GrowerTalks

October 2026 Issue

Vol. 90 No. 6

See the Digital Edition

Keeping it Positive

by Megan Gibb, Jeb S. Fields & Paul R. Fisher

NEWSLETTERS

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

COVER STORY

Fixing the Flow

Jennifer Zurko

Is your greenhouse design costing you money?

FEATURES

Better Crops With a Smaller Energy Bill

Dr. Peter Ling

Data-driven strategies for greenhouse efficiency.

Communicating With a Cadence

Rayne Gibson

It’s not the amount of touchpoints you have with your staff, it’s about tailoring meetings based on the issue to avoid major problems that often slip through the cracks.

Compressed vs. Loose Growing Media: Making Every Cubic Foot Count

Pauline Portal

A greenhouse can hold a lot of plants, but not necessarily a lot of growing media.

Creating a Culture of Quality

Neal Glatt

Maintaining quality not only goes into the plants you produce, but in how your employees are engaged.

Dialing In

Luke Finn, Patrick Veazie & Brian Whipker

Balancing EC and pH in New Guinea impatiens.

Homegrown Growing Media: Inorganic Products & Producers

Dr. Brian E. Jackson

This third article of a three-part series highlights domestically sourced growing media products.

Integration, Intelligence & Accessibility

Chris Beytes

What can you expect from your environmental controls—whether basic or advanced—today and in coming years? We asked experts from three controls manufacturers to weigh in on the top features most all control companies are hoping to bring to customers (including AI), along with outlining their specific new offerings. Here’s what we learned.

Keeping it Positive

Megan Gibb, Jeb S. Fields & Paul R. Fisher

What is cation exchange capacity and why should I care?

Where Your Irrigation System & Fertilizer Matter

Alvaro Daniel Pantoja-Benavides, Mayra A. Toro-Herrera & Rosa E. Raudales

How much clean water does it take to clean up your runoff?

Why Greenhouse Teams Are Turning to AI for Faster, Smarter Decisions

Tara Cosca

As AI tools become more accessible, growers have an opportunity to make faster decisions, improve operational efficiency and respond more effectively to changing market conditions.

CULTURE NOTES

Perk Up Heat & Drought-Tolerant Programs With MEGA PAZZAZ Portulaca

Kathleen Hennessy

Danziger’s PAZZAZ Portulaca check all the boxes for big colorful blooms, heat-loving performance and attention-grabbing pots, combinations and hanging baskets at retail.

Growers Talk Production

On Curiosity

Albert Grimm

Creating a culture where curiosity is welcome ought to start at the top.

PEST MANAGEMENT

Integrating Effective Whitefly Chemistries With BCAs in Ornamental Crops

Powlomee Mondal & Muhammad Z. “Zee” Ahmed

How chemistries can integrate with biological control, based on published studies conducted across laboratory, greenhouse and semi-field settings.

COLUMNS

Inside Look

A Jumbo Hot Dog With Pickle & Mustard Only and Cheese Fries

Jennifer Zurko

That’s my go-to order whenever I go to Portillo’s.

Acres & Acres

How You’ll Be Using AI

Chris Beytes

Here are a dozen possible ways.

Paul's Pointers

Seeds of Success

Paul Pilon

Perennials from seed can be more challenging than most of the seed annuals being commercially grown, so here are a few tips to help you be as successful as possible.

Growers Talk Business

Are We Delivering Plants or Hauling Air?

Davy Wright

As delivery costs continue to rise, even small improvements in truck capacity can have a meaningful impact on profitability.

Guest Column

Benary’s Begonia Strategy

Lowell Halvorson

Rather than producing one more begonia every few years, Benary has been quietly filling application niches.

DEPARTMENTS

JZ on D.C.

Judge Sends IFR Adverse Effect Wage Rate back to DOL

Jennifer Zurko

In August, a federal court ordered that the Department of Labor (DOL) must rewrite the interim final rule (IFR) from October 2025 on farmworker wages, putting additional pressure on Congress to come up with a solution.

GT IN BRIEF

A Centennial to Remember

A New Dutch Greenhouse Business

Bates Daughters Close the Family Business

On the Move

RIP Konrad Wagner

Save the Date for the Tropical Plant International Expo

Save the Date: California Spring Trials 2027 set for April 6-9

COLUMNISTS

Chris Beytes

Jen Zurko

Albert Grimm

Art Parkerson

Paul Pilon

Stan Vander Waal

Susie Raker

Austin Bryant

Tabitha Samuels Slattery

Stephanie Saccomano

VIDEOS

Watch More

The Chris Beytes Podcast, with lettuce grower Renato Zardo of Great Lakes Growers

Nick's Newsletter Tip (Week 39): Cool-Weather Crop Management

Trending Now Holly Red Sky from Plant Development Services, Inc.

Trending Now Fruit Shaped Tags from MasterTag

AI for Green Industry Businesses ft. Justin Ragsdale

The Chris Beytes Podcast, ft. 2016 Young Grower Winner Jane Stanley of Atticus LLC

Insect & Disease Issues in Cut Flowers ft. Dave Dowling

4 Questions for Coy, a Sales Representative

Maximizing Early Order Programs ft. Envu’s Steve Larson

Defend Your Crops ft. JC & Dennis from SePRO

A video tour of Ball Customer Days 2026

Don’t Trip Over Fall Production (Ball Seed Customer Days 2026)

The End of Rotation Anxiety ft. Koppert’s Jeremy Webber

High-Tech (and Pretty Plants) from Cultivate'26!

