Category: Uncategorized

Hort Americas sponsors Indoor Agriculture Conference

The 2nd Annual Indoor Agriculture Conference will take
place May 14-15, 2014, at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas. The conference
will bring together farmers, entrepreneurs, suppliers, technology geeks,
investors, researchers and policy makers to discuss the status and future of
hydroponic, aeroponic and aquaponic farming.

Sponsored by Hort Americas, the conference highlights the
accelerating greenhouse, container and vertical farming trends that are gaining
ground in urban centers and inclement environment locations worldwide.
Indoor agriculture is changing the farming paradigm. Increased
technology and adaptation of hydroponics and aeroponics are enabling indoor
agriculture to conserve land, water, energy and distribution costs. The reliability of indoor agriculture becomes even more
important when compared with the expense and uncertainty of outdoor
agriculture, which can be disrupted by weather or supply chain problems. Growing indoors also promises higher levels of food safety, as fresher produce
grown using few to no pesticides is transported shorter distances allowing for the
reduction in contamination during production and distribution.
Keynote presentations will focus on the state of the
hydroponics industry. Panel discussions will address the future of indoor
agriculture, types and sizes of operations, technology, sourcing and
distribution, regulations/policy and funding. On the second day, case studies will
examine in-depth, real-world examples of the logistics of starting, sustaining
and growing indoor agriculture operations.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

The changing face of horticulture

Michael Geary, president and CEO of the new trade
association AmericanHort, talks about how the horticulture industry is evolving
and what the association is doing to ensure plants remain relevant to consumers.

By David Kuack
The start of 2014 brought a new trade association,
AmericanHort, to the horticulture industry. Although the name is new, the
association represents 220 years of service to the industry through the
combined history of the two organizations that created it. AmericanHort was
formed by the consolidation of the American Nursery & Landscape Association
and OFA – The Association of Horticulture Professionals. The more than two-year
effort was approved by the two associations’ members in September 2013.

 The mission of AmericanHort is to unite, promote and
advance the horticulture industry through advocacy, collaboration,
connectivity, education, market development and research. Its vision is to be a
leading and unifying organization for the industry in order to cultivate
successful businesses, and for the industry to enhance lives through the
benefits of plants.

The new association will represent all segments of the
plant industry. This includes breeders, greenhouse and nursery growers, garden
center retailers, distributors, interior and exterior landscapers, florists,
students, educators, researchers, manufacturers and all of those who are part
of the industry supply chain.
Michael Geary, former CEO of OFA and executive vice
president of ANLA, who is now president and CEO of AmericanHort, talked with
Hort Americas about the changing horticulture industry and how the new
association is working to ensure the industry remains vital and its members
continue to be successful.

Michael Geary, president and CEO of AmericanHort
Photo courtesy of AmericanHort

How has your definition
of the horticulture industry changed?

The definition of horticulture has been an evolution for
me. While I didn’t work directly in the industry prior to taking the job with
OFA, my father used to work for the U.S. Forest Service. He was involved with
forest management, breeding and plant pathology at a research station in Fort
Myers, Fla. So I was exposed to the research side of horticulture. As a young
child I would go to the research station with my father and into the
greenhouses and into the field with him and measure plants and take data. That
was my only exposure.

When I started to work in the industry I didn’t fully
understand what is encompassed by the industry. As I talked to other people my
interpretation of horticulture came to include the production, distribution and
selling of plants.
Early on I used to wonder whether people who operate
garden centers think of themselves as being part of the horticulture industry.
They are. They are very integral, sometimes in the production of plants, but certainly
in the distribution, selling, promoting and services related to plant material.
The word “horticulture” has a very scientific connotation
to it, but it’s more than that. It goes beyond production and research. It
involves everything with how we experience the plant world. It’s really
everything that is involved with plants.
How do you think
the horticulture industry is evolving in regards to the types of plants that
are being grown and sold?

Edibles are definitely a part of the horticulture industry.
Not necessarily big agriculture, which would include crops such as corn,
soybeans and wheat. We don’t really think about those crops in the context of
what AmericanHort does as an organization as being a part of horticulture.

Edible crops that are grown in greenhouses, plants grown
by consumers in their backyards or on their porches and patios, those would be
included as a part of horticulture.
AmericanHort has been engaged for a while talking about
edibles to greenhouse growers. There has been a push for vegetables and fruits
that consumers can grow and I expect that will continue to increase. We are
also looking at how growers can produce product for a larger market similar to
what big ag is doing selling to wholesalers or directly to grocery stores.
Growers are looking at alternative crops. If a grower’s
greenhouse is empty in January, why not fill it with something like tomatoes or
green peppers? How do they do that? What does it take to do that sort of thing?
What are the economics of growing an alternative crop? Those are the types of
things that we are discussing within the association committees and with our
staff and leadership. It’s not something new, we’re just looking at what more
can we do to support the membership.
There are so many opportunities for alternative crops.
The association can support these crops through educational sessions at
conferences, but also through research that is necessary and all of the
marketing and other business components that go along with these alternative
crops.
OFA and ANLA were
considered to be “grower” organizations? Do you think that perception will
start to change with AmericanHort?

AmericanHort, although it does have a focus on production
techniques as part of its educational programs, we are not only about
production. You can be an amazing plant grower, but you have to know how to run
a business also. I hope that people will look to AmericanHort not just to get
information on diseases and plant production, but to also look to the
association for support in regards to business management and business skills,
which are also necessary in order to provide a great product to the
marketplace.

With the consolidation of the two associations,
AmericanHort is now the largest organization of garden retailers. You can
expect to see and hear more from us about growing the retail end of the market
chain. For years we have been offering a trade show and a variety of
educational opportunities for retailers and there’s more to come. AmericanHort
is for every business sector in the industry.
Also, AmericanHort’s support for the industry includes
government relations activities in Washington, D.C. Those issues are extensive
and impact all sectors of horticulture.
What is
AmericanHort doing to ensure that the horticulture industry and its products
and services remain relevant to consumers?

There is whole generation of people who have not really
experienced our products and services. AmericanHort received a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant
to study the interest of young people in plants and gardening.

The association will be working with Michigan State University
horticulture professor Bridget Behe and Meister Media on this project. We are
trying to understand now what Generation Y and Millennials will be interested
in the years to come. When they get to the age when they are buying their first
major home or having children, we don’t know what they are going to be
interested in then. We don’t think that we can make an assumption that they are
only going to be interested in technology and they’re never going to be
interested in the nature side of life.
We are conducting focus groups and other research
including one-on-one interviews with younger people to learn about their
shopping habits and interests. What are they interested in at that age level
and how they want to be engaged.
Young people are interested in nature. This generation
cares about the environment. But what are they going to buy and use, we really
don’t know yet. We can’t make assumptions. We are just starting now to research
and understand and prepare for that when that generation is prepared to buy
more than just music and iPhones.
We are not only trying to help by doing this research,
but we are also trying to get individual businesses to be more successful.
We’re trying to help owners to better manage their people, dollars and their
products.

For more:
AmericanHort, (614) 487-1117; hello@AmericanHort.org; http://americanhort.org.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort
Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Monitoring Irrigation Water Quality

Testing your irrigation water quality is important and
should be done regularly.  Frequency of water
samples is dependent on several factors. Growers should test their irrigation
water at least twice a year if producing crops year round.  I know one grower that tests their water
weekly!  At Hort Americas we are becoming
inundated with fertilizer requests and nutritional recommendations.  The first question we’ll ask is “Do you have
results from a recent irrigation water quality test?” If the answer is yes,
great, please forward a copy of the results to us.  If the answer is no, please have your irrigation
water quality tested.  Next question,
“How do you sample your irrigation water?” Collecting water samples correctly
is important to ensure the results are accurate. 

