Monday’s Experience

September 10, 2007

8:00–9:00 a.m.

Green: It’s Good for Business
Speaker: Ron Coben, Senior Horticulture Buyer, Wal-Mart, Bentonville, AR

No one can deny that when Wal-Mart speaks, the world listens. In this case, Ron Coben, for the first time, and only at the GrowerTalks and Green Profit conferences, will share with the industry how Wal-Mart is proving that sustainable business practices are good for everyone’s business. Sustainable means making smart and practical decisions about your facilities your products and your business practices—changes that anyone can make, and which will make a positive impact on the world around us. Wal-Mart is changing the business world, and this is your opportunity to see what it means to you.

Nutrient Disorder Identification
Speaker: Dr. Brian Whipker, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

No matter how good you are, nutritional issues will trouble your crops sooner or later. Learn how to spot these problems at Nutrient Disorder Identification where you’ll see actual plants with actual nutrient disorder symptoms. You’ll walk through the key steps for diagnosing and identifying nutrient deficiencies and toxicities, and we’ll discuss corrective procedures.

Water Delivery, Treatment and Sanitation
Speaker: Ratus Fischer, Fischer EcoWorks, Asheville, NC

As critical as water is to your entire production scheme, have you given it much thought lately? Or do you just turn the valve and use whatever comes out from your antiquated irrigation system? That might have been good enough at one time, but if you want to raise your quality, you need the best possible water delivered through a precision system. Regardless of your business size and budget, there are things you can do to ensure that your water is the best it can be. Ratus Fischer, an expert on irrigation and water, will discuss the keys to each aspect of an effective integrated irrigation system, from supply and treatment to distribution, delivery and re-use. Ratus will also discuss the most modern water-improving technologies, such as UV radiation, reverse osmosis and copper ionization.

Sanitation: Your Most Important Fundamental
Speaker: Dr. Raymond A. Cloyd, Kansas State University, Manhattan

The most important part of any pest management program is good, ongoing sanitation, yet sanitation is often overlooked or downplayed. You might disinfest a bench or bay after each crop only to contaminate it shortly after through poor sanitation practices, such as muddy shoes. Dr. Raymond Cloyd will start today’s Insect Management track with a solid refresher on the specific practices that make up a good sanitation program, such as debris removal and weed control. Golfing great Jack Nicklaus started each of his competitive seasons with a refresher lesson on the fundamentals, and you should, too.

Resistance Management: Killing Pests While Keeping our Products Alive
Speakers: Dr. Ron Oetting, University of Georgia, Griffin; and Dr. Dick Lindquist, OHP Inc., Belgrade, MT

It’s never been more important to protect those valuable pest management products that you have in your chemical locker. Hopefully you aren’t using the old “spray and pray” technique; you’re scouting and identifying your pests, and then rotating the right product for the job. But if today’s myriad active ingredients and modes of action have you confused, this session will get you up to date on the whys and hows of resistance management, pesticide rotations, modes of action, IRAC classifications and more.

Sponsored by

8:00 a.m–6:00 P.M.

Integrated Pest Management in the Greenhouse, for Spanish-speaking workers
Speakers: Dr. Carlos Bogran, Texas A&M University, Bryan; Dr. Carla D. Garzón, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH; Eduardo Moreira, Syngenta Crop Protection, Greensboro, NC

Designed to provide a college-level introduction to integrated pest management in the greenhouse, this special one-day Spanish language workshop covers sanitation and scouting; biology, identification and control of the most common insects and diseases; biological control; resistance management; application techniques; new products and more.

9:30–10:30 a.m.

