Respecting What You Do

Jennifer Zurko

There are people who do certain jobs who garner my utmost respect, mostly because I know that I would be horrible at these difficult jobs. When I think about these hard-working people, I mentally clap my hands and think, “Kudos to you. I could never do that.”

These jobs include Port-a-Potty cleaner, mathematician, CPA, teacher (any level), brain surgeon, and the people who have to clean up after a concert (although it’s probably like a very interesting scavenger hunt).

As I’ve entrenched myself into this industry, I’ve added grower and garden center retailer to my list. I’m always amazed at how you run your businesses and handle the many challenges you face every day. Having to rely on something as unpredictable as the weather is enough without piling on disease issues, insect invasions, staffing issues, healthcare costs … I could go on and on.

For this month’s cover story, we focus on the disease part of the greenhouse obstacle course. Recently, many growers have been experiencing severe Botrytis on their petunia flowers, thinking they did everything in their arsenal to prevent it, just to see “melting” flowers as they’re being taken off the truck. What’s actually happening is petunia flower meltdown, which is the real culprit behind these incidents of Botrytis.

When petunias are packed closely in racks in the back of a dark truck, they’re under a lot of stress, so the flowers start to produce ethylene, which causes them to wilt and look like something Salvador Dali would paint. But there is hope! Researchers, with the support of the American Floral Endowment and Floriculture Research Alliance, have been working to find ways you can ensure that your plants look as pretty as … well, petunias … when they arrive at the store.

This month also features information on “dirt, fert and squirt,” which is our annual theme for the February issue. Read about optimizing the oxygen levels in your irrigation water, revising your phosphorus fertilizing strategy, the ins and outs of drip irrigation, having success with organic growing media and keeping your good soil from going bad.

Whew! With all of this to think about, I’m amazed at how jovial and friendly people are when I meet them at trade shows and at their operations. But I bet there are many of you who wouldn’t want to manage a 148-page magazine every month, so at least I got that going for me. GT