GrowerTalks

July 2025 Issue

Vol. 89 No. 3

See the Digital Edition

The Doctors Are In

by Jennifer Zurko

NEWSLETTERS

Read and subscribe to a variety of Newsletters tailored to your industry interests.

COVER STORY

The Doctors Are In

Jennifer Zurko

A look at what the plant pathologists inside Ball Helix’s Diagnostic Lab do for growers and for the industry.

FEATURES

AFE-Funded Research Helps Growers Profit

Julie Martens Forney

Did you know the roots of many practices you use daily in your greenhouse are anchored in AFE-funded research? The American Floral Endowment partners with growers to chase down answers to real-world problems with research that’s focused on providing solutions for success.

Avoiding the Leadership Trap

Rayne Gibson

Helping your employees understand why you’re doing something instead of just telling them what to do will allow them to be more productive and empower them to be better problem-solvers.

Behind the Business: A Plain Black Wrapper

Chris Beytes

Occasionally, GrowerTalks likes to reveal little-known details about the birth, growth or success of a well-known horticultural business. This month, two important stories (and one fun one) from HIP Labels, which is celebrating 25 years of supplying hang tags, stake tags, wooden tags, pot wraps, retail POP and other printed products primarily to the nursery side of the industry—growers of woody ornamentals, roses, perennial and the like.

Expand Your Candidate Pool

Todd Downing

Behaviors predict future success

Protecting Your Business From Threats

Dan Zastava

Cybersecurity for greenhouse growers.

Quality Over Quantity

Chris Beytes, Bill Calkins & Jennifer Zurko

The first part of our coverage of the California Spring Trials includes tons of new annuals for the 2026 season.

The Benefits of Infertile Pennisetum

Kerstin Poehlmann

Why Emerald Coast Growers makes a good thing better.

The End of One Season Means Sanitation for the Next

George Grant & Tanner Bailey

Sanitation tips and strategies that can help to bolster your inter-season sanitation approach or cover areas commonly overlooked that may harbor pests between seasons.

Through the Pores

Jeb S. Fields & Kristopher S. Criscione

Part 2 in our in-depth series on concepts for pore science.

Your Seed & Ball Seed

Jim Kennedy

Ball Seed continues to invest in seed and service.

CULTURE NOTES

Growers Talk Production

When Worlds Collide: Academia vs. Industry

Tabitha Samuels Slattery

It can be difficult and frustrating for anybody coming from an academic background to change their plant-growing mindset to what’s needed to thrive in the industry.

PEST MANAGEMENT

Aphid Parasitoids: What Are You Getting?

Dr. Raymond A. Cloyd

The quality of biological control agents, based on the number of live individuals, is important to ensure the success of biological control programs.

COLUMNS

Inside Look

Sometimes You Need a Doctor

Jennifer Zurko

Sometimes there are emergencies that need special attention.

Acres & Acres

Nothing Gets You Down

Chris Beytes

Does nothing get you guys and gals down?

Growers Talk Business

Collaboration as the Secret to Innovation & Lasting Impact

Susie Raker

By fostering collaboration and actively seeking meaningful partnerships, we ensure a legacy that isn’t just impactful, but also enduring.

Guest Column

Mindfulness & Plants

Michele Sarti

I’m fortunate to be working at a job that allows me to spend time with plants and to connect with nature.

Guest Column

Proposed Trade Policies Create Economic Inefficiencies

Dr. Marvin Miller & Dr. Charlie Hall

Hedging against volatility witnessed recently will require flexible contracts and analytical tools, yet the strategic direction is clear: plants will stay greener when the borders around them stay globalized.

Guest Column

When a Seed Deserves a Brand

Lowell Halvorson

Sunfinity is a fundamental shift in the industry’s attitude toward sunflowers.

DEPARTMENTS

JZ on D.C.

Two Days in D.C. With the AmericanHort Advocacy Team

Jennifer Zurko

In April, Kurt Becker of Dramm Corporation had the pleasure of visiting Washington, D.C. to collaborate with the AmericanHort team.