If you are not testing your irrigation water, why
not!?!  That is one of the first things
you should do before a single seed is sown. Why? Well, if you don’t measure it,
you can’t manage it.  On one hand, you
could be undervaluing your irrigation water by adding unnecessary soluble nutrients.
On the other hand, your irrigation water may be unsuitable for crop production
and/or require additional treatment before use. What do I mean?  The irrigation water chemistry made need to
be treated to remove or correct nutritional issues. Or, your irrigation water
may have unwanted sediments that must first be filtered.  Entire books are written on irrigation, so we
cannot cover everything in one edition of an e-newsletter.  For now, let’s first focus on collecting the irrigation
water sample.  As you recall, last month
I shared some videos on growing winter salad greens created by Dr. Brian Krug
from the University of New Hampshire.  Once
again, Dr. Krug has composed both a valuable how-to article and a video to help
you correctly collect an irrigation water sample. 
Check out this article from October, 2012 or, watch another
FloriCAST video by Dr. Brian Krug.
Irrigation Water
Sampling Summary:
·        
Have the right tools e.g. hose or spigot,
bucket, collection bottle, paper towels, submission form, envelope etc.
·        
Flush the water line/hose for at least 3 to 5
minutes
·        
Fill collection bucket
·        
Use a clean collection bottle/container (at
least 8 ounces)
·        
Submerge and fill the collection bottle and cap
under water (no head space)
·        
Complete a submission form (if provided by
testing lab)
·        
Dry and label the collection bottle accordingly
·        
Deliver the envelope to the testing lab
·        
Wait for results
·        
Send Hort Americas a copy of your results J
For more information on irrigation water quality you may
want to read the following extension publications.  Many state extension agencies have produced
similar articles. These are simply two examples of such articles.  Check with your local extension specialist as
they may have more information relevant to your geographic location.

You may also want to
visit the Water Education Alliance for Horticulture. The Water Education Alliance for Horticulture is a team
of researchers and industry experts led by the University of Florida.  Their mission is to “help growers conserve
irrigation water and manage water quality issues.”

Written by Dr. Johann Buck, Technical Service Manger at Hort Americas 
Posted by Maria Luitjohan  

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Trialing supplemental lights in Hawaii

Although most people wouldn’t think that supplemental
lights would be needed to grow plants on the Hawaiian Islands, they may be able
to provide growers with a consistent, quality light source. University of
Hawaii graduate student Robert Saito is comparing the growth of pak choi
(Chinese cabbage) under T5 fluorescent lamps and Philips GreenPower LED
Production Module Deep Red/Blue 120 fixtures.

University of Hawaii research is comparing the growth of pak
choi (Chinese cabbage) under fluorescent lamps and LED lights.

“Some parts of Hawaii don’t have high light levels,”
Saito said. “There is also Kilauea volcano on the Big Island that’s been increasingly active since 2008. It
is spewing all kinds of emissions into the air, which can impact the quality of
plants grown outdoors. Field growers may be able to benefit from growing their
plants using supplemental lights in greenhouses or other indoor growing facilities.”

Saito is conducting three production trials growing pak
choi in an OMRI-certified peat-based growing medium.

Most people probably think Hawaii receives plenty of sunlight
for outdoor crop production. University of Hawaii graduate
student Robert Saito is trying to determine if indoor vegetable
growers could benefit from using supplemental lights.      

“The entire experiment is being done indoors,” Saito
said. “The plants are on a 14-hour photoperiod. The focus of my experiments is
on the benefits of using supplemental lighting. I have been looking at what are
the differences and similarities of growing pak choi under fluorescent lamps
and LEDs.”
For more:
Robert Saito, University of Hawaii, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human
Resources, Manoa, Hawaii; rjnsaito@hawaii.edu.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Specialty Greens produces better crops with grow lights

Specialty Greens in Lafayette, Calif., is hydroponically
producing gourmet lettuces, herbs, chard, spinach, kale and microgreens. Owner Patty
Phaneuf has been working with Hort Americas to study the effects supplemental
production lighting can have on her lettuce and herb crops. She is using Philips
Green Power LED Production Modules Deep Red/Blue 120cm and T-5 fluorescent
lamps. T-5s produce light that is high in the blue light spectrum (440
nanometers).

Phaneuf said the lettuce grown under the LEDs and
fluorescent lights had accelerated growth and intensified leaf color. Using the
lights enabled her to produce the lettuce within a 30-day crop cycle from seed
to harvest.

Phaneuf was so pleased with the lettuce production
results that she is planning to expand the lighting trials. She is working with
Hort Americas to increase the amount of blue light given off by the LED
Production Modules so that she can eliminate having to use the fluorescent
lights.
 

 

For more:
Specialty Greens, www.specialtygreens.com.

Experiment information provided by Patty Phaneuf at
Specialty Greens. Posted by Maria Luitjohan at Hort Americas,
www.hortamericas.com.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Creating the ”perfect” vegetable plants through grafting

Controlled-environment growers have long known the
benefits of grafted plants. Field growers are quickly learning them too.

By David Kuack

Plant grafting of plants has been done for thousands of
years. Preparing and using grafted vegetable plants is common in Asia, Europe
and other regions and is gaining use in North American production systems. North
American greenhouse and high tunnel growers were the first to use grafting most
routinely, but field vegetable growers are showing increased interest in the
benefits grafting has to offer.

Grafting joins the root system of one variety to the
shoot of another variety to create one “hybrid” plant. The plant used for its
roots is called the rootstock. The plant used for its stems and leaves to
produce marketable fruit is the scion.

Matt Kleinhenz, professor and extension vegetable
specialist at Ohio State University-OARDC in Wooster, Ohio, said the number of
vegetable crops that are being grafted is steadily climbing.

“Currently the core crops include tomato, watermelon,
cantaloupe, pepper, cucumber and eggplant,” Kleinhenz said. “These crops are
grafted for various reasons, including their financial value and because their
production can be limited by issues that grafting can address.”

 
Advantages of
grafted plants
Kleinhenz said there are a number of potential benefits
provided by grafting. These benefits apply to both the person who creates the
grafted plants and the one using them.

“The broadest description of the benefits of grafting may
be that it makes better use of genetics in production,” he said. “Single commercial
fruiting varieties are often hybrids. When developing them, the breeder attempts
to incorporate most or all of the traits that matter into each one. That
process is resource demanding. It takes time and money. It’s technically
challenging and it always involves compromise. Each and every variety is
imperfect in some way. A variety may be better than its predecessors, but it is
still imperfect in some way.”

Kleinhenz said there a number of ways in which hybrid varieties
can be imperfect. They can be less resistant to soil-borne diseases or
deleterious nematodes. They can use water or nutrients inefficiently. They can
be susceptible to various forms of abiotic (nonliving) stresses including cold,
heat or salinity.

“Instead of incorporating all of the desirable traits
into one variety, grafting creates an instant combination of two varieties,” he
said. “The attributes of the two varieties are specifically chosen, but there
is no attempt to blend them into one particular genotype, as in traditional
hybrid development. Instead, grafting provides the best of both varieties by
splicing them together. Through that splicing a new “physical” hybrid is
created for use in that production season only.”
Grafting provides the best of two plant varieties by splicing
them together.
Photos courtesy of Matt Kleinhenz, Ohio State University-OARDC

Kleinhenz said traditional development of a standard
hybrid must overcome barriers to the crossing of the parents, the movement of
traits from one plant to another and the possibility that bad traits tag along.

“In grafting, two varieties must be compatible to be
grafted,” he said. “Grafting allows for the bypassing of difficult and
time-consuming steps that are required to create a superior variety that is
good from top to bottom. For this reason, grafting may increase both the range
of traits available to growers and the speed into which they come onto the
farm.”

Kleinhenz said in those systems that rely heavily on
grafting, scion varieties are bred to produce high quality fruit and rootstock
varieties are bred to power the scion. The scion does not need to resist or
tolerate soil-borne stresses and the rootstock does not have to produce
marketable fruit.

He said grafting combines two excellent varieties in a
matter of seconds. However, an average of two to three weeks may be required to
prepare the seedlings to be grafted and to allow newly grafted plants to heal
before transplanting them.
An average of two to three weeks may be required for newly
grafted plants to heal before they are ready to transplant.
Grafting potential

“Grafted plants are primarily used to limit losses due to
soil-borne diseases and deleterious nematodes,” Kleinhenz said. “Grafted plants
have shown the ability to limit losses caused by organisms that attack the root
system or the lowest shoots just above the soil line. Grafted plants are not
widely used to combat foliar or fruit diseases such as late blight of tomato
that essentially attack the shoot well above the soil line. Foliar disease
management is still primarily the responsibility of the scion.”

Kleinhenz said grafted plants have also performed well under
less than ideal growing conditions.

“Tests completed where soil salinity was high, where soil
moisture was excessive, and when soil temperatures were low have demonstrated
the high potential of grafted plants,” he said. “Grafted plants have also
out-yielded ungrafted ones when conditions were good and they have been able to
use water and fertilizer inputs more efficiently. Researchers and farmers are
testing the performance of grafted plants worldwide under many conditions to
discover where and when using them makes the most sense.”
The performance of grafted plants is being tested under many
conditions worldwide to discover where and when using them
makes the most sense.

Kleinhenz said the preparation and use of grafted plants
is market-driven.

