testing winter hardiness on its dianthus breeding and there are sure to be new Zone 5-hardy plants announced in the future. For the coming year they have the new Pashmina series (5) which is said to be hardy to USDA (Zone 5a). It is a fast- crop perennial for spring sales that does not require vernalization. It blooms from spring to summer and is currently available in red, magenta, and pink/white bicolour. Garden heights can reach 30 cm.
BENARY
Arabis Catwalk
For the rock garden, Benary has a new pink selection of its series of Arabis caucasica, Catwalk (6). Joining a white already in the series, Catwalk Pink has a compact uniform, rounded habit. No vernalization is needed to induce bloom. As such it is a great fit for spring production. In addition
to the rock garden, it is suitable for container gardening. (Zones 3-7)
Elise
The Lewisia cotyledon, Elise Golden Yellow is another great choice for the rock garden, containers and other beds. It is also a first flowering with out vernalization plant. It is heat and drought tolerant and has a long flowering season. Other colours in the Elise series, include white, ruby red, violet and a mix of at least five colours. Ruby Red and the Mix are Fleuroselect Gold Medal winners. (Zones 3a-8b)
Chill-Out Blue
For the pollinator garden, there is a new Lavender angustifolia ‘Chill-Out Blue’. It is first year flowering without vernalization, has a compact, well branched habit reaching heights of 25 cm. The intensely blue flowers are strongly attractive to pollinators. For the greenhouse grower, this plant has reliable germination. This cultivar is well suited for pot production. (Zones 5a-9a)
PollyNation Echinacea
The PollyNation series of multi-coloured echinacea has added pink-shades to the collection of individually coloured seed lots of white, orange-red, magenta and yellow. First-year flowering without vernalization, well branched, this compact plant is suitable for patio containers and the landscape. (Zones 4-9)
GREENFUSE
Solidago Spark Plug (7) is the first daylength neutral goldenrod. As such it can be finished early in the season for spring and summer sales. It can reach garden heights of 60 cm.
Lupine Staircase White is a new
addition to the Staircase series. This series is said to be the only day-length neutral perennial lupine that requires no vernalisation. Garden heights reach 90 cm. (Zones 4-8)
DÜMMEN ORANGE
Salute series Salvia
Dümmen Orange continues to add to its extensive list of Salvia nemorosa introductions (8). New this year is a new neon pink colour for the Salute series - Neon Pink and Dark Blue. Together with the colours already in circulation, this series has the full range of possible colours. The light pink, white and Ice Blue colours are well matched for timing and
can be used together in a Confetti Gardentype of application. This series is very attractive to bees. (Zones 3-9)
Noble Knight Salvia
A new, stand-alone salvia is Noble Knight. Its large flower size and dark contrasting foliage has caught the attention of retailers at early trials. More colours will be coming. To prevent stretching in production, grow cool, using pansy cultural recommendations. (Zones 3-9)
Noche
Another standalone release is the salvia, Noche (9). It has very colourful calyxes and stems. Even when not blooming it
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SOLUTIONS
appears to be blooming. In addition, it is heavily branched; with salvia, the more branches mean more bloom, so it is also a heavy bloomer. (Zones 3-9)
Carmia Rosa
The last Salvia release for this year is Caramia Rosa(10). Approximately five years ago, the original purple Caramia was released. This series is a vigorous grower and a great candidate for the landscape. In trials in the Netherlands, this plant returns year after year reaching heights of 75-100 cm. While the Salute series, Noble Knight and Noche are best produced in a 1-gallon pot size, the Caramia series is a candidate for three- to five-gallon culture. (Zones 3-9)
Candela Veronica
Candela is a new series of veronica (11). It is available in hot pink, pink, purple and blue colours. While no veronica series matches perfectly, this series is close when grown under identical conditions. No vernalization or other special treatments are required to initiate bloom. Expect a mid-
Candy Sorbet iberis
Candy Sorbet is a brand new iberis that has a very late bloom date. In southern Ontario it will start to bloom in late June and continue through until late August or early September. It is important to note that instead of white, expect a pink bloom colour with this cultivar. (Zones 6-9)
Honeysticks
The new series of agastache, Honeysticks,(12) is said to be hardy to zone 6. It has a vertical growing habit. The phrase “flower on a stick” has been used to describe its bloom habit and pollinator attraction trait. It is currently available in purple, orange, and yellow colours. (Zones 6-9)
Zasha
Zasha (13)is a new compact Russian sage that grows with an upright habit.The compact Perovskia, Jelena was released last year but it has a mounding habit in
comparison. Zasha blooms approximately three weeks earlier than has been normally expected with Russian sage. (Zones 4-9)
SpinTop gaillardia
New colours have been added to the Zone 3 hardy SpinTop gaillardia lineup. This series is tolerant of high summer humidity as well. SpinTop Red Starburst Improved (14)has bright yellow petals with a red wine-coloured centre. The SpinTop Mariachi series has tubular petals. The new Mariachi Red Sky colour (15) has red tubes tipped with orange.
THINKPLANTS
GoldiPhlox – Syngenta
There are three new additions to the GoldiPhlox (16) series: light pink, lavender eye (a replacement for light blue), and an improved pink. This series represents some of the newest breeding being done on Phlox subulate with improvements all due to lovely dark pigmentation, large bloom size and increased branching. (Zones 3-9)
Alpino Early – Syngenta
Alpino Early (17)is a series of Saxifraga arendsii that blooms two to four weeks earlier than the Touran series. The three new colours in the series include: Carnival Improved, Deep Red (a replacement for Carmine) and Early Rose Improved (18). All of these have improved flower form, extra branching, and larger bloom diameter than is
Continued on page 36
June bloom date. (Zones 5-9)
PHOTO: ANIK GRAVES, THINKPLANTS
PHOTO: ANIK GRAVES, THINKPLANTS
PHOTO: ANIK GRAVES, THINKPLANTS
PHOTO: ANIK GRAVES, THINKPLANTS
LEADING WITH LOVE
Greenhouse Canada’s 2023 Grower of the Year shares successes with family, friends and colleagues
BY AMY KOUNIAKIS
In his earliest memories, Rodney Bierhuizen recalls having an affinity for plant life and growing things.
