Celebrating a milestone
The Praill family of Sarnia has very deep roots
California Spring Trials recap: taking a closer view of some of the new varieties. See page 14. Photo by Melhem Sawaya
They are never “shy” in letting you know what they need.
DR. MOHYUDDIN MIRZA
ʻOur
Time to reboot your root zone
The stronger the foundation, the better the crop.
BY DAVE HARRISON
BY GARY JONES
Our recent webinar outlining the emerging business opportunities related to the move to legalize largescale marijuana cultivation drew considerable interest.
The number of viewers eclipsed any of our previous webinars, and the questions directed to industry expert Michael Camplin and his colleagues at GGS Structures were drawn from throughout North America and overseas.
The Q&A session could easily have extended well into a second hour or so, if only we had that time available.
Clearly the growth of marijuana as a new crop alternative is attracting considerable attention and investment worldwide, but especially here in North America.
But it’s only the start of a new wave of interest in greenhouse cultivation. There’s indeed a bright future ahead for industry suppliers, growers, crop specialists and horticulture students.
“the humble horseradish may not be much to look at, but a recent University of Illinois study shows that it contains compounds that could help detoxify and eliminate cancercausing free radicals in the body.”
The release was issued by the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. “We knew horseradish had health benefits, but in this study, we were able to link it to the activation of certain detoxifying enzymes for the first time,” noted crop scientist Mosbah Kushad.
His team had previously identified and quantified the levels of glucosinolates in horseradish, finding it contains about 10 times more glucosinolates “than its superfood cousin, broccoli.”
(If parents have a hard time telling their kids to eat their broccoli “because it’s good for you,” it’s going to be an even harder sell in telling them to add horseradish to their meals for the same reason.)
National Advertising Manager NASHELLE BARSKY nbarsky@annexweb.com 905.431.8892
Account
A few years ago, few people would have foreseen the emerging growth of urban agriculture, especially projects based on greenhouse crops. That trend is well underway.
This is just an example of a potential medicinal crop. Field horseradish
A great many plants have amazing medicinal properties.
What commercial marijuana cultivation does is open the industry to a new round of investment interest, beyond the cannabis option. It’s the whole issue of new medicinal crops, those that can be finely tuned in greenhouses for health care applications.
A great many plants have amazing medicinal properties, and researchers are showing interest in them. One of the latest cases in point is horseradish, which contains cancer-fighting compounds called glucosinolates. As noted in a recent news release,
production would be much cheaper, but greenhouses allow growers to provide the right mix of nutrients, light, shading, temperature, humidity, insect exclusion, etc., to create plants with the exact compounds proven to be most beneficial, and to replicate those results crop after crop.
This is what medicinal marijuana producers are now doing, to exacting Health Canada standards, with great success.
There will soon be a new wave of medicinal plants being grown commercially in greenhouses, and that interest will be spurred by the success of the medicinal marijuana sector.
From seed to table, higher quality with better
A better-quality product for the consumer. An integrated, innovative greenhouse solution for you. That’s what Syngenta provides through quality genetics and new variety innovations. Your customers, and their dinner tables, deserve nothing less than the very best.
To learn more about varieties from Syngenta, contact Plant Products at 519-326-9037 or info@plantproducts.com
Do you employ … or are a colleague of … or are an employee of … a young industry leader? Greenhouse Canada’s Top 10 under 40 awards program is again underway. From commercial growers and wholesalers to manufacturers, equipment suppliers and allied trades, they are the best and the brightest in our industry.
Anyone in the horticulture or associated industries who is under the age of 40 as of Dec. 31, 2016, can
be nominated. All nominees should demonstrate a strong work ethic, show leadership and initiative, actively seek new opportunities for training and education and participate in industry events.
Nominations close on Aug. 26. The winners will be announced during this year’s Canadian Greenhouse Conference and featured in our November issue.
For more information, visit our Top 10 Under 40 site at greenhousecanada.com/top-10-under-40.
Much of Canada is in for a very warm summer this year, as extended periods of hot and dry weather will grip large areas of the country.
The most intense heat will focus on British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, worsening the drought and increasing the risk for wildfires.
Meanwhile, the threat of damaging thunderstorms will stretch across parts of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.
BY THE NUMBERS
73% of people say they have a high appreciation of flowers. (2016 Generations of Flowers Study) Annual projected growth rate of global hydroponics market (RnR Market Research) 17%
$519M
Estimated size of GLOBAL HYDROPONICS MARKET BY 2020. (RnR Market Research)
They can expect not only a warmer than normal summer, but also periods of unsettled, potentially high impact weather.
The threat for severe weather will not be as high in Atlantic Canada; however, AccuWeather hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski warns that the region will have a greater chance of being hit by a tropical storm late in the summer compared to last year.
A hot and dry weather
Annual average change in Retail Services Price Index (2014)
pattern will dominate much of Western and Central Canada, worsening the already present drought conditions across British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
According to the most recent assessment of the drought conditions, large swaths of Alberta are in a moderate to severe drought, including the cities of Calgary and Edmonton.
Some portions of southern Saskatchewan and northern British
Columbia are also in a moderate drought.
The summer will be slightly warmer than normal along the West Coast, thanks in part to the large area of above-normal sea surface temperatures over the northeast Pacific Ocean.
The complete report has been posted to our News archives at greenhousecanada.com.
– By Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist
Percentage of Millennials surveyed who dislike loud and busy stores. (Cassandra Report/The Body Mind Soul Issue 2015)
Estimated annual spending of Millennials in the U.S.
#1 Flowers topped the Mother’s Day gift request item The agriculture and agrifood system generated $108.1 B accounting for 6.6% of Canada’s 2014 GDP. (StatsCan 2016)
15% of young U.S. moms (ave. age 32) were hoping for flowers for Mother’s Day this year. (Influenster 2016 poll)
$263B in Oregon, District of Columbia and Kentucky. (Influenster 2016 poll)
Breakthrough colour
‘Sun Parasol Apricot’ debuted at the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition (TPIE) in January. ‘Apricot’ matches the Sun Parasol Giant mandevilla series with blooms spanning 3.54.5". Ideal for trellises in larger pots, it is a very fast grower with excellent branching. The trailing habit is also beautiful in hanging baskets. Growers should produce in pots 6" or larger as a trellised item. It is an excellent addition to tropical programs and the flowering vine category at retail. suntorycollection.com
This is a super-uniform and programmable begonia that glows with premium, easy colour in landscapes, baskets and big tubs from spring through fall. Its sturdy stems hold flowers above the foliage for superior show. Plug into huge growing power with
Petunia ‘Sweetunia
Miss Marvel’
‘Miss Marvel’ joins the Dümmen Orange ‘Sweetunia’ series of petunia, renowned for a broad colour range and unique novelties. With an eye-popping combination of subtly veined deep-plum outlined with crisp white, ‘Miss Marvel’ works well in containers thanks to its mid-range vigour, upright mounding habit and floriferous bloom set. dummenorange.com
This is the first of its kind! The Take 2 tomato combos are a hardworking container solution for small-space gardening. Each Take 2 combo has a slicing type and a small-fruited type tomato that have been trialled together for habit and fruit timing.