There’s A Good Story To Tell! (ft. Plantpeddler’s Mike Gooder)

4 Questions for Kate, a Garden Center Owner

Darwin Perennials Day 2026

4 Questions for Jeremy, a Cannabis & Ornamental Crop Team Manager

All About the 2026 Plug & Cutting Conference ft. AmericanHort’s Rachel Rawls

Trending Now: Aspidistra Tokyo Skies from Plant Development Services Inc.

Panel Discussion: Echinacea Best Practices (from 2026 Darwin Perennials Day)

The Summer of Soiree Kawaii ft. Suntory’s Lorentina Fielding

The Chris Beytes Podcast, ft. Young Grower Award Winner Quinten Henning

4 Questions for Jose, a Sales & Business Manager

Finishing SuperCal Crops for Fall with Sakata’s Michael Wiebe

The Chris Beytes Podcast, featuring Isaac Brantingham, our 2013 Young Grower Award Winner

Rotating from Resistance to Results ft. Envu’s Dr. Janna Beckerman

4 Questions for Jamie, a Technical Lead

4 Questions for Samuel, a Grower, Retailer & Social Media Manager

4 Questions for Susie, a Greenhouse VP

The Chris Beytes Podcast, featuring John Terhesh, our 2019 Young Grower Award Winner

4 Questions for Leslie, a Green Industry Consultant, Author, Educator (and more …)

New Proven Winners Landscape Plants for 2027 and Beyond!

New Proven Winners Annuals for 2027 and Beyond

4 Questions for Kelly, a North American Head of Technical Services

2026 California Spring Trials Debrief ft. Chris Beytes & Jen Zurko

The Chris Beytes Podcast, featuring TWO YGA winners! Meet Mike Merida & Matthew Tyson

4 Questions for Mason, a VP Of Business Development

California Spring Trials 2026: Bloopers

4 Questions for Lorentina, a North American Sales & Product Representative

4 Questions for Tanya, a Territory Manager (AND BLOOM DIVA!)

The Chris Beytes Podcast, featuring 2024 winner Drew Groezinger, owner of Clara Joyce Flowers

Trending Now: Encore's New Autumn Kiss Azalea!

California Spring Trials 2026: ThinkPlants

California Spring Trials 2026: Syngenta

California Spring Trials 2026: Danziger

California Spring Trials 2026: Takii

California Spring Trials 2026: Kientzler

California Spring Trials 2026: Sakata

California Spring Trials 2026: HilverdaFlorist

California Spring Trials 2026: Dümmen Orange

California Spring Trials 2026: Pacific Plug & Liner

California Spring Trials 2026: PDSI

California Spring Trials 2026: Walters Gardens

California Spring Trials 2026: Suntory

California Spring Trials 2026: PlantHaven

California Spring Trials 2026: Israeli Companies

California Spring Trials 2026: Green Fuse

California Spring Trials 2026: Glow-in-the-Dark Petunias

California Spring Trials 2026: Hem Genetics

California Spring Trials 2026: Westhoff

California Spring Trials 2026: Beekenkamp

California Spring Trials 2026: Benary

California Spring Trials 2026: Darwin Perennials

California Spring Trials 2026: Selecta One

California Spring Trials 2026: Morel

California Spring Trials 2026: PanAmerican Seed

California Spring Trials 2026: Ball FloraPlant

Trending Now: PanAmerican Seed Grower Insights On Select 2027 Varieties

The Chris Beytes Podcast, featuring 2021 YGA Winner Maddie Maynor of BioWorks

The Chris Beytes Podcast, with Young Grower winner Jill Mullaney

The Chris Beytes Podcast: Featuring Stephanie Saccomano of Qualitree

Meet Zoltan Kovacs, our 2008 Young Grower Award winner

The Chris Beytes Podcast, featuring 2025 Young Grower Award winner Isabela Chamorro

The Chris Beytes Podcast—This time with houseplant expert Andrew Britten

At the 2025 Hoffmann Heimos Poinsettia Trials With GrowerTalks Magazine

Trending Now Harnois Greenhouses’ TunnelPro Plus

Growing Your Best Begonias with Syngenta’s Brian Krug & Jamie Gibson

Perfecting Pentas Production with Syngenta’s Dr. Jamie Gibson

Trending Now: Ball Mums

TRENDING NOW

MasterTag
Custom Fruit Shapes

Emerald Coast Growers
Panicum virgatum Dream Catcher Cherry Bomb

Prospiant Greenhouses
Novavert’s HS2 and HS Bravo retractable roof

Polyvantis
ACRYLITE multi-skin acrylic

BioTherm Solutions
BioTherm & RBI Boilers

Suntory Flowers Ltd.
Soiree Double Catharanthus

Nominate a Young Grower Today!

Congrats to the 2026 GrowerTalks/Ball Horticultural Company Young Grower Award winner:
Michael Wijesinghe from Bell Nursery, Springfield, Ohio!

Do you know of an excellent, hard-working professional under the age of 35? You should nominate them for the 2027 GrowerTalks/Ball Horticultural Company Young Grower Award! For the last 22 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’27 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’27, 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 ...

Keeping it Positive