“I was, maybe, in grade three. I remember, my dad had a few spider plants and I rooted 1,000 cuttings, grew them and then he went and sold them for me,” Bierhuizen said. “There was always a passion there for, you know, being like my dad.”
His dad is none other than the founder of Sunrise Greenhouses in Vineland, Robert Bierhuizen. He, alongside his wife, Francis, established the business in 1982 in St. Catharines after the couple immigrated to Canada form Holland in the mid-1970s.
ABOVE
“To this day, I think, I’m still trying to be like my dad, but the reality is I’m a good balance of both my parents,” Bierhuizen maintains. “My Mom is also a tireless perfectionist and her conservative, financial acumen is just as important as my father’s hard work.”
Today, Bierhuizen co-owns the business with his mom, he is also head grower, innovation specialist and maintenance head at Sunrise Greenhouses, an operation that encompasses approximately 1,000,000 sq.-ft. of growing space and produces a wide range of crops, exclusive to Sunrise.
Earlier this summer, Bierhuizen was also named Greenhouse Canada’s Grower of the Year for 2023.
Rodney Bierhuizen of Sunrise Greenhouses Ltd. is 2023's Grower of the Year. The company, established in 1982, grows a number of crops that are exclusive to them.
This award looks to honour greenhouse growers who possess a strong work ethic, who demonstrate effective leadership and initiative and who engage in lifelong learning and innovation in the industry.
Bierhuizen is the embodiment of these qualities and more.
HOW IT STARTED
Robert and Francis moved Sunrise Greenhouses to its current location in Vineland in the latter 80s to accommodate the young company’s growth. In these early years, Rodney recalls working, after school and on weekends, in the greenhouse to help his family’s business succeed.
“One of my first jobs was selling tomatoes. We would grow them in the summer months. I got 10 per cent of sales selling to the public,” Bierhuizen said. “I always built little greenhouses around the properties and liked working in the greenhouses. It’s just how I grew up.”
His interest in horticulture and greenhouses extended beyond the home front and family business, and in high
school, he did a co-op placement at Jeffery’s Greenhouses in St. Catharines.
“Back then, it was well known if you wanted to learn how to hand water, you always worked at Jeffery’s,” he said, noting that today, that part of the operation is now largely automated.
Bierhuizen went on to study horticulture at Temple University in Philadelphia after earning a rowing scholarship. He graduated in 2002 from the school with honours and was his class valedictorian.
After graduation, he travelled to back to his family’s roots and sought work in Holland and Denmark, only to return a short while later to Ontario and his family’s business.
“I did have to work hard and look for my opportunities here (at Sunrise) because a lot of the bases were already covered,” he said. “Eventually, my dad started to pull back. So, I started to cover some of those bases, and look for opportunities to grow the business.”
And grow it did.
In 2003 when Bierhuizen returned from Europe, the business managed
approximately 60,000 to 90,000 sq.-ft. of growing space. Today that number sits closer to 1,000,000 and includes their location in Vineland and several rental facilities.
INNOVATION
While many factors have contributed to the successful growth of Sunrise, innovation and forward-thinking, Bierhuizen asserts, are a major driving force.
“We love technology,” he said. “We are always trying to implement new technologies. In fact, right now we are working on a project with the University of Waterloo for low-cost moisture sensors for greater granularity.”
Bierhuizen has even taken technological and automation developments into his own hands by building his own robotic transplanter.
“It was one of those things where we would put the kids to bed and I came out here to work on it,” he said. “It took about three years to build.
“I wanted to do more, build more, but it just wasn’t scalable for me to manage.”
LEFT
Campanula, pictured at Sunrise Greenhouses in Vineland, are one of the company's exlusive product lines.
they focussed on a UPC application for pot covers,” Bierhuizen explains.
“Right now, we have a fully automated boom that’s being developed integrating our moisture sensing technology and there’ll be several other technologies tied into that boom. It’s effectively a grower. It’s not replacing our growers; it’s increasing our efficiency. From our growers’ perspective, it gives them greater granularity. So, instead of looking at a crop, giving them the capability to look at individual plants, using AI.”
Given the fact that many advances in greenhouse automation are coming out of Europe and further afield, having an in-house, onshore, cutting-edge automation provider is a game changer, not just for Sunrise and Bierhuizen, but for the Canadian greenhouse industry.
For example, Bierhuizen says he believes Bold’s biggest success story to date is their pot-cover machine developed for Koen Pack, a Beamsville, Ont.-based packaging supply company.
“To this day, I think, I’m still trying to be like my dad, but the reality is I’m a good balance of both my parents.”
It was in this time, during a conversation with a supplier, that Bierhuizen learned about two young engineers involved forestry automation looking for space to focus on developing technology for horticultural packaging.
“I asked to connect with them and after meeting with them, I told them I wanted to work with them,” he said. In 2017, he built shop for the team on the Sunrise property, giving Bold Robotics Solutions Inc. space to grow.
“Their first project was a packaging cell, which Pioneer Flower Farms also installed, and from there,
“Whereas pot covers used to come formed over from China in 60 to 90 sea containers a year, Bierhuizen explains, “now they can bring in one sea container of materials for forming. It reduces the carbon footprint. It’s cost savings for the growers because they can do it cheaper here than in China.”
AT THE HEART OF THE MATTER
While innovation and automation have fueled growth and ingenuity at Sunrise Greenhouses, Bierhuizen maintains that it’s the team that they’ve built over the years that are at the core of their success.
“We are so blessed to have this group of people around us that that make this company what it is,” he said. “We have people, staff who’ve been with us for 30-plus years. We have a nice retiree wall. We have very
Continued on page 37
New peppers for the win!
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Sharing a healthy future
Possible pesticides for pesky Thrips parvispinus
Reliable biological control program for this pest is still a few years off but a suite of products available in Canada might be able to help
BY DR. SARAH JANDRICIC
Although the invasive pest Thrips parvispinus (pictured on the right) continues to threaten tropical ornamental crops, the good news is that the sky isn’t falling after all.