Avaya is De Ruiter’s newest cucumber hybrid with improved fruit quality, disease resistance and visual appeal. This new variety is bred to withstand the
A new vegetative petunia series with big-time vigour and even bigger garden performance. ‘ColorRush’ provides mounds of colour for municipal containers. It holds up in the heat and bounces back from
‘Megawatt Pink Bronze Leaf,’ (pictured) a unique colour for this large begonia class! The series’ bronze leaf varieties finish five to 15 days faster than comparable products. It is available in four varieties for 2017 retail sales. panamseed.com
Three selections are available for 2017 retail sales: ‘Lights,’ ‘Camera’ and ‘Action.’ These combos are best suited for 35-cm and larger patio pots. It is approximately 65 days to harvest. burpeehomegardenbrand.com
the rain like a champ. It is ideal for landscape applications, balconies and large baskets, and available in ‘Blue,’ ‘Pink’ and the novelty ‘Pink Star.’ ballfloraplant.com
‘Denim ’n Lace’
pressure of Cucumber green mottle mosaic and Powdery mildew, making it the perfect plant to withstand Canadian summers. www.deruiterseeds.com
‘Denim ’n Lace’ Perovskia is a very compact plant, yet is very full. It has silver green dissected foliage. The bright sky-blue flowers are held on amethyst calyxes on a plant that will reach 32" in height with a spread of 38". It is more vigorous and more upright when compared to other varieties. It grows well to Zone 4 and thrives in the full sun. provenwinners.com
Increase sales with heat-tolerant combinations from Syngenta Flowers, Inc.
• Leading the way in heat tolerant mixes
• Designed to provide retail color during the dry, hot summer months
• Formulated mixes tested for performance even in extreme heat
• The perfect season extender to maximize summer sales
To order, contact your preferred sales representative today or visit www.syngentafhg.com
JOHN STANLEY | john@johnstanley.com.au
Online purchases and partnering with growers are all part of the process
If there is one department in the garden centre that will change in the next few years, it must be the plant retail area. Today’s consumers say they want ideas and solutions when they visit a garden centre, but many retailers are still offering them lines of plants and confusing the buying decisions.
Traditionally the plant area evolved out of a plant yard and the key to success was to offer as
ABOVE
Essendon Garden Centre in Melbourne uses space to develop impulse sales.
wide a range of plants as possible, hence plants were often placed in rows for easy management. Stock turn was not such a major issue as it is today. Consumers, who were not plant connoisseurs, often left the centre confused with the range on offer. The result for the retailer was that the average sale per customer was lower than it should be.
As garden centres evolved, plant growers took on the role of plant distributors to garden centres and took a step back for the consumer. But all this is now changing due to consumer acceptance of technology and the changing habits of shopping.
The consumer now starts the buying journey at home on a smartphone, laptop or other device – the plant selection is often made at home. They would still like to go to the garden centre to ask for advice, look at impulse lines and be inspired with ideas to help them on their garden journey. They do not want to see rows of plants and hence the range on show to the consumer can be considerably
reduced. Today’s consumer does not want to shop every plant aisle like at a supermarket, therefore the size of the plant centre can be reduced to make shopping easier. A smaller plant retail area is easier to manage, increases the stock turn and can expose the consumer to more plant material.
This is an opportunity that may have not been possible a few years ago. Progressive growers are developing an online presence and some are selling directly to the consumer. The result is many garden centres miss the sale and, in my opinion, the consumer misses out on part of the garden experience.
An alternative is for the grower and retailer to form a partnership where everyone in the chain, including the consumer, is a winner. In a partnership arrangement the grower can offer the consumer a far larger range at any one time than the garden centre would have in stock. The consumer can browse the full range of plants at home at their leisure and as a result probably purchase more plants than they would have in the store. At the same time the retailer can stock a bigger range of “impulse lines” and less of a range of “purpose plants.”
Companies such as Monrovia, with a range of over 3,600 plant varieties, have launched “ShopMonrovia.com.” Bower and Branch have provided a similar offer with trees. Consumers purchase plants directly from the supplier online and have their plants delivered to their local garden centre for an easy pick up.
Garden centres such as the Arboretum in Ireland excel at providing an online shopping and in-store shopping experience. This means they are open for business 24 hours a day, with many consumers wishing to buy plants late on a Thursday evening. This is when the children have gone to bed and the parents are planning their weekend activities.
Changing technology, new ways of buying, and Millennial consumers looking for an experience open the door for garden centres to provide a complete new look to their plant retail section, allowing them to show ideas and inspire the consumer.
The time to start the change is now; the consumer is already looking for those new experiences.
John Stanley is a retail business coach, consultant, speaker and author. His specialist areas are customerfocused layout, customer-focused merchandising, customer-focused marketing and branding, and customerfocused selling and service. Visit his website at www.johnstanley.com.au.
PRO-MIX MP MYCORRHIZAE ORGANIK provides the perfect solution for growers in need of an organic-certified growing medium that delivers well balanced air/water qualities. Enriched with mycorrhizae, this growing medium will not only improve the overall growth and increase yields of your crops, it will also increase plants’ resistance to environmental stresses.
is working with CESRF team at University of Guelph
Each year, Canadian greenhouse growers face a challenge nearly as old as the sun itself: during the darker days of a Canadian winter, nothing grows.
Greenhouse production enters a mandatory hiatus, because there is not enough sunlight to sustain plant growth. Facilities are cleaned out. Plants are replanted.
And when the first harvest of the new season finally arrives, Canadian growers must battle for space on supermarket shelves, where produce from warmer climates has enjoyed its day in the sun.
Now, a systems integration company with facilities in Norway, China and Canada is offering a solution to Canadian greenhouse growers: LED lighting systems that can augment the sun’s rays, even when sunshine is scarce.
