“I’m making more money on the crops.” We didn’t say it. These words came from Moose Mountcastle, professional grower and owner of The Garden Gateway talking about PRO-MIX growing media.
Unlike mineral soil, growing media contains low levels of microbes making them virtually free of biological components. Over the years, scientists have isolated and cultured various beneficial microbes from the environment for use in agriculture and horticulture. These microbes are produced in laboratories to ensure that strains remain true and continue to provide benefits desired. If we review the various microbes commercially available to growers, we can place them into two general categories by the benefits they provide: Biocontrols and Growth Enhancers.
Biocontrols are biological additives that control plant pathogens to reduce the incidence of plant disease or control insects. They may directly attack the pathogen or insect, or indirectly control them by creating barriers, blocking food source, or excluding a pathogen. Growth Enhancers assist plants by stimulating plant growth or acquiring nutrients and/or water to improve the overall growth of plants.
Biocontrols’ Advantages
Beneficial organisms are safe to use. They have little to no plant, human or animal toxicities and most have been discovered in mineral soil and are natural, not genetically modified. Because they are part of the normal checks and balances of soil biology, there is less potential for pathogen resistance.
Active ingredients like Bacillus and mycorrhizae prevent the onset of plant disease and remain in the root zone of the plant for life. Many biological active ingredients are certified organic with OMRI and offer an options for producers of organic crops to improve the quality of their crops and control plant disease where chemicals cannot be used.
What about the cost?
Biological additives are generally inexpensive, compared to some chemical controls.
Bear with us, here are the maths:
- The cost to apply an active ingredient to a cubic yard varies from $8.50 to $26. We’ll use an average cost of $17.25/yd3 to compare the cost for various crops.
- This cubic yard of growing media will fill approximately 1 944 azalea pots of 4.5 inches or 141 hanging baskets of 10 inches.
- The cost to add the active ingredient is $0.0089/azalea pot or $0.1223/hanging basket.
- Based on the 2021 USDA Floriculture Survey, the average wholesale price for a ‘less than 5 inches’ potted flowering plant is $1.56for the top producing 15 states. A hanging basket of flowering and foliage plant is sold at $8.70, on average.
- The cost of adding an active ingredient to these pots represents less than 0.6% for an azalea pot and less than 1.4% for a hanging basket.
Table 1. Cost of Active Ingredients based on an average of $17.25/yd3
| Azalea pots (4.5 inch) |
Hanging baskets (10 inches) |
|
| Number of pots | 1944 | 141 |
| Cost/pot | $0.0089 | $0.1223 |
| Selling price | $1.56 | $8.70 |
| Active ingredients cost (%) | 0.57% | 1.41% |
How can I save money?
Root disease on average causes 5% of plant losses for most growers and 20% at retail. This equals 97.2 azalea pots, a $151.63 value, or 7 hanging baskets valued at $60.90 for the same cubic yard of growing medium.
Biological active ingredients may reduce root disease and plant losses by two thirds.
Therefore, the savings per cubic yard is $82.83 for 4.5” size potsold ($151.63 x .66=$100.08 savings minus $17.25/cost/yd3 = $82.83 reduction of loss). For 10” hanging baskets, the reduction of plant losses gives an additional revenue of $22.94 per cubic yard ($60.90 x .66 =$40.19 savings minus $17.25/cost/yd3 = $22.94 reduction of loss).
Table 2. Reduction of loss for 1 cubic yard (at growers)
| 4.5 inches Azalea Pot | 10 inches Hanging Basket | |
| Crop value | $3,032.64 | $1,226.70 |
| Plant loss without Active ingredients (5%) | $151.63 | $60.90 |
| Plant loss with Active Ingredients (1.66%) | $51.55 | $20.71 |
| Active Ingredients Investment | $17.25 | $17.25 |
| Reduction of loss / Additional revenue | $82.83 | $22.94 |
If we apply the plant loss reduction at retail, these savings can be up to 4 times greater.
These are averages; actual savings and return on investment (ROI) can be much higher depending on the biological active ingredient used, its effectiveness to control root disease and the wholesale price of crops you are growing. View how much you could save with the Bio. + Myco Calculator.
The use of biological active ingredients provides multiple advantages and is becoming a popular option and addition to chemical controls for plant disease. They are readily available, provide predictable results, are cost effective and provide long term benefits for crops, offering growers a safe alternative and an additional tool in the integrated pest management toolbox.
Many growers are realizing these benefits of active ingredients and making the switch. Take it from Bill Boonstra of Bluestone Perennials who has reduced his need for fungicide drenches to control root disease, reduced his cost of chemical fungicides, reduced his labor costs and improved his bottomline. If you’re still hesitant about changing to PRO-MIX MYCORRHIZAE + BIOFUNGICIDE, Bill has a word of advice for you: “Premier Tech Growers and Consumers worked very hard to get us what we needed when we needed it. They take all the risk out of it.”