Producing crops like mandevilla, schefflera and hoya are still possible for those who want to continue growing them. Although developing a reliable biological control program for this pest is probably a few years off, a suite of pesticides is available in Canada to successfully manage T. parvispinus. As always, employing resistance management techniques and using other integrated pest management (IPM) tactics will be needed to ensure our chemical products keep working.
LAB TESTING OF PESTICIDES: AN IMPORTANT FIRST STEP
Dr. Alexandra Revynthi from the University of
TOP to BOTTOM
Florida Tropical Research and Education Centre has done the important first step of screening pesticides against T. parvispinus in 24-to-48-hour lab tests. This involves spraying label rates of pesticides on the leaf discs which thrips feed on and then seeing how many thrips survive. Revynthi also quantified feeding damage on these leaf discs.
Her work found several pesticides already registered in Canada that cause high levels of mortality at various T. parvispinus life stages (Table 1), and they also reduce feeding damage immediately. Some of these are not registered for thrips specifically but could be used as part of a total pest management program for other pests of tropical plants, including whitefly and spider mites. Success and Pylon worked the best of these products, causing 90-100 per cent mortality of both adult and larval T. parvipsinus. Avid, Kontos
A variety of mandevilla showing significant T. parvispinus damage (left photo) in late February that was cleaned up by pesticides in time for sale (right photo; photo taken before flowers opened). Thrips parvispinus male (left) and female (right).
PHOTOS BY OMAFRA.
PHOTO BY A. SUMMERFIELD, VINELAND.
Table 1. Products effective against Thrips parvipsinus larvae and adults, in order of efficacy. Results courtesy of trials conducted by Dr. Revynthi, University of Florida.
and Rimon caused high mortality of larvae (>70 per cent).
Although they were not effective on adult thrips, they will still be an important part of a pesticide rotation program for this pest. Similarly, Tristar had some efficacy on adult thrips (causing around 50 per cent mortality) but was not effective on larvae.
Ference caused reduced feeding of larvae, which is good news for plant damage, but didn’t seem to cause much mortality. However, in short lab tests like these, it’s often hard to see how products, which inhibit feeding, actually work to reduce the pest population. A longer time frame (around four to five days) is often needed.
TESTS OF PESTICIDES IN COMMERCIAL GREENHOUSES
As important as lab tests are for initial screening purposes, they represent ideal conditions. Pesticide coverage is 100 per cent and the insects can’t leave the treated arena. Further, lab-based insect colonies are often more susceptible to insecticides than real-world populations that may have been exposed to multiple chemicals. So, the real test is how these products work in the greenhouse under actual growing conditions, as part of a total IPM program.
This past year, I worked with a grower cooperator in Ontario who grows a large amount of mandevilla. The previous year, they attempted to manage T. parvipsinus with high levels of biological control.
This course of action was based on previous experience here in Ontario with the chemically resistant western flower thrips, and reports from Europe that suggest T. parvipsinus may be even more prone to insecticide resistance. Unfortunately, using biocontrol alone, with
late-season interventions of chemicals only, was not that successful. Around 60 per cent of the crop was lost in 2021/2022.
In the 2022/2023 growing season, plants were potted up in late July. By November, levels of T. parvispinus had built up to almost 40 thrips per pot in a red variety (thought to be the initial source of the infestation), and around 20 thrips per pot in an adjacent white variety. Atlhough initial attemps at biological control (a combination of Amblyseius cucumeris, Anystis baccarum and lacewings) along with mechanical controls (pruning growing points, regularly removing flowers and using a large amount of mass trapping cards) reduced the thrips population by an impressive 50 to 70 per cent, this wasn’t enough to stop damage from occuring.
We, therefore, turned to chemical controls in late December. As you can see in Figure 2, an initial “sprench” of high rates of Success, along with Beleaf (flonicamid), gave us control in the red variety for almost three months, while plants were mostly vegetative and growing
temperatures were cool (15 to 18 C). In the white variety, which seemed to be less attractive to T. parvispinus overall, we were able to get away almost exclusively this initial application of Success/Beleaf, with 16 weeks of control between December and April. However, T. parvispinus populations started rebounding in the reds in early March, when temperatures warmed up and the plants were allowed to flower in earnest.
Attempts at using “softer” chemicals, like Ference and Beleaf, along with biocontrol, seemed to slow thrips population growth, but, with the population once again approaching damage thresholds, Pylon was applied. This knocked the T. parvispinus infestation back to near zero for another month, with an application of Avid made near sale just to ensure the crop was as clean as possible for shipping.
We also saw good results with applications of Kontos, Pylon, Success and Avid in a variety of white eight-inch baskets that got hit particularly hard by T. parvispinus sometime in late February. Despite sustaining considerable damage, pesticide applications ensured these plants were able to grow out of the damage in time for sale in late May (before and after photos are at the top of this article.).
In fact, 100 per cent of the plants farm-wide were sold in 2023, which was a considerable improvement from 2022.
MANAGING PESTICIDE RESISTANCE
One thing that likely contributed to our success with pesticides was delaying the need for applications as long as possible with biological and mechanical controls. Without knowing which pesticides were applied at the propagator’s end, the time
Figure 2. Average T. parvispinus over time in response to different treatments. The red variety (red line) got all seven pesticide applications. The whites (purple line) only needed treatments 1, 5 and 6 to achieve the same level of control (with 6 and 7 mainly being crop clean-up for shipping purposes).
period between July and December where we employed non-chemical techniques likely allowed the T. parvispinus population to be more susceptible to the pesticides we had at our disposal. This is much akin to how we successfully manage whitefly populations (Bemisia tabaci species) here in Canada on poinsettia crops. Overall, known resistence management strategies such as delaying the use of pesticides are likely going to play a large role in the successful IPM of this pest. Here are some other tips to help avoid resistence when it comes in T. parvispinus:
• Dip incoming cuttings in reduced-risk pesticides, like soaps and oils, to reduce the number of thrips coming in on product. Research from the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has shown that dips in BotaniGard (2.5 g/L) or mineral oils (at 0.1 per cent) reduce T. parvispinus on cuttings by 70 per cent. This technique has been very successful in helping to manage resistance in Bemisia whitefly and western flower thrips IPM programs.