“If users see the benefits, suppliers will offer them,”
he said. “Potential suppliers will be reluctant to prepare large quantities of
grafted plants until they are confident people will buy them.

“I recommend that potential users try them. Local
suppliers and extension personnel can assist in getting started. Growers can
also prepare their own grafted plants with just a little practice. Hands-on and
free web-based training guides are widely available.”

Playing catch up

The use of grafted vegetable plants in soil-based
production systems is much more common outside North America.

“The current cost of grafted plants, unfamiliarity with
the full benefits of using them, not being sure how to use them and their
occasionally inconsistent performance may explain the situation,” Kleinhenz said.
“Early adopters are already fairly convinced. Others are taking a more
wait-and-see approach. Adoption curves for new practices and technologies tend
to be similar. The benefits have to be clear, consistent and compelling to a
core group of growers. Then, word spreads.”

Kleinhenz said even though grafting is not new, until
recently there have been limited resources available in North America for
widespread and intense evaluation.

“The demand for alternative disease management strategies
and vigorous and resource-efficient crops is high,” he said. “New rootstock
varieties are available. More and more people have at least heard of grafting,
grafted plants themselves and/or grown grafted plants. And, the pool of
research-based information to aid growers is expanding.”

For more: Matt
Kleinhenz, Ohio State University-OARDC, Vegetable Production Systems
Laboratory; kleinhenz.1@osu.edu; http://hcs.osu.edu/vpslab.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort
Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.
 

Learning how to graft
The “Grafting Guide,”
available from Ohio State University-OARDC, offers a detailed, easy-to-follow
look at the entire process of grafting. It would be of interest to both
inexperienced and experienced grafters.
This comprehensive pictorial guide discusses the splice-and-cleft
graft method for tomato and pepper. It provides information on selecting
rootstocks and how to evaluate the suitability of grafted plants for use in
field and high tunnel production.
Included in the guide are a tomato rootstock table, seeding
calculator, stem diameter chart, seed treatment fact sheet, healing chamber
design and other reference materials. New additions to the guide will be
prepared as experience and research-based information become available.

Grafting symposium scheduled for Nov. 6

The 2nd annual Vegetable Grafting Symposium will be held Nov. 6, 2013, in San Diego, Calif. The event is being convened by
a USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative-Supported University-USDA-Industry
Team hosted by the Annual International Research Conference on Methyl Bromide
Alternatives and Emissions Reductions.

The symposium’s objectives include:

1. Summarizing the current status and expected future of
grafting as a technology for enhancing U.S. vegetable production systems
related to profit, resource efficiency and sustainability.
2. Increase the understanding of challenges and
opportunities associated with preparing and using grafted vegetable plants.
3. Strengthen and diversify partnerships required to
widen the application of vegetable grafting as cornerstone technology.
4. Describe the USDA-Industry Team’s goals and approaches.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Updated: LED Grow Lights used in Leafy Green Trials

Specialty Greens
experiment is going well. In the first eight-ten days, Specialty Greens saw
little difference between the LED lights and the T-5 lights, but as we
approached the two week mark Specialty Greens began to see significant differences,
as seen in the photos. There does not seem to be an appreciable difference
between the two LED light set up and the three light set up. The main
difference I am noticing is that there is a bit less color in the leaves of
lettuce produced under the LED lights. There is however, amazing growth and in
looking at the photos of the Mizuna leaves, it’s clear that as a commercial
grower, Specialty Greens could get two, possibly three harvests out in 30 days.
Overall, everything is growing well and if were it not for this experiment, Specialty Greens
would have pulled some of the crops a week ago (e.g., kale, mizuna, some
lettuces).
Chard under Two LEDs
Chard under Three LEDs
 
 
Specialty Greens also decided to compare Hort
Americas LEDs to T-5 lights. In these photos Specialty Greens tried to show the
visible difference between the plants grown under the LED lights (in each photo
they are the larger plants) vs growing under T-5 lights and the incredible
difference between the small (background) and large (foreground) Mizuna leaves
 
Mizuna grown under LEDs on Left, T-5’s on right
 
Mizuna grown under LEDs on Left, T-5’s on right

Also showing the difference in Chard growing under LED
lights (left) vs T-5 lights. (right)

Experiment information provided by Patty Phaneuf from Specialty Greens, and Posted by Maria Luitjohan from Hort Americas.
Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

LED Grow Lights used in Leafy Green Trials

Philips GreenPower Production Module LED Experiment with
Specialty Greens in Lafayette, CA

Lights: Philips GreenPower Production Modules Deep
Red/Blue 120cm

Objectives: 1.) Can a variety of greens (gourmet
lettuces, high nutrient greens and herbs) be grown under production LED lights
well enough and quickly enough to be commercially viable. The target is a 30
day cycle from seed to harvest.

2.) Would two lights per hydroponic unit (ez clone
cloner) achieve this goal or are three necessary?

Seeded: 9/15/13

Experiment under lights began: 9/26/13
Initial recommendation to hang lights 16-18” above plants produced
leggy and weak seedlings.  Lights
remounted above plants 7-8” Philips GreenPower Production Modules are being run
14 hours/day.  Ambient room temperature
ranges from 70 degrees during the night to 85 degrees during the day. The
nutrient used is DynaGrow at a dilution of 1/2 teaspoon per gallon so about 5-6
teaspoons per cloner. ProTect, an auxiliary nutrient, was used at the same
dilution. An ArtDne recycling timer is being used 24 hours per day at a rate of
1 minute on for every 5 minutes off. There will be one nutrient change during
the experiment after approximately two weeks to refresh the set up and new
nutrient will be applied at the dilution described above.
Specialty Greens is providing growers interested in hydroponics all the they need to grow hydroponically in a 2 ft sq. space!
To
find out more about Specialty Greens Check them out here or like them on Facebook
Here are some photos taken of the Experiment on 9/26/13

Experiment information provided by Patty Phaneuf from Specialty Greens, and Posted by Maria Luitjohan from Hort Americas.
Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

e-GRO website becoming major information resource

U.S. university floriculture professors and extension
specialists have collaborated to bring the floriculture industry an extensive
and thorough information resource.

By David Kuack

If you aren’t familiar with the e-GRO website,
it is one anyone involved in floriculture should check out. How good is the
website? This summer the American Society for Horticultural Science presented
the website’s developers with its Extension Educational Materials Award.

The American Society for Horticultural Science presented
the developers of the e-GRO website with its Extension
 Educational Materials Award

The two-year-old e-GRO: Electronic Grower Resources
Online website was the brainchild of Brian Krug, extension greenhouse and
horticulture specialist at University of New Hampshire, Brian Whipker, extension
floriculture specialist at North Carolina State University, Roberto Lopez,
floriculture extension specialist at Purdue University, and Nora Catlin, floriculture
specialist at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County.

“A few years ago Brian Whipker, Roberto Lopez and I were
travelling together,” said Brian Krug. “We were discussing how difficult it was
to prepare an extension newsletter. Roberto had the idea of doing a newsletter
collectively. We invited Nora Catlin, who is a plant pathologist, to join us in
creating the e-GRO Alert newsletter. The newsletter is funded by the American Floral Endowment.

“Rather than doing a traditional monthly or quarterly
newsletter we decided to do a seasonal weekly newsletter based on what we saw
going on in commercial greenhouses. The primary focus is what is happening in
greenhouses during the spring season beginning at the end of January through
May. Sometimes we prepare more than one newsletter during the week depending on
the issues that are occurring in commercial greenhouses.”

Providing growers
a “heads up”

Krug said that although there is a tentative schedule as
to what is going to be written about during a specific week, the topic and
author can change depending on what growers may be dealing with. The
newsletters cover a variety of grower-related issues including disease and pest
management and environmental, physiological and nutritional disorders being
observed in commercial greenhouses.

“At the end of January we may schedule an article on
plant growth regulators written by Brian Whipker, but that will depend on what
he has seen occurring in growers’ greenhouses,” Krug said. “Ours is a very
reactionary industry. With the Alert newsletter we are trying to give the
growers a heads up as to something that they might already have in their
greenhouses or may be something that is coming their way.”

During the second year the team of specialists expanded
to include Cornell University entomologist Dan Gilrein, University of Georgia
floriculture professor Paul Thomas and Virginia Tech horticulture professor and
Virginia Cooperative Extension specialist for greenhouse crops Joyce Latimer.
Joining the group in 2014 will be Kristin Getter, who is the floriculture
outreach specialist at Michigan State University.

“The bulk of the e-GRO Alert subscribers are from the
authors’ respective states,” Krug said. “We have subscribers in 48 states and
over a dozen different countries.”

