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Eileen Nelson
UW-Madison Department of Horticulture
608-265-5283 |
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| Commercial Flower Growers Fall Conference | | |
If you missed them. . .
Three outstanding speakers presented relevant topics at the October 13th CFGW Fall Conference held at Floral Plant Growers in Denmark, WI. Raymond Cloyd, Extension Entomologist at Kansas State, Anna Ball, President of Ball Horticulture and Mike Gooer from Plant Peddler.
All of their talks can be accessed in a folder at this link. They should easily open in your Windows Video Player or RealPlayer. Right click on each individual link and then click on "open in browser". The videos are unedited. If you have problems accessing them, make sure you contact eonelson@wisc.edu. |
| New England Greenhouse Floriculture Guide | | |
A comprehensive guide for commercial production of greenhouse ornamentals with information on current pest management and growth regulators. Recommendations include IPM and biological control information for greenhouse crops.
This manual is a compilation of input from the members of the New England State University Extension Systems of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island. New this year...The section "Integrated Pest Management and Insect Biology" including details on using biological control was written by Raymond Cloyd, Kansas State University.
The Guide is designed to provide commercial growers with technical information on pest management (weeds, diseases and insects) and growth regulators. Because this is a publication written by professionals from throughout New England, and rewritten every two years, it reflects the current collective knowledge for greenhouse crops for this region. Published by New England Floriculture, Inc., sponsor of the Northeast Greenhouse Conference.
Photo Library
An on-line Photo Library is available that contains pictures and descriptions of plants problems associated with insects, mites, diseases, nutrition and cultural problems and also photos of best management practices.
The Photo Library supplements information in The New England Greenhouse Floriculture Guide. The Photo Library is funded by a grant from New England Floriculture Inc., the parent sponsor of the New England Greenhouse Conference.
Portions of the guide can be downloaded here.
The complete publication can be ordered here for $25.00. |
| Plant Branding | | |
Source: Garden Center Magazine
Where do you stand on Plant Branding?
Small, single-location garden centers tend to struggle the most with branding-whether it's with national brands or their own store branding efforts. Most of it boils down to dollars and cents.
Glen Reeder, owner of Glen's Pond & Garden Center in Fort Smith, Ark., said one of the most visible symbols of branding-custom pots-tends to cause the biggest problems for small garden centers.
"All these pots are made from oil," he noted. "The branded ones don't stand up very well and, of course, we can't reuse them. The branded pots are also very expensive to customers. When times were better, they were willing to pay more for a plant in a branded container. But in today's market that's not going to happen."
Read the complete article |
| Provide Optimal Light for Plant Growth |
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Source: GMPromagazine
Each crop has an optimal light level that maximizes growth. Tom Dudek, Mich. St. Univ. Extension senior district extension horticulture and marketing educator, said growers need to know about the daily light integral (DLI) and how it impacts growth. Increasing the DLI can: increase number of roots, shoots and flowers; reduce time to flower and increase flower size. These changes can usually be accomplished by using supplemental light during low DLI periods of winter.
Roberto Lopez and Ariana Torres at Purdue University have prepared a publication "Measuring Daily Light Integral in a Greenhouse" that provides information on DLI, how to measure it, along with recommendations on the optimum DLI for 70 common greenhouse crops. A Spanish version is also available. |
| Calculating Energy Savings | | |
Source: Kurt Parbst Greenhouse Grower
There's a new energy in town and it comes from saving energy. And not just saving, but knowing exactly how much you're saving, where and what pays off when.
Greenhouse businesses have long been focused on reducing fuel and other energy costs. Far before sustainability became the moment's hottest buzzword, growers knew energy was their highest cost besides labor. Saving energy would benefit not only their businesses, but their customers and, eventually, consumers.
Knowing how and where to start saving is quite another story. And knowing whether investments like energy curtains make sense in your specific greenhouse - not a generic average operation - is difficult to determine. But with a quick and simple payback calculator, growers can assess how quickly investments like energy curtains pay off.
More. . . .
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| Youth and Community Gardens Award Program | | |
Source: Garden Center Magazine
Burpee Home Gardens is now accepting applications for the 2011 "I Can Grow" Youth Garden Award, which is an extension of last year's "I Can Grow" campaign. The Youth Garden Award will sponsor and support urban school and community gardens in cities across the United States in 2011.
The 2011 "I Can Grow" Youth Garden Awards will be presented to established or start-up programs that demonstrate well-developed and staffed plans for a youth- centered educational program, with emphasis on nutrition and food production, environmental awareness, social responsibility, and scholastic integration. The 2011 program will continue the theme Burpee Home Gardens established in 2010. More: |
| Capitalizing on Combo Liners | | |
Source: Delilah Onofrey, Greenhouse Grower
Pay more for a premium liner? In this economy, when margins are tighter than ever and more growers are buying in cuttings to root themselves? Believe it or not, some of the nation's largest growing operations are buying in multi-cutting liners to create instant mixed containers and baskets.
More. . . |
| Targeting the Next Generation | |
Source: Bart Hayes Greenhouse Grower
As our industry matures and greenhouse owners and producers start to think about succession - whether to a younger family member, a loyal employee or an excited young grower - the question of how long it will last comes to mind. It is a long-standing question in our industry, whether or not the current level of floral product consumption will continue into the foreseeable future. As many greenhouse professionals know, the core group that does the majority of floral product purchasing is the mostly female, 45-to-65-year-old demographic. The 25-to-44-year-old group lags behind, and the nearly non-existent 18-to-24-year-old group (in terms of purchasing) is behind them. Is this reduction in consumption a result of indifference to the products that we are selling? Or is it due to differences in lifestyle and buying power? |
| Containers | | |
Source: Greenhouse Grower
Here are two articles highlighting the latest in containers.
Some of the newest pots and trays
Pot and Tray Roundup |
| Save the Date(s) |
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Garden Center Symposium
Country Springs Hotel, Waukesha, WI
Speakers:
Wednesday and Thursday, January 26-27, 2011 |
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