• Use weekly scouting and develop damage thresholds to avoid unnecessary sprays, especially early in the crop cycle. Determining a guideline early of 10 thrips per nine-inch pot as our damage threshold was incredibly helpful in this scenario. Adjust thresholds up or down as plants get bigger or closer to sale, as needed.
• Avoid spraying all plant varieties if they aren’t showing damage. Thrips parvispinus seems particularly attracted to certain varieties of mandevilla, anthurium and other host plants, compared to other pests. Additionally, some varieties just don’t seem to show T. parvispinus damage as much as others. Leaving susceptible populations of insects in small refuges is a tried-and-true method of resistance management. A pocket of susceptible (unsprayed) insects will ultimately breed with resistant insects and bring down the resistance level of the whole population.
• Always start with low label rates and wait at least five days to see if chemicals are effective. For example, in our trials, we found a half rate of Pylon to be effective against T. parvispinus, and Kontos took a while to show impacts on the population by affecting larvae. You can always move to higher rates, or a second application of pesticides
from there. Blasting insects with high rates of chemicals at short intervals is how we quickly produce resistant populations in the lab.
• Make sure to couple all pesticide sprays with other IPM tactics. Our trials estimated that pruning the growing tips off the plants (where T. parvispinus likes to feed) and removing flowers (a source of nectar and pollen) reduced initial T. parvispinus infestations on plants by around 60 per cent. Mass trapping using sticky cards contributed another
17 per cent. No pesticide will give you 100 per cent control, so reducing the pest pressure in other ways is critical to lowering insect populations below damage thresholds.
Sarah Jandricic has been the Greenhouse Floriculture IPM Specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) since 2014. She also runs the popular ONFloriculture.com blog, which brings timely information to floriculture growers on pest and production issues.
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When you need proven pest control for greenhouse vegetables, greenhouse ornamentals and outdoor ornamentals, Envu is ready with solutions you can trust. Altus ™ provides systemic, broad‑spectrum control of aphids, whiteflies, mealybugs and leafhoppers with flexible spray or drench applications.
For years, impatiens walleriana had been all but wiped out by the destructive effects of downy mildew. They could not survive in the landscape and were not available for sale at retail for many years. This inspired breeders at PanAmerican Seed® to look for a disease-resistant strain of impatiens walleriana, eventually resulting in the introduction of Beacon Impatiens. It was truly a game changer that happened mostly behind the scenes. And so, the question grew as to how we could help other lesser-known issues in our communities in our own small way.
Beacon – a light that serves to navigate those at sea – became the guide to develop the give-back program we know today. The aim is to “shine a light” on issues and diseases that are perhaps not well known and don’t get as much exposure or funding. PanAmerican Seed has committed to donating a portion of its annual Beacon Impatiens global seed sales, navigating those to a lesswidely known charitable organization, such as:
• Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease) in 2020
• Familial Pulmonary Fibrosis (debilitating lung disease) in 2021
• Macular Degeneration (non-curable eye disease) in 2022
• Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (damage to the nerves in the brain and spinal cord) in 2023
Each charity is chosen through careful consideration by the PanAmerican Seed team. The charities are reviewed for current exposure, transparency regarding sources of funding and research, financial health and stability, among other factors. This review ensures our donation will make an impact on those who need it most.With this detailed review, we are happy to share that Beacon has been shining brightly on such worthy causes.
Visit beaconimpatiens.com for more of the Beacon story.
Gardening is ‘the new normal’
Despite challenging weather patterns across Canada, garden centres are a hive of activity
BY ANNE KADWELL AND STUART SERVICE
Garden centres across Canada experienced a significant bump in sales from 2020 to 2022 as customers invested in beautifying their properties. That momentum has continued this year, though inflation’s presence is very much to credit, or to blame, for the buying tendencies of customers.
While 2023 figures look great on paper, price increases may be showing that unit volumes are down, while dollar sales seem to match those of previous years.
Another surprise is that perennial sales are especially strong early in the season. Supply issues have certainly improved, however, this story of the summer is being told by the weather, which will always be the conductor of the garden centre’s orchestra.
Patti Ambrock, general manager of Greenland Garden Centre in Sherwood Park, Alta., said that an early spring and beautiful weather has resulted sales being slightly higher compared with figures from the 2020-2022 seasons.
There had been a shortage of finished plant material on the market the past several years, so the Greenland team did a lot of custom growing of ferns this year. Despite creating more supply, they
“still were not able to meet demand during the peak season,” Ambrock said.
She added that groundcover plants of any kind are selling fast, as well as perennials like Echinacea, Lupines, and Heuchera varieties by Terra Nova, which aren’t typically purchased in the volumes in which they are moving in early spring.
WEATHER WOES
Sales of garden staples, annuals, perennials, herbs, and veggie starts have been strong at Grow & Gather in Maple Ridge, B.C., said owner Bill Hardy.
“After a very poor start this spring due to cold and wet weather, sales came back strong through a very good May and early June, which has been an unexpected and pleasant surprise,” Hardy said.
“Though we’ve noticed that bigger-ticket items, such as pond sales, aren’t moving at nearly the same volume as we saw the past few summers.”
Philip Rispens from Sherwood Greenhouse and Garden Centre in Regina, Sask., experienced a record Mother’s Day.
“I would say people are investing time and embracing gardening as a hobby,” he said. “Our sales aren’t quite where they were during Covid, however
PHOTO BY STUART SERVICE
the decline we were anticipating this year is pretty minimal.”
In Manitoba, at Lacoste Garden Centre, Jordan Hiebert said that perennials have made a significant comeback this year over last.
“Sales of all plants are up considerably, as are pottery and other supplementary products,” he said, added that blooming patio tropical plants such as Hibiscus and Oleander have also been popular.
The biggest surprise he’s seen this season is that vegetable seed sales have increased by 40 per cent. This seems to be happening across the country and may be a symptom of inflationary pressures driving bigger vegetable seed sales, as gardeners grow their own produce to avoid escalating grocery store prices.
At Brookdale Treeland Nurseries (BTN) in Schomberg, Ont., President Jeff Olsen
ABOVE and LEFT
The scale of the independent garden centres in Quebec are impressive, and full of pristine plant material and lots of customers.