Teaching
greenhouse basics

Another part of the website is e-GRO University. This
section was developed by Krug, Whipker, Lopez, Kansas State University
floriculture professor Kim Williams, Kansas State ornamental and horticultural entomologist
Ray Cloyd and Cornell University senior extension associate and plant
pathologist Margery Daughtrey. e-GRO University is the second phase of the
website which includes over 60 videos that cover the basics of greenhouse
production. The videos are divided up into five different sections: greenhouse
management, nutrition management, growth management, insects and mites, and diseases.
e-GRO University has been funded by the Gloeckner Foundation for two years.

 e-GRO University provides a Greenhouse 101 curriculum
that covers basic information for greenhouse management
 and production.

“For e-GRO University we developed a Greenhouse 101
curriculum that provides basic information for greenhouse management and
production,” Krug said. “It is information that would be comparable to a
freshmen and sophomore college course program. Our goal was to provide an
educational resource for people who work in the industry who didn’t receive a
formal education in greenhouse production. If you are grower in a greenhouse without
the formal training or education, this program allows a person to get a handle
on some of the basics on nutrition, insects and diseases. A person can choose
to listen to any of the videos, which run 20 minutes or less. Most of the
information is basic concepts so it is not going to be changing.”

Krug said the e-GRO team is looking to set up a
certificate program for e-GRO University.

“Listening to any of the programs is free,” he said. “The
certificate program will enable interested growers in holding themselves
accountable and will indicate that a person successively completed the
lectures. The certificate will indicate that a person successfully completed
e-GRO University. There will be five different modules and a quiz at the end of
each module. A person will be able to choose how many of the modules they want
to complete.”

Krug said the e-GRO University program can also be used
by growers for new employees who don’t have any experience or limited
experience in different aspects of growing.

“By offering a certificate program to employees, this
enables employees to be held accountable for the modules that they have
completed,” he said. “We’re hoping that employers will use this for their
employees. We wanted to offer something more for the greenhouse employees.”

Krug said the e-GRO University program can also be used
by vocational teachers who have access to a greenhouse and who may need to
familiarize themselves with the basics before they and their students try to
start growing plants in the facility. This could be a continuing education
program for the teachers as well as a learning resource for the students.”

Additional
resources

Other resources available to visitors of the e-GRO
website include:

* Webinars.
This is the newest resource being offered by the e-GRO. The series kicks off
with “Poinsettia Troubleshooting,”
a two-hour webinar on Sept. 18 that will focus on troubleshooting poinsettia
problems. Ray Cloyd will discuss key insect identification and control issues.
Brian Whipker will focus on nutrition disorder identification and management. North
Carolina State University plant pathologist Kelly Ivors will cover disease
identification and control.

* Podcasts. About 200 podcasts have been
completed by members of the e-GRO team in cooperation with Greenhouse Grower
magazine over the last three to four years. Krug said linking the podcasts on
e-GRO enables growers to search for the episodes they want to view.

* e-GRO Bookstore. Brian Whipker has created five
electronic books that are available for the iPad. Krug said that Whipker plans
to continue to create new books for the library. Books currently available
include:

1. Selecting and Using Plant Growth Regulators on
Floricultural Crops. This free publication was done in collaboration with Joyce
Latimer at Virginia Tech and Brian Whipker at North Carolina State University.

2. e-GRO Volume One: Poinsettia
3. e-GRO Alert Volume Two
4. e-GRO Volume Three: Primula
5. e-GRO Alert Volume Four: Sclerotinia

* Floriculture InfoSearch. Although this resource is independent of the e-GRO team, the
members felt it was worth adding to the website. John Dole, professor and head
of the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University,
partnered with American Floral Endowment to create the Floriculture InfoSearch
engine. This search engine provides convenient and comprehensive access to
floriculture literature, videos and presentations. Information is available from
scientific literature and trade and association magazines and websites. The
Floriculture InfoSearch website also contains a floriculture archive with
materials dating back to the early-1800s from AFE, North Carolina State,
scientific journals and trade publications.

For more:
Brian Krug, (603) 862-0155; brian.krug@unh.edu.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort
Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Using organic fertilizers for hydroponic lettuce production


Research at Kansas State University shows comparable size
and quality lettuce plants can be grown hydroponically with organic or
inorganic fertilizers.
 
By David Kuack

According to the Organic Trade Association’s “2013 U.S. Families’ Organic Attitudes and Beliefs Study,”
81 percent of U.S. families report they purchase organic products at least sometimes.
The study found that the majority of those buying organic foods are purchasing
more items than a year earlier. Those households that are new to buying organic
products represent 41 percent of all families.

The study showed that produce continues to be the leading
category of organic purchases. Ninety-seven percent of organic consumers
indicated they had purchased organic fruits or vegetables in the past six
months. Breads and grains, dairy and packaged foods all scored above 85 percent
among those who buy organic products.
 
A 2013 study done by the Organic Trade Association showed
that 97% of consumers indicated they had purchased
organic fruits or vegetables in the past six months. 
Retailers should be particularly interested in the
results of the study. Organic buyers reported spending more per shopping trip
and shopping more frequently than those who never purchase organic food.

This month national retailer Target
announced its plans to begin offering a new line of organic products called
Simply Balanced. The line is an outgrowth of similar products within its existing
Archer Farms store brand. The Minneapolis-based company plans to boost its
organic food selection by 25 percent by 2017.

Comparing organic,
inorganic fertilizers

With the increased interest in organic produce by growers,
retailers and consumers, researchers at Kansas State University looked at the
production of hydroponically-grown lettuce using organic fertilizers. Jason
Nelson, who received his Master’s degree this year, said the purpose of the
research was to study overall plant performance with organic and inorganic
fertilizers. Another aspect of the research was to study the effects of
commercial microbial inoculants that are marketed to promote plant growth.

Lettuce plants were grown hydroponically comparing organic
and inorganic fertilizer solutions to which were incorporated
microbial inoculants.

‘Rex’ butterhead lettuce was grown in nutrient film
technique troughs. The nitrogen sources of the complete inorganic fertilizer were
ammonium nitrate and ammonium phosphate. The organic fertilizers consisted of four
Kimitec products for hydroponic production,
including Bombardier (8-0-0), Caos (10.5 percent calcium), Espartan
(2.7-3.0-2.6) and Tundamix NOP (micronutrients), plus KMS (potassium magnesium
sulfate) from a different supplier. The microbial inoculants included
SubCulture-B bacterial root inoculant and SubCulture-M mycorrhizal root
inoculant.

“Nitrogen in organic fertilizers is primarily found in proteins
and other complex molecules that break down to ammonium,” Nelson said. “The
ammonium levels could be considered comparable between the two types of
fertilizer systems, although the level was slightly higher with the inorganic
fertilizer. The biggest difference was in the nitrate nitrogen. Starting out,
the inorganic fertilizer contained 75 parts per million nitrate. With the
organic fertilizer there was no nitrate at all. For the other nutrients,
including phosphorus, potassium, calcium and sulfur, using all of Kimitec
products except Katon, which is a potassium source, those were all comparable
with the inorganic fertilizer.”

Nelson said the purpose of incorporating the microbial
inoculants was to learn if they had any impact on the plants grown with either
of the fertilizers.

“Growers have had some trouble getting the same amount of
growth using organic fertilizers compared to inorganic fertilizers,” he said.
“These microbial inoculants are advertised as being able to boost plant growth.
One purpose of the study was to determine if the inoculants would boost growth
in an organic hydroponic system so that it would be comparable to plant growth
with inorganic fertilizers.”

Differences in
growth

One of the things that Nelson noticed in his trials was
that the inorganic-fertilized lettuce plants were harvestable earlier than the
organic-fertilized plants. He said this was particularly evident during the
summer trial when the inorganic lettuce actually bolted.

“Comparing the amount of nutrients in the inorganic fertilizer
to the organic, it makes sense that this growth difference occurred,” he said. “There
was more nitrate in the inorganic fertilizer, so there was a better nitrogen
balance from the start and the plants grew and matured a little faster and were
probably about five days earlier to harvest in the summer and fall trials.

“The limiting factor with the organic fertilizer is the
nitrate. If a grower added some calcium nitrate to the organic nutrient
solution the plants would catch up to the inorganic plants. I expect it would
only take a small amount of nitrate, 30-50 ppm, for the organic plants to match
the growth rate of the inorganic plants.”

Lettuce grown with the four Kimitec products and
potassium magnesium sulfate were comparable to the inorganic plants in size and
fresh weight. However, the inorganic plants consistently had a higher dry
weight than the organic plants.