Per Aage Lysaa, CEO of the Intravision Group, says LED systems his company has developed offer up to five times the intensity of the sun, in a compact space. Since founding Intravision in 1998, he’s been studying how narrow bandwidth light impacts living organisms. In 2001, he turned his attention to LEDs. Lysaa’s research has spanned aquaculture in Europe, turf grass in the United States and food crops in Canada.
affect living organisms in different ways.
Trial and error has taught researchers that “salad” crops like lettuces perform best under basic red and blue spectrum LED combinations, and tomatoes and strawberries are more complex –requiring ultraviolet and infrared.
Red light can produce larger plants, but other colours – such as blue – can change taste and even change the colour of the end product.
“LEDs have the potential to increase yield, to change taste, and to alter nutritional values, depending on the colour combinations and intensity used,” Lysaa explains.
Intravision started packaging its own LEDs in 2015, which Lysaa says allows them to bring an affordable product to market.
The company’s first commercial systems are now available, including standardized “Spectra Blades,” a double-sided blade-like light panel that gets positioned between every second plant.
Intravision has engineered lighting systems for numerous applications, including growing food in deserts and space. The same technology has been used in several art installations around the world.
Intravision is the bio-light technology partner for the Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility at the University of Guelph. The company has worked closely with researchers at the facility to study how various combinations of LED colours and intensities can affect various plants.
WORKING WITH U OF GUELPH RESEARCHERS
“The university has a world-class facility with a unique set of toys, including the hypobaric research chambers that create a low pressure vacuum environment,” says Lysaa. “Here we can monitor photosynthetic gas exchange and we get great feedback on how the plants are doing. Access to this facility is a differentiator for us.”
Next, the company will turn its attention to strawberries. “We want to know how to make a plant with as many flowers and berries and maximize the taste experience for these berries,” says Lysaa, adding the project includes plans to partner with the University of Guelph to engineer a robot that would prune plants and pick berries.
“As a company, we see ourselves as a system integration company that uses LED lights as our main tool,” Lysaa says. “We work to understand biology first, and then we tailor technology to fit.” ABOVE
Through it all, the Intravision team has learned that the colour and intensity of LED lights can
A continuing rumour is that the breeders are working to have the event held in one large location. It would save them and the visitors a lot of time and money.
BY MELHEM SAWAYA
The California Spring Trials program was started by Glenn Goldsmith in 1967. The goal was to inform growers about the Goldsmith Seeds breeding programs and the company’s commitment to horticulture. It wasn’t long before other breeders joined in, with every major company eventually represented.
The name evolved from the original California Pack Trials, because “packs” are now a very small percentage of the industry.
I prefer to call it the California Showcase, since that’s what it is. Today, there aren’t any trials.
It is a very interesting experience, in the sense that you feel it is a must to attend. After the tour you have a sense of “variety overload,” and are excited to try many of the plants that caught your eye. Then when you get home and start reviewing the pictures and analyzing the whole trip, you end up trying two or three varieties, which is the right approach. Try a limited quantity until you know (1) the most effective growing practices, (2) the consumer response and (3) the garden performance in your area.
If you are visiting the trials for the first time, or if you’ve skipped a few years, then yes, you will still learn something new. The great benefit from visiting the Showcase is to meet the people who you talk to over the phone or direct your e-mail questions to.
In my estimation, less than 25 per cent of the California Showcase participants are growers. It’s really an event that is geared to buyers and, specifically, brokers or chain buyers. Perhaps that is why the trial aspect disappeared. The low grower attendance could also be because they cannot find anything truly new, other than new colours and new cultivars that have not yet been tested.
I’ve been mentioning this rumour for the last four years when covering the trials. In a sense, it is happening, but in a way I didn’t foresee. Companies are being bought or are amalgamating, and this means fewer players and an event that’s now much tighter geographically.
As noted before, most attendees are chain store buyers hoping for cultivar exclusivity deals with breeders.
And here’s the problem. In my experience, that process is the number 1 factor of profit shrinkage for growers and the chains, and the best recipe for losing more customers because:
a) The new cultivar didn’t go through a garden performance trial.
b) No customer appeal study has been done.
A continuing rumour at the Showcase is that the breeders are working to have the event held in one large location. It would save them and the visitors a lot of time and money. But it’s just a rumour, because such a decision would require considerable co-operation and common sense, along with the will to change things…and heaven forbid we ever change the way we do things.
c) The know-how to produce a topquality product for a specific shipping date has not yet been worked out.
Normally, these exclusive products cost more to the grower. The chain puts the product on the front page of their promotion material – the most expensive section – and the store has to place the product in the most prominent display area.
The breeder sold the product to the chain, which then spent a lot of money advertising a product the consumer will no longer buy because of poor garden performance, if that turns out to be the case. The chain’s credibility is diminished in the eyes of the consumer and, worst of all, the grower is left with a product that cost a great deal to produce. He or she must now incur even more expense to dump it … but not to worry – it’s a recyclable green product.
Increasing the consumption of horticultural products can only be done by helping the consumer be successful and satisfied with their purchase, not by setting them up to fail.
This is the reason I share these varieties with you. They are meant to be trialled at your own facility so you (1) know how to grow them, (2) can track consumer appeal and, last but not least, (3) monitor their garden performance.
The California Showcase that is covered in this issue is only
a sample of the hundreds of varieties I viewed during my tour of this year’s sites. Many are new introductions for 2016, others are older varieties with improvements or changes but still carry the same name, and then there are those that have been around for many years but new trends now make them an important variety to share with you.
This is only a sample of the new varieties that we get bombarded with every season. Hopefully with the amalgamations taking place we will see many mediocre cultivars disappear with only the most consumer-friendly products remaining. It has been said so many times that if we are not part of the solution we are part of the problem. Poorly performing varieties turn gardeners off and they might never buy plants again, or at least they won’t buy them from you.
With any new variety (or an old variety that’s new to your operation), remember to try it on a small scale. Evaluate the outcome, and then decide whether to increase its production or delete it. Check with salespeople, consultants, magazines, trial gardens and trade shows for ideas on what to select. They’re all good sources of the latest information.
Almost all of the varieties mentioned in this article will be among the 2,200 cultivars in this year’s Sawaya Garden Trials, located just a few minutes east of Simcoe, Ont., along Hwy. 3. This year’s open house is July 20. Come out to view many of next year’s market winners!
Here are a few varieties that caught my eye at the California Spring Trials (Showcase).