How the Machine Works: Insights From Two Big Box Experts
Speakers: Vinny Naab, Naab Horticultural Marketing, Bethlehem, PA and John Orondorff, Garden Ready Solutions, Bentonville, AR

One way or another, your business is impacted by the mass market. If you sell to them, you want to do a better, more profitable job for you and your customer. If you compete against them, you want to know what products and services you can provide that they can’t. To that end, we’ve brought in two of the most knowledgeable big-box insiders we know: Vinny Naab and John Orondorff. Together, they have more than 50 years of retail garden center experience, 35 of that as top-level buyers for two of the world’s biggest big boxes, Home Depot and Wal-Mart. Vinny and John will reveal invaluable insights into the inner workings of mass market stores in general, including strengths, weaknesses, and what they expect in the future from mass market retailers. Whether you sell to them or compete against them, this is a must-attend, one-of-a-kind session!

The Economics of Containers: Navigating the Time-Space Continuum
Speaker: Will Healy, Ball Horticultural Company, West Chicago, IL

We all know how popular big, oddball-shaped containers are, right? The trickiest part of growing these isn’t the growing, it’s the cost accounting. Figuring inputs like soil and liners is easy, but how much does the space and time cost you? What about labor and trucking? That’s where most growers fall down on their cost accounting. Ball Horticultural’s technical services manager Will Healy has long been an expert on examining the variables of time and space (often called square foot/weeks), and he will show you how to determine your real production costs.

Managing Light in the Greenhouse
Speaker: Dr. Erik Runkle, Michigan State University, Lansing

Better light management means better crops. Light influences rooting, branching, flower initiation, and flower size and number. Erik will discuss the three dimensions of light (light duration, light quantity, and light quality) and how they affect your crop growth and flowering. He'll then discuss strategies to implement lighting systems to accelerate crop timing and improve crop quality.

Controlling Spider Mites
Speaker: Dr. Lance Osborne, University of Florida, Apopka

Common knowledge has it that spider mites, such as twospotted spider mites, typically are present when it’s hot and dry. But did you know that some other mites, such as cyclamen mites, like it cool? Dr. Lance Osborne will take you though all the important particulars of spider mites, including biology, life cycles, management tactics, miticides and resistance management.

Economics of Pest Management
Speaker: Dr. Robin Brumfield, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ

You probably know the cost of one brand of chemical over another. And you might have a rough idea how much it costs you each time you spray your greenhouse. But have you ever really learned how to figure the true costs of your pest control applications? With today’s tight margins, it behooves you to know what you’re spending each time you drench or spray a crop and not just the simple cost of the chemical itself, but the cost of the labor and the equipment, plus figuring in the efficacy of the application. Dr. Robin Brumfield has long been noted for her work in greenhouse cost accounting. She’ll take you through the steps in figuring out the true costs of your pest management program and help you identify areas where you might be able to save some money.

Sponsored by

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Giving and Getting: Motivating Your Employees
Speakers: Gary Vollmer, Smith Gardens, Bellingham, WA; and Scott Swift, Swift Greenhouses, Gilman, IA

There’s an art to motivating your employees and getting them to give their all while on the clock. As growers and managers, Gary Vollmer and Scott Swift have cultivated their employees to be their best assets. These two long-time friends will share their ideas and philosophies on hiring, training, motivating, and giving back to your employees.

Knowing Your Greenhouse
Speaker: Dr. David Koranski, ETA Inc., Lake Elmo, MN

Learn how to save money and improve production by practicing efficiency in your greenhouse. Dr. David Koranski has years of experience helping growers get organized and will share some crop grouping strategies based on production requirements. Lighting, watering, fertilization, PGRs, finish times and more will be discussed in this can't-miss session.

Sponsored by

Greenhouse Temperature Management
Speaker: Dr. Erik Runkle, Michigan State University, Lansing

For many greenhouse crops, temperature is like the accelerator of your car: it influences the rate of plant growth and how long it takes to produce your crops. Explore the fundamental ways that temperature influences crop timing and plant quality as well as how temperature can be managed in your greenhouse to limit fuel costs.

