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GrowersTalk Production: Do You Know?
| Ryan Hall
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>> Published Date: 5/15/2009
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 You’d think that in my seventh year of growing the Agrexco and Pacific Plug & Liner Pack Trials, I would know the crops like the back of my hand. To a certain extent I do. I feel comfortable growing the usual suspects such as calibrachoa, petunia and bacopa. However, even after seven years, I still have a number of challenges I face each year.
For those of you who haven’t seen our trials, the term “diverse” is an understatement. Pacific Plug & Liner grows product for four unrooted cutting companies from Israel: Cohen is a vegetative annuals specialist; Jaldety offers niche perennials and annuals; Issacsson is a climbing plant specialist; and Hishtil is an herb, vegetable and perennial grower. Along with these four companies, we grow an extensive comparison trial focusing on two or more genera, plus a range of new plants for our own display.
With this diversity of product, I’m constantly shuffling the crops around. It wouldn’t be realistic in commercial production, but it’s a necessity if I want to hit the target week of Pack Trials. Growing this diversity is complex, but it also allows me to familiarize myself with a range of crops and a multitude of culture requirements.
I have a tendency to squeeze in some chemical trials, mainly in the form of growth regulators, and that’s helped me refine what works best on a smaller scale. Trialing a new chemical or rate can always be intimidating on a crop that’s scheduled for sale. This being said, going overboard or having a trial go wrong doesn’t help in Pack Trials either. A good chunk of time can be dedicated to correcting my mistakes. I once heard that the true skill of a baker is being able to cover up mistakes and make it look like nothing happened. One could say this holds true for growers as well.
The most notable Pack Trial challenge we face is growing perennials. We must schedule perennials far enough ahead to get varieties planted that need to be overwintered for vernalization. Lavenders fall into this category.
The earliness of Pack Trials can be another challenge for perennials, and also for some-long day flowering annuals. Lights have become a critical component of growing successful Pack Trials. I’ve always struggled to get long-day perennials into flower for the trial without compromising their habit in the forcing process. This year we used a system like mum lighting with night interruption, while leaving the plants in a cold frame to take advantage of our cool nights. This combination seemed to give the best balance of plant habit and flowering.
Along with the yearly challenges I expect from certain varieties, I also have new crops that prove to be difficult to finish nicely. For instance, most growers have familiarized themselves with the newer vegetative selections of interspecific nemesias. When grown well, nemesias look great and are sure to fly off retail shelves, but it’s been difficult to grow a beautiful crop consistently. Last season we finished this group of plants as a comparison trial. We realized that this type of nemesia seems to go downhill after you pinch the crop. It’s naturally leggy and benefits from pinching and growth regulators. To avoid this pinch, I planted multiple plants per pot, drenched with paclobutrazol and crossed my fingers. I was satisfied with the results; however the practicality of planting multiple plugs seemed cost-prohibitive in the real world. I love new varieties and I enjoy the challenges in learning their culture, but there comes a point where the novelty of new doesn’t outweigh the challenges of making it saleable, and a new plant type or color isn’t worth the time you need to invest to be successful with it.
During Pack Trials, the question was posed about changing the dates to be later and possibly moving them to a more central location. I’m a big proponent of a later Pack Trial date simply because it’d make perennials a more relevant component. We seem to be catering and organizing our trials more and more to maximize exposure to the mass market retailers. Perennials and even shrubs have an opportunity to be marketed in a Pack Trials fashion. A later show would also benefit growers, who’d be more likely to travel as their seasons slow down. From what I can see, the trials won’t be scheduled for later dates anytime soon. We can, however, expect to have more challenging items to grow and a lot of green perennials on display.
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