“The heads of lettuce looked comparable in size,” Nelson
said. “If a consumer was buying a fresh head of lettuce they wouldn’t be able
to tell the difference between the organic- and inorganic-fertilized plants.”

Heads of lettuce grown with inorganic or organic fertilizer
looked comparable in size. The growth rate of the inorganic
lettuce was slightly faster, finishing about five days earlier
than the organic lettuce. Microbial inoculants didn’t seem to
have an effect on this short-term crop.
One area where there was a noticeable difference was in
the taste of the lettuce. Nelson said that the inorganic-fertilized lettuce is
going take up nitrate nitrogen, which is going to be deposited in the leaves.

“There was definitely a flavor difference between the
inorganic and organic plants,” he said. “I attribute the flavor difference more
to the nitrate level than anything else since the other nutrient levels were very
similar between the inorganic and organic plants. The petiole nitrate level was
much higher in the inorganic plants. The flavor was much heavier. We did an
informal classroom taste-test with students and that was a common response. Many
of them preferred the taste of the organic lettuce over the inorganic lettuce.”

Nelson said the use of microbial inoculants with both the
inorganic and organic fertilizers didn’t appear to have any effect on the
growth of the lettuce plants.

“The plants that we were growing were under a relatively
stress-free, temperature-controlled environment,” he said. “I really didn’t see
any difference in the studies with the inoculants except in one circumstance.
That was when the solution nutrient levels were incredibly low. The inoculants
actually had some nitrogen bound up in kelp meal as part of their constituents.
I saw some growth differences in that instance.

“Mycorrhizal fungi take about eight to 10 weeks to become
established and colonize the plant roots. For crops like lettuce which finish
as quickly as four weeks, a mycorrhizal inoculant isn’t going to become active
within such a short production cycle.”

Managing fertilizer
solution pH

Nelson said one of the biggest challenges facing growers
who are trying to grow in an organic hydroponic system is pH management.

“The Kimitec line of products was able to provide an
adequate amount of nutrients for the plants to grow. But the nutrient solution
required more pH management,” Nelson said. “Managing the pH is the biggest
challenge with organic fertilizers because a grower can follow the recommended
rates so the proper amounts of nutrients are available, but the pH fluctuation
is so much more pronounced than it is with inorganic fertilizer treatments.

“It depended a little on plant size, but the nutrient
solution pH for the inorganic plants was adjusted on average maybe once a week.
For the organic plants, at minimum I was checking the solution pH and electrical
conductivity at least once a day whether I was making any changes or not. Some
days I would check the pH twice. If I checked the pH, adjusted it to what I
wanted, by the next day I would have to add acid to bring the pH back down
because it would increase overnight. Somebody might be able to stretch that to two
to three days. When the plants were young, I was checking every day and
adjusting the organic solution pH every day. That’s what the organic solution seemed
to require.”

For more:
Jason Nelson, jsn0331@k-state.edu. Kim Williams, Kansas State University, Department of Horticulture, Forestry and
Recreation Resources; kwilliam@ksu.edu. http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/15574/JasonNelson2013.pdf?sequence=5

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort
Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Workshop focuses on how to market locally-grown food

Hort Americas attended the “MarketReady Training Program
for Local Farmers, Ranchers and Food Producers” workshop in April in Fort
Worth, Texas. The program was presented by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension agricultural
economists Francisco Abello and Marco Palma. The MarketReady workshop discussed practices that small-scale growers and other food producers could
effectively use to approach and market to restaurants, caterers, grocery stores,
food distributors and chains. Topics covered included communications and
relationships, packaging, labeling, pricing, supply, delivery, quality
assurance, storage, invoicing, insurance and marketing.

The MarketReady training program was developed for the MarketMaker network
 of states to provide growers with the information and tools to engage the various
markets and develop supplier relationships.

The morning portion of the program focused on selling to
restaurants and was presented by Abello. He discussed how producers and their
customers can use the Texas MarketMaker website
to promote and find food products. Texas MarketMaker is an all-in-one resource
providing information on locally-grown Texas farm products, seafood, wineries,
farmers markets and agritourism.

“This is a free tool to help connect farmers with
buyers,” Palma said. “It also provides important marketing tools for farmers.
We will be providing information on a wide range of produce, including, fruits
and vegetables, livestock and dairy, seafood, etc.”
 
 
The MarketMaker National Network,
which currently has 20 states using the website, is maintained by the
University of Illinois. The MarketReady training program
was developed for the MarketMaker network of states to provide growers
with the information and tools to engage the various markets and develop
supplier relationships.
The MarketMaker National Network currently has 20 states using the website.
Abello said the Internet enables producers to reach many
more potential customers than traditional advertising. He urged producers who
develop their own websites to maintain and update them so that they are
interactive and current since customers have 24/7 access to businesses’ websites.
He also suggested that producers promote themselves on Facebook.
Producers who want to sell to restaurants must be
receptive to the chefs’ needs and to the feedback they have to offer. Abello
said producers need to build an open line of communication and be accessible to
chefs by phone and email.

Producers should also know what is happening with their
customers’ businesses to show they are interested and know what they are doing.
Abello said producers have to understand what their customers’ needs are before
crops are planted.

Marketing fruits
and vegetables

Ag economist Marco Palma discussed several aspects of
marketing related to the production and marketing of produce. He said there are
a number of negative and positive issues currently affecting the horticulture
industry.

Negative aspects:

* Stronger competition from less expensive imports and
the increased dependence of the United States on food imports.

* Increased concern by consumer over food safety.

* Increasing fuel/energy costs.

* Labor costs and availability.

Positive aspects:

* Increased demand for healthy foods, organic,
environmental-friendly and local produce. Consumers have an increased interest
in food origin.

* Trade opportunities for food exports.

* Positive health dimensions (functional foods that
improve health).

* Dietary guidelines for Americans.

* Specialty Crop Research Initiative ($2.1 billion in
Farm Bill to promote fruits and vegetables).

Grocery, wholesale
and foodservice sales

Abello discussed selling to grocery stores, food
distribution companies and large chain stores. These companies have been the
primary customers of large farms that produce large volumes and can ship
tractor trailer loads long distances.

Abello said the changes in market dynamics are making
these outlets more available to smaller growers. The increasing interest by
consumers to buy more locally-grown produce, consumer concern with where their
food is coming from and its safety along with the increase in long distance
shipping costs, are giving smaller producers an opportunity to look at
wholesale marketing channels. He said communication and relationship building
are critical to conducting business with wholesale customers. He said the
business relationship with these customers is more professional and that
negotiations are a part of the everyday process of doing business with this
market segment.

For more: Marco
Palma, mapalma@ag.tamu.edu.

Francisco Abello, a former doctoral student in the
Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University, has returned
to Argentina to farm and ranch.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Collaboration is not a four-letter word

As funding is cut, academics, extension personnel and
commercial companies have an increased incentive to cooperate to ensure the floriculture
industry continues to thrive.

By David Kuack

With all of the divisiveness going on between Congressional
members and President Obama lately, it’s not surprising that there isn’t a lot being
accomplished in Washington. What has been especially disconcerting is the lack
of willingness on the part of many legislators to work together to come up with
policy decisions that reflect the beliefs of the majority of Americans who
elected them.

Maybe those politicians should have attended this year’s
National Floriculture Forum where a topic of discussion was how university
researchers, extension and commercial companies can work together to ensure the
continued viability of the floriculture industry. Just like in Washington, public
and private funding is being cut or eliminated, which is causing some university
researchers to work more closely with commercial companies to conduct the
research and train the students needed to keep the industry growing.

More than research

During the National Floriculture Forum Syngenta technical
specialist Jamie Gibson discussed the academic and industry perspectives on
research. Gibson, who received his doctorate from North Carolina State
University, was an assistant horticulture professor at the University of
Florida before taking a position with Syngenta.

Jamie Gibson, Syngenta technical specialist, told attendees at this
year’s National Floriculture Forum that the reduction in research
funding has had a major impact on horticultural researchers. 

“Sometimes a grant or a big project isn’t the biggest win
for a university researcher when working with the industry,” Gibson said. “Sometimes
it’s producing an outstanding undergraduate, or training a graduate student how
to properly problem solve an issue or to have a PhD student working on an
industry challenge that can really help growers to improve their profits. The
university still has a great niche for producing talented students to be
managers, researchers or specialists in the industry. Also, the university can
produce sales and marketing people who understand plant science, but also who
have a passion for working in the industry.”