Sales of garden staples have been strong at Grow & Gather in Maple Ridge, BC.
highlighted that bad weather and wildfire smoke have been the biggest hurdles for the numerous garden centres across the country that BTN supplies with plant material.
May was off to a great start with a perfect, sunny Mother’s Day. Many garden centres in the Greater Toronto Area even experienced record sales.
“If you get five solid weekends from end of April till the beginning of June . . . your sales are going to be amazing,” he said.
BUZZ KILL
Southern Ontario then experienced nine consecutive chilly, rainy days. As the weather rebounded, smoke from wildfires raging in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and B.C. caused air quality to plummet, and the public to avoid the outdoors for extended periods. Olsen said these factors “killed the buzz” of what started out as a promising season.
“People take one less trip to the garden centre on a crummy weekend,” he continued. “The weather trumps everything in this business.”
Weather is especially a factor in St John’s, N.L., where sales are at the mercy of an unforgiving East Coast weather system. April and May had frequent, below-zero overnight lows, which led to sales of annual plants taking a hit at Holland Nursery, where sales are back to pre-Covid levels.
Steve Cline, who’s worked at Sheridan Nurseries for 24 years, said he’s noticed the buying “frenzy” of Covid is gone, and that the timing of customer visits have changed. They’re preferring to stop at the
garden centre during the daytime and on weekends, and not so much during the lateafternoon hours.
“We’ve changed our store hours to reflect this change,” said Cline, who is manager of Sheridan’s newest garden centre location in Aurora, Ont. that opened in May. Sales are trending with 2019 numbers, though : “I wouldn’t say sales are softer, per se, it’s just different than what it was during peak Covid times,” he said.
Cedarcrest Gardens in Saint John, N.B. is experiencing strong, consistent sales, though not quite at the 2020 and 2021 levels.
“Weather also plays such a huge factor in early spring sales; good spring means great sales,” said Cedarcrest Senior Product Advisor Heather Saunders. “We are finding that we can’t keep trees, shrubs or perennials in stock. Many customers are very interested in growing their own fruit and vegetables and are starting their own food forests. Customers also seem to be shopping early to get the product that they want.”
Robin Godfrey, owner of Lakeland Plant World in Dartmouth, N.S., is also seeing a trend towards customers understanding and enjoying growing their own food.
“We have been steady. Sales were high during Covid, and it does seem this year that this is the new normal, and they continue to be better than pre-Covid sales,” Godfrey said. “Tropicals are the toughest to keep on the shelves – the younger generation nabs these up quickly.”
An interesting perspective of garden retail is emerging in Quebec, where independent stores are gigantic, and packed with pristine plant material and lots of customers. Leanne Johnson, President of Canada GardenWorks Ltd., and Event Chair for the 2024 International Garden Centre Association (IGCA) Congress, recently visited garden centres in Montreal and Quebec City.
“The scale of the Quebec garden centres is stunning,” Johnson said. “The quality of the plants and just the abundance and inspiration are remarkable.”
The IGCA hosts an annual congress, when over 250 independent garden centre owners and operators from more than 20 countries exchange ideas and tour the best garden centres the area has to offer. Next year’s IGCA Congress in Quebec will be hosted by Garden Centres Canada and feature visits to 10 of the best stores in the province on August 25-31, 2024.
PHOTO BY STUART SERVICE
PHOTO BY GROW & GATHER.
INSIDE THE ‘FRESH GREENS’ Container Farm
Steel shipping containers, converted to produce fresh garden greens, root crops, or even flowers, are popping up on the landscape. Here’s a look inside one in southern Alberta.
BY JOHN DIETZ
For the good health of local folks, and hopefully for their own profit, Chad and Nicole Randal have reinvented themselves as suppliers of fresh greens for neighbouring Cochrane, Alta. Cochrane is in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, about 20 minutes northwest of Calgary.
They turned on the power and started growing fresh green vegetables in the unlikely month of December 2022, inside two new 40foot buildings on one of their rural properties.
ABOVE
The buildings are an ultra-modern set of converted steel shipping containers once used for ocean-going freight. Inside, computer-controlled lighting, temperatures, ventilation, humidity and nutrient-flows provide lab-like growing conditions tailored for pest-free, disease-free perfect production of whatever they choose to grow. They can choose from several hundred varieties of leafy crops, root vegetables, herbs and even flowers. Solar panels on each roof generate
Chad Randal checks on seedlings at Good Life Farms, an operation that grows out of two converted steel shipping containers near Cochrane, Alta.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY JOHN DIETZ
a portion of the energy needed inside. A trickle of water is supplied from the glacier-fed Bow River. The insulated walls, floors and roof give each building independence from the local weather.
And, they didn’t need to build it. Their ‘farm’ was shipped by truck from the “Freight Farms” factory where they are manufactured near Boston, Mass. A local contractor brought in the power supply and ‘plugged’ them into Alberta’s electrical grid. The Randals invested approximately $100,000 for site preparation and $200,000 for each ready-to-grow container.
Chad calls it Good Life Farms. Primarily, it’s his project. Nicole and her younger daughter, Megan, operate an equestrian centre a few miles away. The older daughter, Emily, is a Red-Seal chef in training with a large hotel chain and is involved with helping dad develop the new enterprise.
"We harvest, and we plant weekly. Every week we can produce 1,000 to 2,000 heads of lettuce. We do a little bit of herbs and roots, and we have an experimental chef’s wall that we really enjoy."
MID-LIFE CHANGE
World Expo hosted by Dubai.
“I started a business there, supporting countries with water treatment issues,” he explains. “I became an Emirate citizen because I had an operating business in Dubai, and we stayed almost a year.”
During the extended visit on the Arabian peninsula, Chad attended the nearby Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Conference in January 2022. He encountered a Singapore company manufacturing containerized greenhouses.
“We toured their booth and asked to
see one. Then we found companies doing these in Canada and the United States. We evaluated different companies and decided to buy from Freight Farms. We ordered two in February 2022 and received them in May,” he said.
Freight Farms has sold more than 600 units in 41 countries. As of Summer 2023, it has 38 units in Canada. They are being used by small business, education, and non-profit organizations.
