Q & A with Nufarm Expert Dave Etzler & Jim Crockett. At Nufarm, we believe knowledge grows success. And since our team is committed to your growing success, we want to share all we know with you.

Q & A with Nufarm Expert Dave Etzler. At Nufarm, we believe knowledge grows success. And since our team is committed to your growing success, we want to share all we know with you.

When Nonna makes her family’s traditional tomato sauce Dominick expects it to taste the same today as last Sunday — comforting and familiar. Why mess with the best? But, what if, just what if she simmers the sauce with roasted pork neck bones and sausage? Maybe she wants collagen from the bones to thicken the sauce and give it richer flavor. The tweak may go unnoticed, but the sauce may have better texture and flavor definition. Should she change the formula? Or should she cling to her past? She’s probably tweaked the recipe through the years as she’s learned ways to make it better. It’s just that no one knows. So, why not change now. Change may feel difficult at first, but it can improve the experience for everyone who touches the product. As a former president once said, “The price of doing the same old thing is far higher […]

A few key steps help protect your crops through the shipment process. In a recent survey of large growers conducted by Evonik, we asked the biggest challenges associated with getting healthy plants to market. Aside from concerns about weather conditions, the main problems were transportation issues and keeping plants hydrated in transit. There are a multitude of ways to ship plants, from carts to boxes or in sleeves, in pots or bare root and in all stages of growth, from young plants to finished, in your own trucks or in a contracted shipping company’s truck. Throughout all those scenarios, there are some key things growers should keep in mind to keep plants as healthy as possible from the time they leave the greenhouse to the time they get unloaded at their final destination. Planning Ahead There are a couple of actions growers can take before the plant gets loaded onto […]

Hanging baskets make up a good portion of the greenhouse business for peak spring, so it’s vital to have a strong growing program for these products. According to recent USDA statistics, sales of certain types of hanging baskets are up across the 15 states that produce the most floriculture product. The varieties that increased in sales in 2015 over 2014 include begonias, New Guinea impatiens and a category called “other flowering and foliar,” which is good news for including unique varieties rather than petunias and geraniums. Quality From the Beginning There are a couple of keys to a successful hanging basket program, and it all begins with a healthy start and the media mix. That means inspecting plugs and cuttings prior to planting up the mixes. Media can be pre-mixed or mixed onsite by the grower, but it’s important to have the right ingredients. Bobby Barnitz, vice president at Bob’s […]

As restrictions and water availability continue to be a concern, growers have to research other options for conserving their most precious resource. Water has always been a vital resource, considering much of life on Earth — humans, animals and plants — require it to exist. However, water has become an even larger topic of concern as areas in the U.S. begin to experience extreme drought conditions and parts of the world see water resources drying up. Examples in the U.S. include Southern California, where the U.S. Drought Monitor map shows extreme and exceptional drought situations. As summer wanes, we are beginning to see drought situations crop up in Georgia and Massachusetts, as well as abnormally dry weather in other regions of the U.S. Related to drought, a 2014 report from the American Meteorologist Society Journal of Climate projected the Southwest would have an 80% risk of a decade-scale mega-drought in […]

For more than 50 years, PanAmerican Seed® has been creating exceptional flowers and vegetables, providing the highest quality seed to professional greenhouse growers, and helping gardeners around the world plant beauty in their gardens. Built on timeless classics like impatiens, petunias, pansies and snapdragons, the company continues to fine-tune these “bread and butter” products with on-trend colors, impactful performance updates, new seed technologies and production efficiencies, with the goal of improving growers’ profitability. That same commitment has opened the door to unparalleled introduction of cutting edge options like Kabloom™ calibrachoas, Megawatt™ begonias and Fuseables® seed technology.  

Greenhouse Grower talked with Mary O’Connor, Global Product Manager for PanAmerican Seed™, about how she chooses those luscious Plug & Play combinations, why she has to be tough on testing them, and what she sees as the future for the combo craze. Q. What do you see as the future for combos? Is it an area you feel will become increasingly popular? O’Connor: Combinations are a very popular item at retail, and sales are still growing. Although colors and styles will change over time, combinations will definitely continue to be a popular category. Most consumers have less time to create their own and can sometimes feel less confident that they will make the right choices and be successful. Shoppers want to spend their money in a wise way, with confidence that what they choose will perform well and bring them joy! It is so helpful to have a beautiful combination ready […]

The entire seed begonia market continues to boom, especially in Interspecific Begonias. The all-new Megawatt series from PanAmerican Seed® pushes this must-have class to a whole new level, with great timing, a unique color and more. Great for gardeners and landscapers, these standouts deliver huge vigor, color and last-ability. Fresh, high-energy options These bigger-than-life begonias deliver the ultimate garden power. Unique Megawatt Pink Bronze Leaf is a first-of-its-kind color in Interspecific Begonias. Pink Bronze Leaf and partner Rose Bronze Leaf go to market faster to grab Spring sales…just when early-bird gardeners are clamoring for lots of color. The Megawatt Green Leaf begonias pump out extra vigor for bigger flower explosion. MEGAsize, MEGAcolor Striking, non-stop flowers keep the plants covered in high-voltage color from Spring through Fall…even in heat and drought. Sturdy stems hold flowers above the foliage for superior show versus other begonias. These easy-care, indestructible plants deliver big garden performance […]

PanAmerican Seed® raised the curtain on their Plug & Play™ combo program at the Cultivate’16 show to wide acclaim. This fresh and relevant collection is built upon internal and external testing in multiple regions. Trialing in saleable sizes begins at the PanAmerican Seed research greenhouses and in outdoor Summer containers. Then every potential introduction heads out to commercial greenhouses and to real-life gardens. The result is the assurance that every one of the 50-plus Plug & Play combos available today is proven to deliver unstoppable performance from bench to store to garden. Good for growers: Easy, economical production Each Plug & Play combo is created with best-in-class seed annuals and perennials from PanAmerican Seed and sister company, Kieft Seed™. Several of the recipes include known-by-name varieties like Wave® petunias, Kabloom™ calibrachoas and Sorbet® violas, plus assorted All-America Selections perennials. Thanks to the high-quality, cost-effective seed inputs and programmable finish times, […]