‘Tidal Wave’ (1) is a hedge petunia with a very vigorous growing habit that makes it ideal for outdoor performance. It features long-lasting flowers, very fast rain recovery and botrytis resistance. ‘Tidal Wave’ is great for gardens that incorporate evergreen shrubs with annual flowers. It is also great in large containers with a trellis and cages, in Al’s Pouches, or in forming a window shutter.
‘Megawatt’ (2) is a large landscape begonia similar in habit to ‘Dragon Wing’ begonia in vegetative growing habit, but with better flower habit. ‘Megawatt’ is great in landscapes and combinations with other vigorous varieties. It looks like an excellent garden performer.
Fusables ‘Paradise Island’ (3) is a three-colour calibrachoa mix from seed. I like the Kabloom seed varieties for hanging baskets because they do not flower
early on, thereby lessening the botrytis risk, and yet the flowering and the vegetative habit are well-coordinated to meet sales dates. No pinching is needed for hanging baskets, but pinching is a must for 4" production.
‘Night Sky’ (4) is a unique blue petunia flower that looks like it is sprayed with white paint. The habit looks good, but we have to wait for the garden performance to see its after-rain recovery along with its flower longevity and habit.
‘Colour Rush’ (5) is a new petunia
series that is vigorous, trailing, and covers large landscape areas. Normally vigorous growing petunias do very well in the landscape and have a spectacular show, like the Tidal Waves and Vistas. This summer, ‘Colour Rush’ will be trialled side-by-side with many other petunias in our trials.
Calibrachoa ‘Cabaret Orange’ (6) is improved with excellent mounding and the self-branching habit characteristic of the Cabaret Series. Cabaret is excellent in hanging baskets and combinations with
other Cabaret varieties.
‘Canova Series’ (7) is a canna from seed that comes in many colours that will flower by sales date when given enough production time. It has a very flexible height from a finish of six inches to three feet depending on the growing practices. Canova is excellent in landscapes and virus-free, with early branching that will result in a fuller show in the gardens or containers. It is also great as a centre in combinations.
‘Grandessa Yellow’ (8) is one colour of an interspecific argyranthemum series that will flower the whole summer. Grandessa is great in landscapes and containers and as a centre in combinations. It works especially well in combinations for early season sales because it can take cool temperatures. It will last the entire summer and will work well in combination with Wave Pansies, which also flower throughout the summer.
‘Pouchi’ (9) is great as a potted tomato that can be shipped in 5” or 10” pots depending on the growing practices. Try it on a small scale to learn the optimal timing and environment.
‘Surfinia Heartbeat’ (10) is a petunia with heart-shape flowers on a mounding plant. Take advantage of the heart-shaped flower for fundraising promotions or just for regular production in pots, hanging baskets or combinations.
Geranium ‘Cherry Night’ (11) is one colour of the Brocade Series that actually has flowers on absolutely colourful leaves. It has an excellent habit that can be produced in pots for landscapes, hanging baskets or combinations.
‘Paradise Rococo Lavender’ (12) is one colour of double and semi-double flowers in the Rococo Series that makes it a higher end New Guinea that can be sold at a higher margin. It is great in landscapes and containers.
‘SunStanding Salmon’ (13) is one colour of the new SunStanding Series of impatiens that is downy mildew resistant. Like all other impatiens, it takes the sun and shade quite well, and like all other impatiens it is much more floriferous in sunny locations.
‘Unbelievable Tweetie Pie’ (14) is a Boliviensis type begonia that has excellent garden performance. It is a good idea to try them because it’s my guess the Boliviensis begonia is going to take over the Rieger begonia market in less than three years. ‘Tweetie Pie’ is an additional colour to the Unbelievable Series that displayed
great performance in our trials last year. Get to learn how to grow the Boliviensis type begonia so you will be ahead of the curve. They are great in landscapes, sun or shade and in combinations.
This perennial combination (15) is from the Dummen Orange perennial selection. We will have many of these combinations in our trials this summer. We want to see how they look throughout the summer and if they can last late into the fall before being planted in the garden, which translates into excellent value for the consumer.
‘Trilogy Deep Purple’ (16) is a petunia from seed. It is not new but it always looks good in the trials. However, I do not see it much in greenhouses due to weak marketing. Try it and see if it has advantages over mainstream varieties. ‘Deep Purple’ is one colour in the Trilogy Series.
In my opinion, Sunpatiens (17) is the ultimate impatiens for landscapers with sun or shade locations. It’s been tested and proven in our trials in the shade and the sun, and like I said earlier, it has more flower power in the sun. Sunpatiens is great in landscapes, and in containers alone or in combinations. It can be grown in 6” pots with no growth regulators, ensuring its maximum potential in garden performance.
‘Dragon Breath’ celosia (18) can either be very vigorous or not so vigorous depending on the way it is forced. As you can see in the photo, some plants are tasselled and others are not. This is because the short tasselled plants were grown in short-days while the vegetative ones were grown in long-days up to a certain stage. ‘Dragon Breath’ is a facultative short-day plant, which means it will flower without short-days. However, short-days will trigger flowering at a much earlier stage. We tried ‘Dragon Breath’ last year and it has excellent performance through the whole season.
Many petunias that have fancy bi-colour do not have great garden performance, but Colour Works (19) seems to have fancy colours and good performance. It’s good in hanging baskets and combinations.
‘Deep Lavender Stream’ (20) is another colour in the excellent Stream Lobularia Series. It takes the cold, the flowers do not shatter as much as other varieties, and it has different colours. It is great in pots and landscapes where dryness is less likely to happen, since all lobularias do not like to be dried out.
‘Supertunia Vistas’ (21) is one of my favourite petunias because of its excellent
reliability in garden performance year after year in containers or landscapes.
Superbells ‘Tropical Sunrise’ (22) is a unique bicolour calibrachoa with a mounding habit that is perfect on its own or in mixes. ‘Tropical Sunrise’ is a self-branching variety that has a mounding habit. Like all other calibrachoa, finishing it cool is the key to a great looking finished product.
‘Large Dark Red’ (23) and ‘Medium Dark Red’ (24) Calliope are two varieties of the same colour but with different vigour. The medium Calliope obviously is not as vigorous but is earlier to flower and puts out more flowers. Grow the medium variety for early sales and the larger one for later sales. The two sizes need to be grown differently because of a definite vigour difference.
‘Medium Crimson Flame’ (25) has been a well-proven Calliope variety for the past few years. It is one of my favourite geranium varieties for its performance in the greenhouse and outdoors in the landscape, in containers and in combinations.