Thrips: The Ultimate Pest
Speaker: Dr. Raymond Cloyd, Kansas State University, Manhattan

Dr. Cloyd calls thrips, particularly the western flower thrips, “the ultimate pest” for numerous reasons: broad host range, small size, high reproductive capacity, and they can spread viruses such as INSV. Do you need any more reason to improve your thrips ID and control skills? Ray will cover thrips from top to bottom, including the latest in management techniques.

Tank Mix Recipes
Speaker: Lynn Griffith, A&L Southern Agricultural Labs, Pompano Beach, FL

When it comes to tank mixes, sometimes "the whole is more than the sum of its parts." Other times, you wind up with a terrible case of phytotoxicity. Tank mixes are great for saving time and (to continue the cliché theme) “killing two birds with one stone.” But you’ve got to know how each product works individually—the pH it prefers, its longevity in the tank, the type of carrier and wetting agent it has. And you need to know if one product can somehow affect another. Lynn Griffith will take you through the ins and outs of tank mixes and share his favorite effective recipes, along with those to avoid.

Sponsored by

1:15–6:00 p.m.

Seed-crop Specifics
For years you’ve relied on GrowerTalks' Crop Culture section to help grow the best crop possible. Now you can get all that information and more, but LIVE, in-person, more in-depth and with an expert on hand to answer your toughest production questions. The series below covers six of the most common bedding plant crops grown from seed. Our speakers are here to make what might be difficult techniques in the production cycle a snap for those who attend! Come prepared with your questions and take notes on what steps you can take to get the best quality product you can possibly grow.

1:15 - 2:30 PM

Impatiens and Vinca Production

3:00-4:15 PM

Pansy and Petunia Production

4:45-6:00 PM

Geranium and Begonia Production

1:15–2:30 p.m.

Lean Flow: What Does it Do? What Does it Cost? Do I Need it?
Speakers: Gary Cortes, FlowVision, Boca Raton, FL; and Kerry Herndon, Kerry’s Bromeliads, Homestead, FL

"Lean Flow," a fancy business term for making your work processes faster, better and more efficient, was started by Henry Ford and perfected by Toyota. Now even our industry is talking about it. That's why we've called in two experts to answer the questions growers ask most often. Kerry Herndon is arguably the first greenhouses in America to implement formal lean flow techniques, and he's witnessed amazing results and payback for his efforts. Gary Cortes is the man who made those changes. He's a partner in FlowVision, a consulting firm that specializes in making manufacturing facilities (yes, that includes greenhouses) more efficient and productive—and hopefully more profitable. Kerry and Gary will use Kerry’s greenhouse as a case study to show you real-world improvements in output AND quality that lean flow has yielded.

Nutrition Through Fertilization
Speaker: Dr. Cari Peters, J.R. Peters Inc., Allentown, PA

No matter what type of plants you are growing or what system you’re using, effective fertilization is critical. Dr. Cari Peters will lead you through an examination of more than 25 popular bedding plants, discussing proper fertilizer regimes and offering suggestions on how to most effectively group plants to maximize production efficiency.

Impatiens and Vinca Production (See description above)

Whipping Whiteflies
Speaker: Jim Bethke, University of California, Riverside, CA

Whiteflies may not pester every greenhouse crop, but they absolutely love some hosts, such as lantana and poinsettias. And when you have them, they’re tough to battle. You have to pay close attention to their life cycles in order to time your applications effectively. Plus, it seems like there’s always a new one popping up, such as the Q-biotype. Jim Bethke will take you through the biology, life cycles and management strategies for the Q-biotype, the greenhouse whitefly and the sweetpotato biotype B (silverleaf) whitefly.

How WE do it: Three Growers Weigh in on their Insect Management Strategies
Panelists: Roger McGaughey, Michael’s Greenhouse, Cheshire, CT; Noah Schwartz, Matterhorn Nursery, Spring Valley, NY; and Monte Flack, Mid-American Growers, Granville, IL
Grower-to-grower: That’s how you like to get your information, straight from your peers. Which is why we’ve invited three growers to participate in a panel discussion to share their experiences (successful and not so successful) with battling insects. Our panelists have decades of experience at a wide range of businesses, from small to large, so they understand and have dealt with the same problems you face. Come with your questions and ideas!