Gibson said the reduction in research funding has had a
major impact on horticultural researchers.

“Today university researchers have to show their
administrators and deans that they are capable of landing the large grants,” he
said. “They are receiving increased pressure to bring in the large grants that
drive overhead costs and maybe support the administrative side of the
university. Researchers need to market themselves well. They not only have to
do good science work, but sometimes they have to partner with industry to do
projects that drive their programs.

“Academics should have a few projects that the industry
is sponsoring whether it is PGR work or nutrition or culture. These are the
projects that challenge and really improve the skill set of undergraduate and
graduate students. The funding for these industry-sponsored projects supports
the researcher’s technician, undergraduate researchers and it pays the bills.
The larger grants enable master’s students and PhD students to focus on the
bigger picture, making sure scholarly work is being done.

“There has to be a balance. The so-called “spray-and-pray”
research projects offer academics the opportunities to engage with the industry
very well. They do have relevancy.”

Going where the money
is

Peter Konjoian, president of consulting and research company
Konjoian’s Floriculture Education Services, told the National Floriculture Forum
attendees that there is much more cooperation and collaboration today between university
researchers than there was back in the 1970s and ’80s. Konjoian received his
PhD from Ohio State University and was an assistant horticulture professor at
the University of Maryland for two years before returning to his family’s
greenhouse business.

“When I was a graduate student and then a university
researcher, it was Ohio State vs. Michigan State and OFA vs. BPI. At that time there
was enough money available that you didn’t have to think about collaborating
with another university. Research funding flowed much more freely back then.
Today research money is tough to find and everything revolves around money,
whether we’re talking about one company or an entire industry.
Peter Konjoian, president of Konjoian’s Floriculture Education
Services, told National Floriculture Forum attendees that there is
much more cooperation and collaboration today between university
researchers than there was back in the 1970s and ’80s.

“During the ’70s and ’80s, there was profit margin in
every segment of the supply chain. Today those margins have eroded to the point
where they are razor thin.”

Konjoian said another reality is there are only a
fraction of the university horticulture positions today that there were in the
past.

“As horticulture professors retire their positions are
going away and other positions are being blended into the broader discipline of
plant science,” he said. “There are very few traditional horticultural programs
left in the U.S. If there were more university horticultural positions
available, many of the grad students would be looking there first for
employment opportunities.”

Konjoian said an increasing number of university
researchers are working together on projects enabling them to play to each
other’s personal and program strengths.

“The Young Plant Research Center, the Floriculture
Research Alliance, the Floriculture Sustainability Research Coalition, the
Water Education Alliance for Horticulture and e-GRO are just a few examples of
how university researchers are pulling together and collaborating among
themselves and industry,” Konjoian said. “Twenty or 30 years ago there is no
way the universities and industry are going to collaborate on research. Today
and in the future I can see research projects that include certain parts being
done at a university greenhouse and other parts at a commercial greenhouse. How
can the public and private sectors collaborate to improve efficiency and better
serve our growers? What can I do best in my private setting and what can a
university researcher do that I’m not equipped to do.”

Konjoian said when he was in graduate school in the late
’70s and early ‘80s there was often a negative connotation placed on applied
research.

“Back then applied research didn’t have the prestige,” he
said. “Now university researchers are looking for money wherever they can find
it. If they are going to attract money for research on PGRs or growing media or
crop nutrition, then they are going to include applied projects in their
programs.

“Many researchers, especially the younger ones,
understand they need industry more because there is less money coming in, less
state and federal funding is available. If that means doing applied research,
then so be it”

Privatizing
extension

Konjoian said another change that has occurred is the
loss of extension services and personnel dedicated to the horticulture
industry.

“When I was in graduate school it seemed like every state
extension service and state grower association published its own grower
newsletter,” he said. “We are going to continue to see privatization of
extension work because the public tax dollars are not available any more. Those
tax dollars are going to serve more people in the public sector.

“Over my career I have seen some level of privatization
occurring in teaching, research and extension. This is justifiable because more
tax dollars are being spent on programs that assist a larger number of
taxpayers and not just our small industry. If the taxpayers are not going to
pay for these extension services, then industry participants, including the
growers are going to have to pay for them. Either that or the services will go
away completely.”
Peter Konjoian, who does research and consulting work for
industry companies, would like to see increased collaboration
between the commercial side and universities.
Konjoian is quick to point out that there are still
plenty of good extension specialists at the universities. He said the private
sector has picked up the slack on some services that extension hasn’t been able
to continue to offer.

“This is an excellent example of the collaborative
efforts our industry needs to make,” he said. “How are we going to work
together? Could there be a national extension group that is supported by
private companies? Extension specialists have been told by their administrators
that they need to be more efficient and touch more growers via the web or in
other ways. That being the reality, just because specialists now find it more
difficult to justify one-on-one service doesn’t mean growers don’t still need
one-on-one attention. The difference today is that growers need to understand
that they have to pay for such service because public tax dollars no longer
will.”

For more:
Jamie Gibson, Syngenta Flowers, Home and Garden, Syngenta Flowers Inc., james.gibson@syngenta.com;
http://www.syngentaflowers.com. Peter Konjoian, Konjoian’s Floriculture Education Services,
peterkfes@comcast.net.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort
Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Workshop focuses on starting an urban farm

Hort Americas attended the “Starting Your Urban Farm”
workshop in April in Fort Worth, Texas. Presented by Texas A&M AgriLife
Extension, the workshop started with a webinar by Texas A&M University
extension vegetable specialist Joseph Masabni. He discussed the basic requirements needed to start an urban farm including a plentiful water supply,
adequate soil type and desirable environment.

Masabni said one of the major pitfalls to operating a
successful urban farm is the lack of a marketing strategy. Since most produce
is perishable, it is critical that a grower have a marketing plan developed before
a crop is planted. He said development of markets and market plans are the
first steps necessary for profitable production. Because market windows are
narrow and precise, Masabni said growers need more options to sell their
products. Market-related questions that need to be answered include:

Where is the produce going to be sold?

How is the produce going to be sold?

What is the volume that will be sold?

What are the market windows for the produce?

What are the packaging requirements?

Urban farm tour

The second part of the workshop was a tour of Gnismer
Farms in Dalworthington Gardens, Texas. Owned by Lynn and Cynthia Remsing, the husband
and wife team farm 6 acres producing a variety of crops including asparagus, strawberries,
lettuce, cantaloupes, onions, rhubarb, kohlrabi, cabbage, potatoes, watermelons
and pumpkins.

Lynn Remsing, owner of Gnismer Farms,  uses
plant compost to grow his crops. He doesn’t use
any animal manures. 

Lynn Remsing said having the right soil is critical. He
composts wood chips he receives free from the local power company along with
grass clippings. He doesn’t use any animal manure.
Not wanting to be dependent on inconsistent and limited rainfall,
Remsing uses Netafim irrigation tape and black plastic mulch. During the hot
Texas summers when temperatures can easily exceed 100ºF, Remsing said using the mulch allows him to water
every 14 days. Remsing said he is working with Texas A&M to trial a double
layer of plastic mulch to determine its effect on production.

Gnismer Farms in cooperation with Texas A&M
University researchers is trialing a double layer
of plastic mulch to determine its impact on crop
production, including strawberries and lettuce.

Remsing is setting up another 360-acre farm in Waco,
Texas. To ensure that he has enough water for irrigation, he is installing a
couple of 40,000 gallon water tanks.
Some of the “tips” that Remsing offered workshop
attendees included: be willing to mechanize when possible, look for ways to
conserve water, don’t try to operate a farm on a shoestring and look for ways
to be able to sell your products before your competitors.
For more:
Gnismer Farms, http://gnismer.com.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Growing lettuce under LED, T5 hydroponic production system

Katie Phibbs, grower/creator/educator at The Lettuce People, talks about her experience of growing lettuce under a LED, T5 grow lights, NFT hydroponic vertical production system. Phibbs said she lost 250 heads of lettuce to the heat from HID metal halide lights in a vertical production system. Fortunately she had a backup system equipped with LEDs and T5s.


The Lettuce People’s LED, T5 grow lights, NFT hydroponic
 production system

Challenges facing growers in the Netherlands and U.S.

John Pieterse, head grower of orchids at Mid-American
Growers, talks about some of the differences and challenges of growing in the
Netherlands and the United States.