BIG begonias (26) are great in sun or shade. They hold their flowers high above the foliage and flower all summer long with an excellent garden performance whether they are in landscapes or containers (alone or combinations). It has
tested very well in our trials. This picture does not do it any justice. BIG begonia is a favourite with landscapers.
‘Santa Cruz,’ ‘Santa Barbara’ and ‘San Francisco’ (27) are now a series of three colours of a Boliviensis type begonia from seed that is excellent in sun or shade. As we noted earlier, Boliviensis type begonias have a promising future. Make
sure it is grown in long-days to get the proper performance. It is good alone and in combinations.
‘Joy’ (28) is the new type of Nonstop begonia that has more of a mounding habit than the regular Nonstop varieties. This makes it ideal for hanging baskets alone or in combinations.
All these varieties will be among the
2,200 in total featured at the Sawaya Garden Trials. The open house is July 20 and everyone is welcome. No pre-registration is needed; enjoy the trials and fellowship, and lunch is provided.
Melhem Sawaya of Focus Greenhouse Management is a consultant and a research co-ordinator to the horticultural industry –mel@focusgreenhousemanagement.com.
Greenhouse Canada’s annual search for young industry leaders is again underway! Canada is full of young, skilled knowledgeable people helping to drive the industry towards higher goals. From commercial growers and wholesalers to manufacturers, equipment suppliers and allied trades, they are the best and the brightest in our industry. Join us as we celebrate the future of greenhouse horticulture in Canada.
Anyone in the horticulture or associated industries who is under the age of 40 as of December 31, 2016. Equipment and technology suppliers welcome.
• demonstrate a strong work ethic
• show leadership and initiative
• actively seek new opportunities for training and education
• be involved in industry associations
NOMINATIONS ARE NOW
To nominate someone to be recognized as one of the Top 10 Under 40, visit greenhousecanada.com/top-10-under-40 to fill out a nomination form. Nominations close on August 26th, 2016.
LEFT Ian, Chad, Sean and Bruce Praill.
The Praill family of Sarnia has particularly deep roots in the flower industry.
The family-owned greenhouse operation – Praill’s Greenhouse –celebrated its 100th year in business in 2015, consistently following a tried and true recipe for success, according to Bruce Praill.
“Our key to success is quite simple,” he explains in the office of the Blackwell Road greenhouse. “It’s about quality, but it’s also about keeping prices fair.”
Bruce retired in the spring of last year after 47 years working with plants. The new owners are sons Sean, Chad and Ian who, just like their dad, all grew up in the business. “I talked to them many times and asked, ‘are you sure you want to get into this,’ ” Bruce says with a chuckle.
Bruce’s grandfather, Frank, purchased the farm in 1915. It then consisted of about 60 acres on a quiet county road. It had been a working farm with chickens, an apple orchard and some field crops.
The first greenhouse was 18’ by 30’.
Frank soon got into market gardening. Bruce recalls such crops as cucumbers, muskmelons, potatoes and tomatoes, and even some wheat. Some of the products were shipped via Canada Steamship Lines to Port Arthur and Fort William (now known as Thunder Bay).
The early greenhouses were used for flowers, and a retail shop was opened in 1925 in Sarnia. “No one would drive out to the farm,” says Bruce, “because we were too far out of town.”
The garden centre was built in 1945, and the flower shop operated through to the mid-1980s. “We just didn’t have the time to run that store along with the garden centre.”
The location is ideal. Subdivisions are slowly growing out towards them, and the once quiet country road now receives a steady stream of traffic.
The early greenhouse crops were quite diversified, ranging from bedding plants to carnations, cut mums, potted mums, azaleas, hydrangeas, Easter lilies, sweet pea and cut snapdragon, among others.
Over the years, the product mix has been scaled back to reflect changes in the market. “This was a time when the big box stores and the grocery stores were starting to sell more flowers, meaning reduced sales for flower shops.”
Trucks were increasingly coming to town with plants grown in other regions.
The family was more than up to the challenge. The product line evolved to meet market demand.
“We’re now so much more into containers. We still grow some
The fourth generation is now managing this Sarnia, Ontario, landmark. “Our key to success is quite simple. It’s about quality, but it’s also about keeping prices fair.”
BY DAVE HARRISON
LEFT Early season (mid-April) sales of pansies. TOP RIGHT Some whimsical products.
BOTTOM RIGHT The business began with coal, then moved to oil, and has been on natural gas since the 1980s.
bedding plants such as petunias and marigolds, though it’s decreasing every year.”
More nursery stock and perennials are now grown, along with premium-quality containers and hanging baskets.
The greenhouse has expanded over the years to 40,000 square feet. “It’s not big by industry standards,” notes Bruce, “but it does the job for us. We focus on the local market, and that keeps us pretty busy.”
Praill’s Greenhouse has many longtime customers, along with a popular plant sale fundraising program for area Boy Scouts and schools.
A drive through just about any subdivision will illustrate how plant usage has changed, says Bruce. People are tending to keep landscapes as maintenance-free as they can by using smaller trees, such as Japanese maples, and using a lot of stones and mulches.
“But even with less maintenance plants, people still enjoy gardening. They like to be working on their lawns and gardens, and outdoor entertaining is huge.”
Praill’s Greenhouse has a large assortment of patio products, such as hammocks
and other furniture.
Huge Boston fern planters are among products the family is well known for –the bigger the better. The deep containers make it easier for customers to maintain the plants over the summer.
They’re also bringing in more tropical plants, such as mandevilla and hibiscus, to meet customer demand. “People are really into tropicals.”
Bruce recalls that gardeners showed considerable interest in vegetable gardening in the 1980s and 1990s. “Everyone wanted to grow their own food.” There were even community gardens where people had their own garden plots.
That trend has waned a little, as consumers can now visit pick-your-own farms to harvest fresh produce.
“There will always be a market for plants. You have to adapt and have what people need, and we’ve been very good at adapting.”
Praill’s Greenhouse has just the right amount of automation to help them remain competitive, including environmental controls and alarms, for example. “I can remember having to do it all by
hand, and coming to the greenhouse late at night to make adjustments if it turned too cold.”
It would be difficult to fully automate their watering “because we have such a variety of crops.”
One house has shade and energy curtains.
They use very little in the way of pesticides and are moving more into biologicals, and with good success.
The main advantage of being small is that when the big box stores close their seasonal garden centres, “our business picks up throughout the rest of the summer.”