It would take two to four acres of land to grow the same amount of product as
Container-farming is a midlife career change for Chad Randal. He’s an entrepreneur, enthusiastic, socially minded, and mission oriented.
He left a two-generation farm in the 1980s, became a certified engineering technologist and worked in the environmental sciences world on and off for about 30 years.
Monumental color and massive blooms make SuperCal a high impact garden performer! Part petunia, part calibrachoa, SuperCal and SuperCal Premium combine the very best of both for an explosion of colorful flowers that stand up to sun and rain. Blooming early and extending through the fall, SuperCal earns its name!
“We built one of the largest water recycling mobile fleets in North America for the oil and gas industry,” he said.
After they sold their business, Chad and Nicole moved to Dubai, capital of the United Arab Emirates. From September 2021 to June 2022, they were busy at the
RED MAPLE
YELLOW SUN
TOP to BOTTOM
Good Life Farms launched in December 2022.
Computer-controlled lighting, temperatures, ventilation, humidity and nutrient-flows provide lab-like growing conditions tailored for pest-free, disease-free production of hundreds varieties of leafy crops, root vegetables, herbs and flowers.
'Freight Farms' uses a proprietary software called Farmhand to operate the growing platform.
one high-intensity, year-round sealedenvironment, hydroponic, vertical-walled, Greenery S container, according to Freight Farms. Power usage amounts to 190 to 230 kWh/day and typical water usage is only five gallons/day. Workspace is adjustable, can be customized, and has an area for seedlings.
“The high-efficiency LED lighting pretty much keeps them warm in winter. An HVAC system circulates air, reuses available carbon dioxide, and has a heat exchanger to reduce energy consumption,” he says. Solar power, set up by his brother-in-law in Sundre Alta. (Kelmar Electric), offsets about half of one unit’s energy consumption and reduces risks from outages or brownouts.
Freight Farms provides comprehensive on-site training in Massachusetts as well as ongoing technical support, production supplies and other services. A proprietary software, Farmhand, operates the growing platform, keeping growers updated with Wi-Fi.
Leafy greens, lettuce and herbs are the primary crops. Routinely, they are harvested in three to five weeks. Root crops (with edible leaves) include beets, carrots, radishes, bunching onions, turnips and kohlrabi. Experimental crops include flowers (calendula, celosia, nasturtium, nigella, viola, yarrow and zinnia). Then there are microgreens – very young seedlings.
Randal grew arugula and Graziano leaf lettuce, KC butterhead lettuce, turnips, radishes, carrots and even tomatoes in the first months.
Six months into his new career, one container was full and the other was halffull.
Randal said, “We harvest, and we plant weekly. Every week we can produce 1,000 to 2,000 heads of lettuce. We do a little bit of herbs and roots, and we have an
your
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RIGHT
Good Life Farms is capable of producing upwards of 1,000 to 2,000 heads of lettuce every week. According to Freight Farms, it would take two to four acres of land to grow the same amount of product as one high-intensity, year-round sealed-environment, hydroponic, vertical-walled, Greenery S container.
experimental chef’s wall that we really enjoy. We share as a family and with the community. Last weekend, we sold out, but I always grow more than I sell, so we donate that to community groups. We believe in helping families, so we’re doing that.”
STAFFING AND MARKETING
Staffing Good Life Farms has been fairly simple. There’s a local supply of part-time, semi-retired labour. Packaging and market development have been challenging.
Nicole helps on occasion. His daughter the chef helps with product selection. Local pensioners help with marketing, sales, deliveries, planting, harvesting, technical aspects, as needed.
In Cochrane and nearby Calgary, major retailers have established price points for fresh produce. Good Life Farms has to compete.
“We’re coming into something established, sharing what we’re capable of doing, and people decide to buy or not. We’ve been able to meet the price points and, I think, people see it as a premium product,” Randall says.
“We need to be profitable enough to continue the operation
or grow it, but I’m not motivated the same as large corporate shareholders and investors. My social license says, I would rather see people fairly get as much food as they want, have the best quality they could, and have it at a reasonable price. That’s what this is really about, our community, our next generation.”
Packaging and marketing take time and cost money. He invested in a packaging facility with equipment for it like printers and label makers. But no matter how fresh and shelf-perfect, his product has to fit into food regulations as well as retail displays.
“It’s one thing to be a farmer and grow, which is what I want to do. The packaging and marketing side can take a huge amount of time and cost. You have to take a look at what you want to do, working with a chef, selling to the local farmers market, or selling to a wholesaler. Where do you want to be?”
Frankly, says the entrepreneur, his new career is still a work in progress. He may change direction, but his vision is fixed.
BIG PICTURE
HARDWORKING GLOVES
“I’m a little agnostic on this yet,” Randal says. “I’m trying these farms. I want to know everything about them before I suggest anybody else takes the risk. There are other farms. The Canadian company, Growcer, looks really good, too, and I may look into mushroom farming as well. We’re even looking at the fodder technology for our equestrian facility.”
In the Arabian peninsula, the former water treatment specialist and conservationist saw a bigger picture of the future. He’s brought it home as an enterprise to develop. Randal believes that in the big picture, the future of farming may be in indoor highintensity vertical farming systems like his high-tech shipping containers.
He says, “Land is so expensive. Water is scarce. Container technology can provide a reliable, perfect environment for year-round growth. And a standby generator could replace or supplement solar power if needed.”
He adds, “If I can inspire anybody else to do this, I’ll be so happy. There’s such a need, there’s more opportunity (for local food production) than I can ever imagine or take on.”
GREENHOUSE SANITATION Practices and procedures will determine your crop performance
Proper cleaning, disinfection can improve crop performance and reduce pesticide use
BY DR. MOHYUDDIN MIRZA
There is some history behind this topic of greenhouse sanitation and it’s importance. When I started working as a greenhouse crops specialist in Alberta in 1980, most of the vegetable crops were grown in soil. Two crops of cucumbers were grown and the season ended around the end of October or early November. The primary focus was fumigating the soil with chemicals and washing the greenhouse surfaces with a bleach solution. Root knot nematodes and fusarium and verticillium wilt causing fungi were affecting crops so much that production was down to less than 50 cucumbers per square-metre and industry sustainability was threatened. Growers switched to steam pasteurization of soils, however a few weeks after cucumbers were planted, nematodes attacked the plants near the greenhouse poles. So, steam was not effective in completely eliminating these nematodes. They moved to areas where steaming was difficult that is where the poles were.