By David Kuack

When John Pieterse left the Netherlands just over two
years ago to become head grower of orchids at Mid-American Growers in Granville, Ill., he knew that he was going to face some challenges. Prior to
the move to the United States, Pieterse had successfully operated his own cut
rose production facility in Moerkapelle, the Netherlands, for 10 years. After
selling his business in 2009, he went to work in February 2010 for a neighboring
company SO Natural Orchideeënkwekerij growing
potted orchids. It was during his time with SO Natural, which assisted
Mid-American Growers and Green Circle Growers in Oberlin, Ohio, in setting up
their orchid production facilities, that Pieterse got his first exposure to
living and growing in the Midwest.

“When I was 18 years old, I worked as a trainee at a
greenhouse operation in Florida for three months,” Pieterse said. “I thought
the U.S. was an amazing country. If ever I had the chance to come over and work
here, I would take the opportunity.”

That opportunity came when Nick van Wingerden, owner of Mid-American
Growers, asked Pieterse, who had visited the operation twice during 2010, if he
would accept the position of head grower.
 
One of the biggest challenges John Pieterse faced when he started
growing orchids in the United States was the drastic weather changes
 that can occur quickly.

“During my visits to Mid-American I was quite impressed
and I thought this was something that I could do,” he said. “My wife was also
in favor of the move. It took about a year for us to complete the paperwork.
During that time I was able to learn more about the orchid business in the
Netherlands.”

Pierterse said since the orchid production methods used
at Mid-American are similar to the ones that he used in the Netherlands the
transition went relatively smoothly. He now oversees 8 acres of phalaenopsis orchid
production.

“I quickly realized the need to be flexible, nothing is
exactly the same, but overall the way the orchids are produced here is the same
way I was growing them in the Netherlands,” he said.

Climate
differences

Pieterse said that the climate in the Netherlands is
influenced by the North Sea. The sea borders the northern and western parts of
the country.

“The sea climate is very stable so there are a lot of
days that are similar in regards to temperatures and light levels,” he said.
“It is a very easy climate to grow in because it is so stable. There are not a
lot of differences in the temperature and it is cloudier.”

One of the first things that Pieterse learned about the
weather in the United States was the major fluctuations in temperature.

“In the Midwest the weather changes can be drastic. The
differences in the weather can occur from week to week, from day to day or even
from the morning to the afternoon,” he said. “It’s not surprising to have the
temperature go from 51ºF
one day to 20ºF the
next. And the light levels here in January can be higher than the light levels
during May in the Netherlands. You have to really pay attention to the climate
and the changes that can occur because they can occur so quickly.”

Increasing public,
government pressures

Pieterse said the overcrowding that has occurred is some
areas of the Netherlands has made the availability of clean water a major
issue. In order for Dutch growers to continue operating they have had to learn
how to minimize the amount of water they use to produce their crops, to recycle
and to capture the rain water off of the greenhouses.

“Since there are so many people now living near the
greenhouses, the growers have no other options but to conserve, collect and
recycle,” Pieterse said. “Also, because of the concern with water quality and
contamination, there are many chemicals no longer available to growers. In the
U.S. there are many more chemicals available that can’t be used by growers in
the Netherlands.”

The restrictions on chemical use in the Netherlands have
forced growers to turn to biological controls. In cases where biologicals have
not been as effective in controlling some pests, growers have eliminated
producing some crops.

“Poinsettia growers in the Netherlands can have issues
with whitefly control,” he said. “The growers have only a couple of chemicals
available to control whitefly. For some growers who feel the current chemicals
and biologicals aren’t effective enough to produce a good poinsettia crop, they
are changing to other crops. That is happening with other crops too. Once a
grower has to throw away part of his crop because he doesn’t have the chemicals
he needs, it’s not difficult to switch crops since he’s not making any money.
The growers feel they don’t have the necessary chemicals available because of
the regulations.”

Pieterse said the increase in regulations is just part of
the overall disinterest the Dutch government has for horticulture and the agriculture
industry in general.

“Many government officials don’t seem to be concerned
about passing regulations that impact horticulture and whether or not growers
are able to continue to grow their crops,” he said. “This probably occurs more
with horticulture, but even those involved with agriculture, are feeling the
pressure and moving to other countries. With all of the regulations, it’s
difficult to raise chickens, cows and sheep and make any money.”

A feel for the
market

Pieterse said the one of the major differences between
the U.S. and the Netherlands is the growers’ knowledge of the market. Dutch
growers don’t have the same direct contact with their customers the way that
most U.S. growers do. A lot of product in the Netherlands is sold through the
auctions and is shipped to surrounding countries.

“Europe is made up of many small countries,” he said.
“For transporting flowers into these countries, there are special distributors
or exporters that buy the products at the auctions and then ship them to
various retailers. There is this middle layer of distributors.

“The Dutch growers aren’t really growing for a particular
customer. A lot of growers specialize in just one crop or even one variety.
This can make it difficult for the growers to know what the market really
wants. Growers don’t necessarily know for sure if they can sell the plants they
are producing. Once the crops are taken to the auctions, the exporters buy
plants from different growers so that they can ship their customers a mix of
products.”

John Pieterse said one of the major differences between the United
States and the Netherlands is the growers’ knowledge of the market.
U.S. growers have much more direct contact with their customers.

 

Pieterse said the meetings between U.S. growers and the
retailers allows growers to know what the market wants.

“Talking directly with a buyer from Aldi, Home Depot or
Walmart, growers know what the retailers want, what the market wants,” he said.
“In the Netherlands there are hundreds of small growers. Here in the U.S. there
are much larger growers who grow a wider assortment of plants. It’s easier for
the retailers to deal with fewer growers who can provide a variety of plants. It
makes it much easier for the retailers.”

Since there are so many smaller growers in the
Netherlands and no industry-wide plant specifications, Pieterse said there can
be a lot of variability in the products that are sold at auction.

“In the Netherlands if you buy mums from four different
growers they may be different in size, variety and flower type. Here in the
U.S. that is not a concern because the growers and retailers discuss what is
going to be produced. Here the growers take care of those details along with
the shipping of the finished plants.”

For more: John
Pieterse, Mid-American Growers, johnp@midamg.com; http://www.midamg.com.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort
Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com.

Hort Americas attends Greenhouse Vegetable Hydroponic Workshop at U of F

William Fry, Hort Americas
customer service representative

University of Florida IFAS Extension held a Starting a Successful Hydroponic Business workshop in Live Oak, Fla., on Jan. 6-7. The two-day workshop will be repeated in March. William Fry, customer service representative at Hort Americas, attended the event and provides some insight about the audience and topics covered.

Who attended and what were they looking to learn about?
The people who attended the hydroponic workshop were there for a variety of reasons. The predominant reason I heard was a need to bring in new income to their existing business. Attendees included cut flower growers looking to restart their businesses, berry growers and people passionate about gardening who wanted to take it to the next level. There were also some people who are currently involved in hydroponics either as growers or as some type of product developer.

What were some of the topics covered in the workshop?
The basics about what hydroponics is and how it is done were covered first. The attendees learned about various aspects of propagation including how to select the proper growing medium for different applications. Other topics included irrigation systems and the importance of water quality. Multi-county extension agent Bob Hochmuth demonstrated several ways that drip irrigation systems can fail to operate properly and how to correct the problems including choosing the right emitters for specific applications. The first day ended with dinner and a discussion about how to successfully market a business.

The second day was spent learning about integrated pest management (IPM) techniques, scouting crops and nutrient management. Classes were conducted at Vertical Horizon Farm in Hobe Sound, Fla. Co-owner Kevin Osburn demonstrated the step-by-step process of how he prepares fertilizers. He explained how to mix fertilizer recipes in different tanks and how to use injectors to deliver nutrient solutions to crops. The class was a very hands-on learning experience, which was not only fun but also very practical.

What did you learn about hydroponics?
There seems to be quite a bit of interest in hydroponics with current growers looking to take their businesses in a new direction. Many of the workshop attendees look at hydroponics as the wave of the future for crop production. The workshop was geared to Florida growers and their specific circumstances. Staff members at the University of Florida extension office in Live Oak seem to be in tune with the needs of state growers and are working diligently with them to achieve success. For more information: University of Florida IFAS Extension, Suwannee County Extension, Live Oak, Fla.; (386) 362-1725.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

50 shades of boom lighting

Although growers who use boom lighting may not know
exactly how much light they are delivering to their plants, they know it is an
efficient and cost effective way to control photoperiod.

By David Kuack

Growers have been using artificial lighting to control
plant photoperiod for over 50 years. Initially growers installed incandescent
lamps for photoperiod control. The lamps were used to either keep short day plants
from flowering or to hasten flowering of long day plants. Growers started using
constant light for different periods during the night.