Customers come from about a 40kilometre radius, and they are quite loyal.
“We’ve definitely found our niche,” says Bruce. “It’s our focus on good quality plants and good service that makes us stand out.”
They’re now seeing more young customers, those in the 25 to 45 years of age bracket. “My sons are in that age bracket so they know what these customers want.”
And what younger customers respond to best is social media marketing. “The boys are great at that. They still do some
ABOVE A variety of containers are used with their plants.
newspaper and radio advertising, but there’s no question they’re moving more and more into social media. We have to keep up with the market.”
He notes that it’s “almost unheard of” to have a business go into the fourth generation. They started succession planning early, and talked to a number of experts to get good advice. “It’s been a smooth transition.”
Not that Bruce is going anywhere.
Yes, he now has more time to spend at the cottage, but he says it’s impossible to simply walk away from something you’ve done for 47 years.
“It’s not a nine to five job. It can tie you down and the hours can be quite long. It’s hard work and you have to like it. There’s great satisfaction in taking something from a plug to the finished product that you know your customers will enjoy.
“I know the boys can run it well, but it is great to drop in from time to time, just in case they have any questions. It’s a comfort zone for me to come in here.”
Will there be a fifth generation of Praills to carry on the family business years from now?
“Who knows,” Bruce says with a wide grin. “They’re quite young so it’s too soon to tell. But they do help out on weekends.”
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The views of horticulture experts and gardeners are all taken into consideration in selecting each year’s winners. This ensures consumer confidence in this popular and influential program now managed by FIHOQ.
BY DAVE HARRISON
A step into the future! The Les Exceptionnelles® program is officially entering a new development phase thanks to an agreement between the Fédération interdisciplinaire de l’horticulture ornementale du Québec (FIHOQ) and the Jardin Daniel A. Séguin.
This partnership will enable the optimization of program benefits for businesses from all ornamental horticulture sectors and support program expansion while maintaining its values, which focus on neutrality, objectivity and customer satisfaction. This signals an important step for the development of this Québec brand that is taking up more and more space in Québec flower beds and gardens.
Les Exceptionnelles 2016 winners include:
• ‘Cleopatra’ Canna.
• Campfire™ Fireburst ‘KOIBID1346’ Bidens.
• ‘Nonstop®Mocca Bright Orange F1’ Begonia tuberhybrida.
• ‘Jolt™ Pink’ (intersécifique) Dianthus barbatus.
• Campfire™ ‘UF12823’ Plectranthus (Coleus) scutellarioides.
• ‘Mannequin™ Blue Mountain’ Salvia farinacea.
• ‘Mojave® Fuchsia’ Portulaca grandiflora.
• ‘Under the Sea™ Fish Net’ Plectranthus scutellarioides.
• ‘Low Rider’™Alocasia.
• ‘Autumn Ember’ Begonia. Point of sale promotional labels and material are available at
Horticolor (www.horticolor.net).
And without further adieu, here are the descriptions of this year’s winners, as prepared by Claude Vallée, agr. M.Sc., horticulture professor at ITA Centre d’innovation technologique en horticulture.
Hailing from all over the world, each plant novelty examined by the Jardin Daniel A. Séguin is closely assessed by leading experts.
Their goal is to identify, from among the favourites of thousands of visitors, the plants that have superior garden performance and are therefore worthy of the Exceptionnelles title.
PHOTO 1.
Canna ‘Cleopatra’
HEIGHT: 1.5-2 M; WIDTH: 0.5-1.0 M; EXPOSURE: FULL SUN
Irresistible and flamboyant, this magnificent canna stays true to the image of that ancient Egyptian monarch. Its flowers might be yellow, red or bicoloured and its foliage completely green, green with purple marbling or solely dark purple, from which flamboyant red orange blooms will emerge.
This explosion of surprises throughout the summer is what gives ‘Cleopatra’ its distinctive character.
Easy to grow, cannas like nutrient rich soil, heat and water. They can be grown directly in a water garden, but don’t worry; they don’t require such an environment to flourish.
PHOTO 2.
Bidens ‘Campfire™ Fireburst’
HEIGHT: 25-40 CM; WIDTH: 40-55 CM; EXPOSURE: FULL SUN
A first for bidens! Splendid tiny bicoloured red and yellow buds that flower all summer. The cultivar’s sterility, which focuses its energy on the flowers rather than the seeds, lies behind its bountiful blooms. Easy to garden, its bushy appearance and warm colouring make ‘Campfire Fireburst’ bidens one of the most versatile plants.
Once established, this new variety is very drought resistant and its nectar attracts a multitude of pollinators, making it an ideal plant to encourage biodiversity in your area.
PHOTO 3.
Begonia tuberhybrida ‘Nonstop® Mocca Bright Orange’ F1
HEIGHT: 20-30 CM; WIDTH: 30-40 CM; EXPOSURE: FULL SUN, PARTIAL SHADE
Outstanding, the ‘Nonstop Mocca’
begonia series features dark, coffeecoloured, serrated-leaved cultivars. This series addresses a growing demand for plants with darker foliage and with a palette that adds depth to flower beds along with a modern touch.
The ‘Nonstop Mocca Bright Orange’ cultivar’s brilliant orange, doubleflowered blooms grow to a diameter of 10 cm. This robust, well-branched bushy shrub withstands temperature fluctuations.
This plant received a perfect score.
PHOTO 4.
Dianthus barbatus ‘Jolt™ Pink’
HEIGHT: 40-60 CM; WIDTH: 25-30 CM; EXPOSURE: FULL SUN
The ‘Jolt Pink’ cultivar is sterile, withstands heat and constantly flowers. Very attractive for pollinating insects, its flowers bloom on long stems and make perfect cut flowers.
This carnation marks a huge improvement over the Sweet William of our childhood, earning it the “All-America Selections 2015” prize.
This is indeed a carnation to rediscover.
PHOTO 5.
Plectranthus (Coleus) scutellarioides ‘Campfire™ UF12823’
HEIGHT: 50-65 CM; WIDTH: 50-65 CM; EXPOSURE: SUN, PARTIAL SHADE, SHADE
Thanks to the latest taxonomic modifications, coleus classification has recently changed and we can now find it listed under the Plectranthus genus instead of Solenostemon, which can lead to confusion. This fact having been established does not diminish horticultural interest in this superbly versatile plant and the ‘Campfire’ cultivar gives you the opportunity to fire up your garden beds with an explosion of orange-red rust foliage, borne by a plant with perfect architecture. It performs equally well in shade or in sun. A note of caution should be observed for this cultivar: use may cause addiction!