GT IN BRIEF

A Place for More Perennials

In Memorium: John T. Nickel

New Principle WP Bioinsecticide

New Regulations for Pesticide Applicators

NewGen Boxwood Joins Proven Winners ColorChoice

On the Move

Organizational Changes at Ball FloraPlant

Raker-Roberta’s to Grow HilverdaFlorist’s Potted Dianthus

Riverbend Nursery Acquires James Greenhouses

COLUMNISTS

Chris Beytes

Jennifer Zurko

Albert Grimm

Art Parkerson

Paul Pilon

Bill Swanekamp

Amy Morris

Terri McEnaney

Stan Vander Waal

Austin Bryant

Stephanie Saccomano

VIDEOS

Watch More

Darwin Perennials Day 2025

Safely Managing Whitefly (and more) on Poinsettias with Broch Martindale

Dynamic Combos for All Seasons with Syngenta’s Lauren Kilpatrick

Strategies for automating your fertigation system

NF Wood Products Improving the characteristics of growing media

The newest in sustainable pots and irrigation from Proven Winners

Hollywood Hibiscus, from Proven Winners

New black and creme (brulee) caladiums from Proven Winners

Walters Gardens Perennials from Proven Winners for 2026

New Annuals from Proven Winners for 2026 and Beyond!

CAST 2025: Israeli Propagators

CAST 2025: Benary

CAST 2025: ThinkPlants

CAST 2025: Danizger

CAST 2025: Syngenta

CAST 2025: HilverdaFlorist

CAST 2025: Takii

CAST 2025: Kienztler

CAST 2025: Du¨mmen Orange

CAST 2025: Sakata

CAST 2025: PDSI

CAST 2025: PlantHaven

CAST 2025: Pacific Plug & Liner

CAST 2025: Suntory

CAST 2025: Green Fuse

CAST 2025: Beekenkamp

CAST 2025: Westhoff

CAST 2025: Schoneveld

CAST 2025: Hem Genetics

CAST 2025: PanAmerican Seed

CAST 2025: Ball FloraPlant

CAST 2025: Darwin Perennials

CAST 2025: Selecta One

CAST 2025: Morel

Our Visit to DRAMM's New(ish) Location

Trending Now: PDSI’s Screen Play Ilex

Trending Now: PDSI’s Clean Sweep Snowbank

N.G. Heimos Poinsettia Open House 2024

Caladium bulb harvest at Classic Caladiums

The Robo Cut Autonomous Tissue Culture Propagation Robot

Ball Seed Customer Days 2024!

Critical Chemistries (Recorded Live at Cultivate’24) with JC Chong

What's New From the Cultivate'24 Trade Show

Trending Now: Ball Seed & Philips Lighting Solutions

Trending Now: Floxcor Fungicide from Corteva

Trending Now: PDSI’s Better Boxwood

Darwin Perennials Day 2024

TRENDING NOW

Oberland Agriscience Inc.
Fertilizer and Soil Amendment

Suntory Flowers Ltd.
Sundenia Suprema Vivid Pink

Ball Seed
Ball Seed Customer Days

BioWorks
Principle WP

AgraTech
Solar Light Greenhouse

Lambert Peat Moss Inc.
All-purpose Substrate

Nominate a Young Grower Today!

Congrats to the 2025 GrowerTalks/Ball Horticultural Company Young Grower Award winner:
Isabela Chamorro from Mahoney’s Garden Center, Woburn, Massachusetts!

Do you know of an excellent, hard-working professional under the age of 35? You should nominate them for the 2026 GrowerTalks/Ball Horticultural Company Young Grower Award! For the last 21 years, we’ve recognized young horticulturists for standing out from the crowd in this tough business, who—for whatever noble reasons—have chosen to have a career in this industry.

After three finalists are chosen, each is asked to write guest editorials for the June issue of GrowerTalks, gets a free trip to Cultivate’26 and, while they’re in Columbus, attend a special dinner with Anna Ball and other industry luminaries. The winner is announced at the Unplugged event during Cultivate’26, will be the subject of our September issue cover story and serve as one of our judges for next year’s award.

An extra special thanks goes to Ball Horticultural Company, BASF and AmericanHort for sponsoring this year’s award!

This Month ...

The Doctors Are In