The incidence of wilt causing fungi also increased sometimes after steaming and when investigated further it was found that spores from the air colonized the soil. They multiplied faster in the absence of any natural antagonists. Thus, soilless cultivation systems were developed and by the end of 1984, most of the vegetable growers switched to soilless culture.
Many crop management practices which have been developed, used, and changed include a switch from two-crop system to three crops per year which resulted in major insect, fungal and viral diseases because there was no break in between crops and no time to sanitize greenhouses. The three-cucumber crop system was designed to supply the market with fresh produce with minimum break in supply. This also necessitated to switch seedling supply from other sources, not grow them in a section of the greenhouse.
With this shift to soilless cultivation, greenhouse sanitation practices also changed. For example, white plastics being used to cover the soil surface, there is a better array of sanitizing products along with plant health improvements.
Here are few logical steps which most growers follow:
ABOVE
Taken from a pepper greenhouse. The debris, dead leaves and flowers were examined for pepper fruit rot organism Fusarium spp and all the flowers were found to be infected with it. Botrytis was also found on them. If the floor is not cleaned and disinfected then it provided inoculum for next pepper crop.
ABOVE
A vacuum cleaner is being used by a grower to pick up the debris. It cleans between the heat pipe rails as well so that one does not have to displace them for cleaning.
ABOVE
Example of a well cleaned and sanitized greenhouse planted with cucumbers. Note the yellow sticky traps. I have also seen yellow sticky rolls as well to mass trap insects especially thrips.
• Prepare a plan based on the current crop conditions. For example, a grower had a bad infestation of thrip in cucumber crop. He examined all the facts and wrote a plan as to what and how should it be done. After last harvest, the cucumber plants were treated with a pesticide and then crop was removed by putting the plants in plastic bags right there rather than dragging them to a central area for collection and disposal. The old yellow sticky tapes were removed after the crop was taken out.
• Then the debris was removed, floor plastic was replaced, greenhouse was sprayed with proper, registered products, yellow stick tapes were installed and seedlings planted for a fall crop.
• Prepare a list of chemicals which are registered and don’t leave a residue for next crop. Know about the active ingredients and their rates to be used for spray and for surface cleaning. Also, what precautions need to be taken for their use and also re-entry times. Many growers use Ozone for disinfection of air when there is no crop. Plan to use these chemicals based on your assessment of problems.
ABOVE
Example of a cannabis facility where growers must maintain good sanitation at all the times.
If virus is an issue, then focus on the use of Virucidal products.
• During summer when growers are switching to second crops then some growers “solarize” the greenhouse by shutting the greenhouse and let the temperature rise to 40 C and above. All sensors for temperature, irrigation and others should be removed or protected during such treatments.
• Cull piles are likely to be a major source of new infections. Ideally, they should be located downwind from the greenhouse or removed completely off site. I recall a situation where there was heavy contamination of Fusarium stem rot on cucumbers and the grower dumped the dead plants near the greenhouse. Later on, we were able to trace the source of infection in the intake air coming from that cull pile area.
• Don’t forget to clean and disinfect carts, wires, temperature sensors, machinery, totes, sprayers, tools, door handles, hose ends, wheels etc.
• Cleaning and disinfecting drippers and stakes is also important.
• Biofilms in irrigation lines should also be looked after. Lines could be flushed with hydrogen peroxide-based products or with other agents available.
The pictures accompanying this article highlight some points I have made about the sanitation.
Paying attention to greenhouse sanitation during the crop production cycle and at end of the season is vital to manage a healthy crop. This will also reduce pesticide use.
commonly found. There is also an improved white; altogether there is better uniformity between the colours. The plants I saw blooming on display in California in late March looked great and had already been blooming for three months. (Zones 4-9)
Erysistible erysium – Syngenta
The new Erysistible series of erysimum (19) has a winter hardiness of Zone 5. It is best grown cold for early spring sales. Full vernalisation is not necessary to initiate bloom but growing cool will help unify the bloom times and improve habit. Expect periods of bloom lasting greater than three months under cool growing conditions. Colours include yellow, magenta, tricolor, yellow-pink and bronze-rose. Novelty colours that are hardy to Zone 5 are unique.
Prairie Blaze echinacea – Syngenta
The new Prairie Blaze series of Echinacea is the first OP seed type available in novelty colours. These include golden yellow, green, orange sunset and vintage
lime. This series is first year flowering and has a compact growth habit. It is suitable for growing in containers and the landscape. (Zones 3-9)
Guatemala Gold – Danziger
Panama Red, introduced in 2022, was the first echinacea propagated from cuttings; the new Guatemala Gold is the second. It has sturdy stems, a compact habit and blooms close to the foliage. It reaches garden heights of 30 cm. (Zones 4-9)
Pink Nebula – Danziger
The purple Dark Matter selection of Salvia nemerosa now has a pink companion named Pink Nebula (20). It has Dark Matter’s compact, well-branched mounding habit and intense bloom colour that contrasts well against the foliage. (Zones 4-9)
Solanna coreopsis – Danziger
A new bicolour has been added to the Solanna series of coreopsis. Sunset Bright (21) has semi-double blooms with golden yellow petals and a large central winecoloured patch. Like other cultivars in
this series, it has large bloom diameter, a compact mounded habit and a firstyear bloom habit without the benefit of vernalisation. (Zones 4-9)
Layla Presto Blue – Danziger
The new addition to the Layla series of Lavandula angustifolia, Layla Presto Blue has excellent branching and blooms up to 10 days earlier than Layla Blue. It does not require vernalisation to bloom, flowers spring through summer, and is pollinator friendly. (Zones 5-9)
Pink Pearl agastache – Terra Nova Nurseries
The new agastache, Pink Pearl has great mildew tolerance and increased hardiness. Its habit is compact and mounding with large flower spikes. The two-toned flowers are large, dense and cover the entire canopy of the plant. (Zones 6-10)
I want to thank Greenhouse Canada magazine and Ball Horticultural for supporting my travel and hosting me on my visit to CAST 2023.