PHOTO 6.
Salvia farinacea ‘Mannequin™ Blue Mountain’
HEIGHT: 50-70 CM; WIDTH: 50-60 CM; EXPOSURE: FULL SUN
The ‘Mannequin Blue Mountain’ sage immediately catches the gaze and points it to the sky. It’s a plant that inspires and calms and that blends equally well with warm and with cold colours. ‘Mannequin Blue Mountain’ is this market’s mealy sage with the largest blooms, thanks to its tetraploid genetics. Mealy sage can adapt to a number of growing conditions so long as they are exposed to sunlight. It blooms constantly, borne by solid stems, attracting numerous butterflies and useful pollinators throughout the summer.
PHOTO 7.
Plectranthus (Coleus) scutellarioides ‘Under the Sea™ Fish Net’
HEIGHT: 55-80 CM; WIDTH: 40-60 CM; EXPOSURE: FULL SUN, PARTIAL SHADE, SHADE
The dark Bordeaux stems and veining of the ‘Under the Sea Fish Net’ coleus provide a beautiful contrast to its lime green foliage range. This solid coleus boasts vigorous growth and deserves to be planted in rest areas or walk-throughs, as the vegetal world’s beauty and precision, reflected in the extraordinary network of its foliage’s veining, must be admired at close range. Easy to grow, this coleus brings a chic, modern touch to garden beds.
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GIVE THEM BAITS THAT THEY WILL LIKE!
PHOTO 8.
Alocasia ‘Low Rider’ ™
HEIGHT: 45-65 CM; WIDTH: 60-80 CM; EXPOSURE: SUN, PARTIAL SHADE
Horticultural interest in exotic plants has not waned. Visitors to the Jardin Daniel A. Séguin truly appreciated the ‘Low Rider’ alocasia, which distinguished itself with its heavier, robust, very shiny foliage. This cultivar is perfect for small spaces or cultures out of pots; its upright bearing allows plants to grow at its base. Its more aerial shape also highlights the beauty of its base, where foliage stems interlock perfectly. It sports moderate growth that, as for all alocasia, accentuates with the onset of summer heat. An exceptionally robust plant.
PHOTO 9.
Begonia ‘Autumn Ember’
HEIGHT: 20-25 CM; WIDTH: 25-35 CM; EXPOSURE: FULL SUN, PARTIAL SHADE, SHADE
Here is a rhizomatous begonia with very hot colours! This new item boasts one of the richest cinnamon orange foliages, a bit of an exception for Rex type begonias. The light plays with the warm colours of the slightly embossed and downy leaves, shimmering with a host of unique shades. Of moderate growth, this begonia is a star all on its own but blends in perfectly with warm-coloured plants. This plant is sure to please those who prefer gardens with contemporary hues.
PHOTO 10.
Portulaca grandiflora ‘Mojave® Fuchsia’ HEIGHT: 10-20 CM; WIDTH: 30-40 CM; EXPOSURE: FULL SUN
Wow, wow, wow! The ‘Mojave’ series puts this remarkable annual, which had fallen somewhat out of grace over the last few years, back in the forefront where it belongs.
This purslane’s spectacular blooms instantly illuminate flower beds. The ‘Fuchsia’ cultivar, more compact than the other colours in the series, immediately garnered visitor attention at the Jardin
Daniel A. Séguin. ‘Mojave Fuchsia’ is perfectly suited to hot and dry locations because, once it is established, it withstands drought.
Popular with pollinating insects, it makes excellent ground cover and can serve as a semi-erect plant in a pot. Purslane flowers can only bloom in full sun; ‘Mojave Fuchsia’ will boost your garden’s energy with its numerous blooms.
For over 30 years, Hillen Nurser y Inc. has remained dedicated and passionate about the nursery industr y.
We invite you to visit our website with easy access to our complete up-to- date listings of hundreds of varieties, look ing good photo's and more
Mark Endicott
General Manager 23078 Adelaide Rd. Mount Br ydges, ON N0L 1W0 Cell: 647.923.5182 • Fax: 519.264.1337 mark@hillennursery.com
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LES EXCEPTIONNELLES® ARE HIGH PERFORMANCE PLANTS
Les Exceptionnelles is a brand name registered by the Fondation en horticulture ornementale of the Saint-Hyacinthe ITA. This is a non-profit organization in charge of managing the Jardin Daniel A. Séguin’s gardening school, with its mandate to promote, support and develop ornamental horticulture knowledge in Québec.
Awarded by the public and by experts, this title is given to new horticultural items that stand out thanks to their performance in the garden, their easy care and their resistance to insects and diseases.
This program also results from a partnership that brings together the expertise of four great Québec gardens: the Jardin Daniel A. Séguin, the Jardin botanique de Montréal, the Jardin Roger Van den Hende of Laval University and the Jardins de Métis.
It is coordinated by the Fédération interdisciplinaire de l’horticulture ornementale du Québec (FIHOQ).
Les Exceptionnelles are available at the following locations:
• Jardineries Passion Jardins: www.passionjardins.com.
• Jardineries Botanix: www.botanix.com.
• W.H Perron: www.whperron.com.
They are also available at all leading Québec garden centres.
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Study their language, interpret it properly and make decisions that are most beneficial to the crop.
A grower recently sent me a pair of photos (1 and 2) of tomato plants.
Most of the plants in perimeter rows (Photo 1) had leaves coming out of their flower clusters. Then I found Photo 2, which had other clues as to what the problem was.
So then, what is this tomato plant trying to tell us?
• Leaves are coming out of flower cluster at a young age.
• Plant appears to be very healthy.
• The colour is good and dark green.
• The plants showing these symptoms are located in the perimeter rows, especially on the north side.
• Fruiting clusters can also show a leaf coming out from the end of the cluster (Photo 2).
The grower gave me the following information:
• Average night temperature was 18 C.
• Average day temperature was set at 22 C.
• The 24-hour average temperature was around 18.5 C.
• The temperature at the base of the coir bags was 10-12 C.
• The stems were distinctly purple in those plants showing symptoms.
There was enough information to conclude the plant was confused by the temperature signals it was getting.
The confusion was that the plant had entered into a flowering mode that is generative, but the air temperature was sending a signal to give more leafy or vegetative growth.
The reason why the symptoms were more
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prevalent in the plants on the perimeter of the greenhouse was a lack of heating pipes, and thus the air temperature was lower than the set-point.
