Check Out the Top 5 Most-Read News Stories on GreenhouseGrower.com in 2016!

Almost 600,000 people visited GreenhouseGrower.com in 2016, and in doing so they read nearly 3 million items, from news stories to slideshows to timeless articles written by industry leaders such as Allan Armitage and Kelly Norris.
So what were the news headlines that dominated 2016? Here’s a list of the five most-viewed news stories posted on GreenhouseGrower.com.

5. Bromeliads in Florida Targeted as Potential Zika Hosts

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Bromeliad growers in South Florida said their crops were being falsely identified as a potential habitat for Zika-carrying mosquitoes. This past August, city officials in Miami Beach pulled all bromeliads from the 2.6-acre Miami Beach Botanical Garden, as well as from medians and parks. They also recommended all Miami Beach residents and businesses do the same, because mosquitoes can breed in water trapped by bromeliads’ cylindrical centers, formed by leaves growing out in spiral patterns.

4. Texas Judge Halts Overtime Rule; Here’s What it Means for Greenhouse Growers

A rule from the Department of Labor that was supposed to take effect on Dec. 1 would have made overtime pay available to full-time salaried employees earning up to $47,476 a year, more than doubling the current threshold of $23,660 a year. The injunction from U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant buys the court more time to come to a final decision on the overtime rule, which was challenged by many business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, as well as 21 states.

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3. Florida Growers Report Major Whitefly Management Problems

American Hort, the Society of American Florists (SAF), and the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association reported significant problems with whitefly management in the Southeast. Reports came from the Florida Keys to Palm Beach County that whitefly populations in landscapes are reaching unprecedented levels and are not responding to pesticide applications. Biotype-Q has been found in four different communities, marking the first time Biotype-Q has ever been found on plants outside a nursery or greenhouse.

2. Gardens Alive! Parent Company Buys Zelenka Farms

Zelenka Farms, which had been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, said LM Farms, which owns Gardens Alive!, has purchased the company and all of its assets. BFN Operations LLC and its affiliated entities, d/b/a Zelenka Farms, operated one of the largest wholesale nurseries in the U.S. Its products include shrubs, trees, perennials, roses, and groundcovers.

1. The Best of the 2016 California Spring Trials

Relive some of the highlights from this year’s trials, which featured new varieties from breeders up and down the California coast.

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