AEROPONICS: GROWING VERTICAL
Aeroponics:GrowingVertical covers aspects of the emerging technology, aeroponics, which is a sister to hydroponics, involving state-of-the-art controlled environment agriculture. The book begins with an introduction of aeroponics followed by a summary of peerreviewed technical literature conducted over 50 years involving various aspects of aeroponics. It covers the science and all the patent literature since 2001 to give the reader a comprehensive view of the innovations related to aeroponics.
ADVERTISERS INDEX
Continued from page 16
little turnover, if any.”
The reason for this, Bierhuizen believes, is that he, and his parents before him, make every effort to lead by example and with kindness, compassion and understanding.
“I’m a very driven person. And that can be stressful on people,” Bierhuizen said. “I have to remind myself to be gentle at times. And, once in a while, I have to apologize. It’s being mindful of people and reminding yourself that someone always has something going on.”
He also seeks to empower his staff, and others in the industry, by prioritizing education and constant collaboration about new technologies and techniques they are bringing into the Sunrise greenhouses. In fact, he believes the industry, as a whole could, benefit through more education and collaboration.
In addition to his current work with the University of Waterloo, he has a long history of collaboration with the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, as well as Niagara College. He has also mentored and hired graduates from the college. He is an active member of Flowers Canada and was a founding member of the Greenhouse Growers Alliance of Lincoln.
Additionally, Bierhuizen consults with other greenhouse growers and welcomes them into his operation to share some of his company’s successes and even failures.
“Like any industry, we’re only as strong as our weakest link,” he said. “We have to work together.”
WHERE IT’S GOING
Working together, according to Bierhuizen, is the best way for the industry to move into an uncertain future.
Nonetheless, when asked about the future for his business, it’s pretty clear in Bierhuizen’s mind what it holds.
“I want to be the best, but what’s the best?” he asks. “To me, ‘the best’ is the best you can be, or this business can be. Biggest isn’t always the best. We’re a very niche business in that most of our crops we grow are exclusive to us in North America. We own genetics, we develop our own genetics, we do our own breeding. And I think being innovative is, is at the core of this, this company, and we want to stay that way.”
INSIDE VIEW
GARY
JONES | Gary.Jones@kpu.ca
Patents or rights?
Having moved home, my wife and I are choosing colours to paint the outside of the house. She likes colours that ‘pop’. Me, I’m a little more conservative. And colour blind. So, this is challenging. We’ve painted a bunch of sample colours on the fascia and a side wall. It looks like a Kindergarten, and since that side faces the street, it has rapidly become the talk of the neighborhood. It’s a great way to meet new neighbours who stop to ask what we’ve chosen. Who knew it was so difficult. But this has really highlighted to me how very subjective colour preference is. Even more startling, just how strong peoples’ opinions are!
This got me to thinking about how difficult it must be to develop new varieties of flowers and ornamentals with colours that ‘grab’ the majority of customers. But colour is not the only criterion. As a grower, what do you look for in a new variety? Pest and disease resistance, water requirements and drought tolerance, heat/cold tolerance, habit, longevity, even novelty value? For edibles, yield of course, flavour, appearance, production cycle and crop balance characteristics are all important.
There is clearly a ton of work required to bring a new cultivar to market and hats off to all those breeders working hard to support our industry in this way. Their knowledge and years of effort involved in this process need to be recognized, which is why breeders want to protect their investment and valuable intellectual property.
The question of patents on living organisms
meet specific criteria and be ‘new, distinct, uniform and stable’2. Holding a PBR certificate affords the breeder certain benefits, namely “The holder [also] has exclusive rights over the sale, production, reproduction, import, export, stocking, and conditioning of their variety's propagating material (e.g. seeds or cuttings). If the holder is unable to exercise these rights on the propagating material, they may exercise the rights on harvested material (e.g. grain or fruit).”2
In other words, the efforts of conventional plant breeders are recognised, rewarded, and preserved. But non-conventional techniques for genetic modification of plants have raised eyebrows when it comes to plant patents and intellectual property of genetic material. That is already covered in the Canadian legislation (see above), and in Europe “the European Patent Convention (EPC), [which] prohibits patents on conventionally bred varieties.”3 However, “EU directive (98/44) does allow patents, but only for technical inventions such as transgenic plants.”3
So, conventionally bred new cultivars cannot hold patents, but can benefit from ‘Plant Breeders’ Rights’ certification, while transgenic plants can be patented. I would think that for the general public, this is a confusing situation. And confusion leads to misunderstanding. Which in turn can often lead to disagreement, even confrontation.
“The question of patents on living organisms has come to the fore.”
(including plants) has come to the fore with the development of genetic modification through non-traditional methods, stirring a public debate about plant patents. “Typically, any higher life form, including plants, cannot be patented in Canada. But, there are exceptions to it. To protect new inventions or plant varieties, plant breeders can use the Canadian Plant Breeders’ Rights Act (PBRA).”1
“Plant breeders' rights (PBR) are a form of intellectual property protection that allows plant breeders to protect new varieties of plants, similar to the way an invention can be protected with a patent. When a PBR certificate is granted for a variety, the holder has legal protection in the marketplace and may seek compensation if the variety is used without authorization.”2 To be considered for a PBR certificate, a variety must
There are, of course, multiple viewpoints on what is essentially the discussion around the right to patent life. In horticulture, we’ve operated for decades within the framework of PBRs. Will the conversation change this, and will we be able to continue this? Just a thought. Like choosing a house colour, I suspect any debate will go on for some time. And in case you’re wondering, no, we haven’t chosen a colour yet. But new rose variety ‘Arborose Tangerine Skies’ took my breath away. Perhaps it ‘pops’ just a bit too much for a house colour though. Back to the drawing board, I guess.
1. https://www.trademarkspatentslawyer.com/ accessed 30 June 2023
2. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/canadian-intellectualproperty-office/en/plant-breeders-rights accessed 30 June 2023
3. “More than 1.000 plant varieties affected by patents” ‘No Patents On Seeds’, https://www.no-patentson-seeds.org/en/news/plant-varieties reported in HortiDaily.com accessed 30 June 2023