My experience is that such symptoms indicate a night temperature of around 14 C for a few hours.
Once we understood this signal, we were able to turn the plant around by
Potassium is a mobile element and is moved from lower leaves to upper leaves.
raising the 24-hour average temperature. There are many ways to do this. You can raise the night temperature or you can raise the day temperature by adjusting the venting set-point, along with many other set-point strategies.
I would like to point out that the fruit produced on such clusters will show what are called “cat-faced” features. The
blossom end of the fruit is split as shown in Photo 3.
Such fruit is not marketable and is a drain on a plant’s energy balance. Growers may decide to remove the entire cluster if it shows the symptoms of leaves coming out of cluster, or they could remove the fruit as early as possible.
Fruit has many disorders, however, I am seeing more of what is called “blotchy ripening.”
Photo 4 shows a cluster tomato where two fruits are showing the symptoms. Photo 5 is of a Roma variety.
We usually have much better nutrition management practices but once in a while such uneven ripening occurs. It is caused by a temporary shortage of potassium. I am calling it “temporary” because when fruit load is heavy, some fruits may not get enough potassium.
Greenhouse Canada - July_Layout 1 5/9/2016 2:01 PM Page 1
I see potassium levels very low in leach as well. Potassium is a mobile element and is moved from lower leaves to upper leaves. Always check to see if any lower leaves are showing a potassium deficiency.
Photo 6 shows early deficiency of potassium. If the problem is not diagnosed and additional levels of potassium are not supplied, the symptoms get worse and a blotchy ripening of fruit takes place.
Tomato is grown as one long crop. During spring and summer, plants become very generative:
• Tops become very thin and spindly.
• The leaf colour becomes significantly bluish.
• The clusters are weak.
• The flower colour is yelloworange.
• Less pollen is produced and pollen viability is reduced. With crops grown in hot climates where the temperature is consistently over 30 C, you generally find there is no pollination and consequently no fruit.
• The fruit doesn’t size up and it gets soft, as if reverse loss of water has occurred.
Photo 7 is an example of a generative tomato plant. What can be done to correct this?
• Provide shade to the crop to help bring the temperature down.
• Adjust the 24-hour average temperature wherever possible.
• Bring the EC of the feed and leach down, preferably below 2.8 mS/cm.
• If a cluster is of very poor quality, remove it.
• Lower the plants early. The temperature is greater as you go higher in the greenhouse.
• Use fogging systems or evaporative coolers wherever possible.
This is not the complete story of tomato signals.
But I just want to emphasize that if you hope to consistently produce over 70 kg/m2 then you must pay close attention to your plants.
Understand their language, interpret it properly and make decisions that are most beneficial to your plants.
Dr. Mohyuddin Mirza is an industry consultant. He can be contacted at drmirzaconsultants@gmail.com.
Root zone management. Hmmm. Quick “Google” to see what’s out there. Oh. Apparently, the “Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is responsible for management of the DNS [Domain Name System] root zone. This role means assigning the operators of top-level domains, such as ‘.uk’ and ‘.com,’ and maintaining their technical and administrative details.”1 So, root zone management is a bigger topic than first thought!
Who knew?
Following the computer theme, these comments are also high up there (first page of results) in the web search:
• “Internet Activity Depends on Proper Root Zone Management.”2
• “Root Zone refers to the highest level of the Domain Name System (DNS) structure.”3
Clearly, computer techies are taking their lead from our green industry. Firstly, we all know that plant (or Internet) activity is fundamentally dependent on optimum root zone activity. Poor roots lead to poor plant growth. Simple.
Secondly, as in the computer world, the root zone could well be the highest level of the plant system, since without it there is no plant. OK, so we agree the root zone is critical to the success of plants (and the “www”).
But what exactly is the root zone?
same degree of physical attention to this critical area of plant growth for the majority of greenhouse crops. While we do occasional inspections of roots (cutting open the grow-bag, tipping a pot upside down), we tend to focus on the health, growth and balance of the visible parts – stems, leaves, flowers and fruit. When, for example, was the last time you did any root pruning in potted crops or greenhouse vegetables? Of course we don’t. But neither do we perhaps pay proper attention to timing of potting-up based on roots rather than tops, or spacing to manage root growth.
Dr. Mohyuddin Mirza’s article “Root Health is Hidden Wealth” (Greenhouse Canada, April 2016, Pgs. 38-42) gave a great summary of the critical components of what greenhouse vegetable growers check to manage root health: drainage from bags, dissolved oxygen levels, EC/pH, media and water temperature, water quality, sodium levels, irrigation schedule and choice of growing medium.
One cannot argue against any of these factors being a crucial element of day-to-day management of root zone. They are all relatively easy to see, can be checked using cheap and simple equipment, and can be built into a daily or weekly schedule for staff to undertake. If you’re not doing these things, perhaps you ought to be.
When, for example, was the last time you did any root pruning?
Most simply put, the root zone is “the part of the plant that is below the soil and the area surrounding it.”4 But for tree people, it is more complicated than that. “A tree’s critical root zone (CRZ), sometimes also called the root protection zone (RPZ), is defined as a circle on the ground corresponding to the drip-line of the tree.”5 There are simple mathematical ways (using radius of tree stem) to calculate (and hence define) what that drip line looks like.
Arborists spend much of their time and resources managing what is going on underground, and you will hear them talking of “root zone pruning,” “air knives” and “root control barriers” to stop things getting out of hand.
Of course, we use root zone (air) pruning in other specific areas of horticulture, such as in plant propagation. But we don’t really afford the
And admittedly, bedding is such a quick turnaround crop that it’s not going to be worthwhile (or indeed physically practical) to do much with the roots. But for larger, high-value potted crops or long-season crops, is there anything we can apply from what our tree-growing colleagues do to help us better manage the critical root zone of crops?
Perhaps. We’re never too old or too smart to learn.
1 https://www.iana.org/domains/root
2 http://www.gobernanzainternet.org/
3 https://icannwiki.com/Root_Zone
4 http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/ go/750/#b
5 https://nature.berkeley.edu
Gary Jones is co-chair of horticulture at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Langley, B.C. He serves on several industry committees and welcomes comments at Gary.Jones@kpu.ca.
If you could protect your farm this way, you wouldn’t need any cleaners or disinfectants.
These are some of the products eligible for the Vetoquinol Club points program. Sign up today at vetoquinolclub.ca and reap the benefits. club
Vetoquinol would like to remind you of the importance of a good biosecurity protocol and its implementation on a daily basis.
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