Sponsored by

3:00–4:15 p.m.

Environmental Integration: Is it Floriculture's Future?
Speaker: Dr. David Koranski, ETA Inc., Lake Elmo, MN

David Koranski, affectionately know as "Dr. K", has transitioned from academia to floriculture production consulting, with an emphasis on plug and finish production. Dr. K will give you an overview of where he thinks the future of floriculture production is heading: precisely scheduling the blooming of plants based on integrating the environmental factors of light, temperature and humidity. If you want to add an even higher level of precision to your growing, this session is for you.

New Varieties
Speaker: Jim Nau, Ball Horticultural Company, West Chicago, IL

With hundreds of new seed and vegetative introductions coming out each year, it's almost impossible to take the time to judge what’s great, what’s good and what’s just so-so. You have to depend on the opinions of experienced experts whom you can trust. Which is why we've brought in Ball Horticulture's Jim Nau to offer his opinion on the plethora of new and existing annual varieties out there.

Fungus Gnats and Shoreflies
Speaker: Dr. Raymond Cloyd, Kansas State University, Manhattan

The "trouble down under" that resides in your growing media and under greenhouse benches has a broad host range and can attack a wide variety of plants. Plus, these two insects are capable of vectoring diseases such as pythium and thielaviopsis. Dr. Cloyd will bring you up-to-date on the appropriate management strategies for these ubiquitous pests, including new research on the use of diatomaceous earth and other barriers.

Pansy and Petunia Production (See description above)

Sprayers and Spray Techniques
Speaker: Kurt Becker, Dramm Corporation, Manitowoc, WI

Do you or your employees apply chemicals skillfully and with precision? Or do you either miss parts of your crops or spray excess product, wasting time and money? How much thought and training do you put into chemical applications? Kurt Becker of Dramm Corporation, a manufacturer of precision chemical applicators, will show you how to use your sprayers to their fullest capacity, increase your precision and help eliminate ineffective, wasteful spraying habits you might have fallen into.

Sponsored by

4:45–6:00 p.m.

Consumer Buzz Live
Moderator: Bill Calkins, Green Profit magazine, Batavia, IL

What makes consumers tick? What motivates them to buy? Here’s your opportunity to find out—straight from the customers themselves. With the help of Green Profit magazine, we’ve assembled a panel of authentic, unrehearsed, off-the-street customers, and you’ll have the chance to ask them all of the important questions about what, where, how and why they buy. Hear the answers from the people who count most: the end consumers. Bill Calkins, managing editor of Green Profit, will lead this lively, interactive panel discussion. Loaded with take-home ideas, this event is a must-attend for everyone.

Geranium and Begonia Production (See description above)

Mealybugs, Aphids and Leafminers
Speakers: Dr. Ron Oetting, University of Georgia, Griffin; and Dan Gilrein, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Riverhead, NY

The final three pests of our insect day could each warrant their own hour, but we’ve rolled them into one fast-paced session led by two excellent speakers who’ll give you the essentials on all three insects. They’ll cover biology, identification, control and any resistance issues for all the common mealybugs (citrus, long-tail and pink hibiscus), the most widespread aphids (green peach, melon, foxglove), and cover the challenging-to-control serpentine leafminer. They will.

New Products Roundup
New products can be lifeblood for a pest management program. We’re gathering all our pest management trade show exhibitors together in one room for a revealing session on all their new introductions. It’s the perfect time to get an overview of everything new you need to take note of, from IGRs to fungicides and biologicals. (List of presenters still being compiled at press time, please refer to the on-site update, available at the registration desk, for a complete list of speakers and featured products.)