“At some point the industry and research zeroed in on a
four hour night break,” said Royal Heins, senior technical specialist at Fides Oro. “Lack of electrical service to provide incandescent lighting to the entire
greenhouse at one time led to the need to determine if plants needed to be
lighted continuously during this time period. Research was done and the
recommendation was made that plants should be lighted 20 percent of the time
with a maximum cycle of 30 minutes.

“What was developed was cyclic lighting where one part (20
percent) of a greenhouse would be lit for six minutes and then the lighting
would cycle to the next 20 percent and so on so that within 30 minutes the
lighting would be back to the area where it had started. This cycling would
occur during four hours during the night. This enabled growers to light five
times the area of greenhouse during the night using the same electrical
service.”

Heins said that research also found that 10 footcandles
of incandescent light was sufficient to prevent flowering of short day plants
like chrysanthemums and poinsettias as well as being able to promote flowering
of long day plants like petunia.

Boom lighting uncertainties

Heins said growers who use stationary cyclic lighting in
their greenhouses to prevent or promote flowering know how much light to
deliver and its duration.

“It is relatively easy using stationary cyclic lighting
regardless of whether a grower is producing short or long day plants,” he said.
“What has complicated the issue is growers are now using moveable booms
equipped with lights to create a photoperiodic response. The question becomes
how do growers know whether enough light is being delivered to their plants?

“Research with boom lighting is difficult to do because a
boom delivers light in a cyclic pattern where the light intensity goes from
zero to a maximum level and then back down to zero. How fast does the boom
travel and how bright is the light when the boom comes over the plants
ultimately determines if sufficient light is delivered to provide the desired
photoperiodic response.”
It is more difficult for growers who are using
boom lighting to determine if they are
delivering a sufficient amount of light to
provide the desired photoperiodic response.
Photos courtesy of Catoctin Mountain Growers. 

Adding to the difficulty of determining the proper light
level and duration with boom lighting is the variable length of greenhouse
bays.

“When the boom goes over the plants in the middle of the
bay and then comes back there is a periodicity that is very regular,” Heins
said. “For example, for plants in the middle of the bay it may take 2½ minutes
to go from one end of the bay and then another 2½ minutes to go back. This
results in the plants receiving light every 5 minutes. However, for plants at
the end of the bay it’s going to take 10 minutes before they receive light
again. Trying to manage light delivery with different periodicities based upon
where a plant is located and trying to conduct research based on plant location
is very difficult to do.”

Heins said another factor that growers must consider if
they are planning to install boom lighting is that there is a qualitative and
quantitative response to photoperiodic lighting.

“The qualitative response is that the plant either
flowers or it doesn’t flower,” he said. “That’s simple and straightforward.
With the quantitative response going from no photoperiodic lighting to a
saturated level of photoperiodic lighting, there is a progressive enhancement
of time to flower. As light is added a threshold is passed where the plant
flowers earlier. As more photoperiodic light is added the plant flowers
progressively earlier.

“Growers who use boom lighting to flower long day plants may
know it works. What they don’t know is if it is working as efficiently as
possible. We don’t know if additional light is provided if the plants would
flower even earlier. The growers just know that the plants flowered earlier than
what they would have flowered under natural light conditions.”

Real world experience

Julie Iferd, head grower at Catoctin Mountain Growers in
Detour, Md., said her company has always used some type of photoperiodic lighting.
Initially the company installed fluorescent lights on its irrigation booms, but
most of those lamps have been replaced with metal halide fixtures. The company
grows primarily annuals, garden mums and poinsettias for big box stores,
grocery stores and landscapers.

“The boom lighting we are using is primarily for
photoperiodic control to either keep plants from flowering or to initiate
flowering,” Iferd said. “It depends on the time of year as to what crops we are
lighting.”
Catoctin Mountain Growers initially attached
fluorescent lights to its irrigation booms. 

In the spring Iferd said short day plants, such as
celosia, are lit to prevent them from flowering so the plants can be bulked up.
Long day plants, like petunia, calibrachoa, verbena and lobelia, are also lit
to initiate flowering.

“We also use the lights on our garden mums, some of which
we start as early as May,” Iferd said. “We light the mums to ensure that they
don’t bud up too early. We also use the lights on poinsettias to prevent early
flower initiation.”

Lighting set up

Iferd said one metal halide light fixture is installed at
the center of each irrigation boom truss to provide a more even light
distribution pattern across the greenhouse bay. She said some growers choose to
install two light fixtures per boom to deliver a higher light intensity and to
ensure plants at the edge of the bays receive as much light as those in the
center. When installing light fixtures on booms, Iferd said growers should be
aware of overhead equipment and plants such as hanging basket irrigation
systems to prevent any collisions.

Catoctin Mountain Growers installed one metal halide light fixture
at the center of each irrigation boom truss to provide a more even
light distribution pattern across each greenhouse bay.

“We have found that one metal halide fixture in the
center of the boom is adequate in our 33-foot wide by 300-foot long bays,”
Iferd said. “We have used a light meter to take measurements at the edge of the
bays with black out curtains closed. Even at the farthest distance from the
fixtures the light is perceivable. Also, we have not seen any difference in the
growth pattern between plants in the center and edge of the bays. What we
expect the lights to do, whether it be to keep the short day plants from
initiating flowers or to initiate flowering of long day plants, the lights do
that uniformly across the bays.”

By using the boom lighting Iferd said there are no
stationary light fixtures that can cast shadows on the plants.

“With the boom lighting there is only one lighting
fixture attached to the boom, which is constantly moving, so there isn’t the
concern of causing a shadow effect,” she said. “We have the flexibility of
being able to move the booms where we want them to be. We can also be selective
in what areas and what plants we light. We don’t have to light an entire
300-foot bay. If we had set up the greenhouses with stationary metal halide
lamps, we would have needed a lot more fixtures. That would have been very costly.”

Lighting different
crops

Iferd said when the lights are operating the booms
usually move at a speed of 20 feet per minute. She said depending on their design,
some of the booms can move at even a slower rate.

“We move the booms as slow as we can without having them
getting caught up on a weld,” she said. “Moving the booms as slowly as possible
enables the plants to receive the most amount of light during each pass.”

The time of day that the lights are operating depends on
the plant species.

“For those plants that we are providing a night
interruption that usually occurs between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.,” Iferd said. “Because
of the length of the bays we do extend the period that we light our mums. We
run a boom in a 100-foot section for four hours and the then move the boom and
run it in another 100-foot section for four hours and so on. For species like
begonia and dahlia we want to give a day length extension to provide 13-14
hours of light. For these we do the day length extension at the end of the day.”

For more:
Royal Heins, Fides Oro, rheins@fides-oro.com; http://www.fides-oro.com. Julie
Iferd, Catoctin Mountain Growers, julie@catoctinmtngrowers.com; http://www.catoctinmtngrowers.com.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort
Worth, Texas;
dkuack@gmail.com.

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com

Hort Americas introduces New Employee, Maria (Bellrose) Luitjohan

We encourage you to take a couple of minutes and get to know Maria.

The following is directly from her:

Getting to know Maria (Bellrose) Luitjohan

My introduction to the Horticulture industry started when I could walk.  I grew up in a family greenhouse business, in Wildwood, MO.  I always enjoyed working at the greenhouse; seeing what was new and up and coming in the industry, networking with customers, and of course setting out mums on the hottest day of the year in the mum field…well maybe not that mum thing, but its all part of the industry.  I studied horticulture at the University of Missouri – Columbia.  During that time I ventured out with my internships at Ball Horticultural as a trial garden intern, during Ball’s centennial anniversary.  The next summer I spent at Goldsmith Seeds as a Breeder intern, that’s where I learned the value of a newly introduced plant variety.  

For the past five years I worked as a Regional Supply Manager for Ball Horticultural managing young plant supply in the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Eastern Canada.  I learned the value of strong supply chain and quality input products to making greenhouses successful.  

Getting married in June 2012 to a native from St. Louis, MO.  We decided being close to family was important enough to leave our careers in Chicago and seek out new opportunities.   I’m excited to be joining Hort Americas, LLC. I will be focused on Marketing, continuing to improve our website and working in customer service to make sure our customers receive the best customer care!

My reason and passion for this industry revolves around the people I have met and the people I am going to meet. So, I would love to hear and learn from you.  Do you have a question on a product, interest in new horticulture technology or information on an industry topic that you would like to share?  Please let me know. 

Maria and Dale recent wedding photo!


I look forward to working with you and Hort Americas thanks you for your business.

Maria 

Visit our corporate website at https://hortamericas.com