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GROWERTALKS - July 2025 Issue (Vol. 89 No. 3)
Acres & Acres
Nothing Gets You Down
Chris Beytes
Does nothing get you guys and gals down?
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.
Features
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.
Features
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.
Features
Expand Your Candidate Pool
Todd Downing
Behaviors predict future success
Features
Protecting Your Business From Threats
Dan Zastava
Cybersecurity for greenhouse growers.
Features
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.
Features
The Benefits of Infertile Pennisetum
Kerstin Poehlmann
Why Emerald Coast Growers makes a good thing better.
Features
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.
Features
Through the Pores
Jeb S. Fields & Kristopher S. Criscione
Part 2 in our in-depth series on concepts for pore science.
Features
Your Seed & Ball Seed
Jim Kennedy
Ball Seed continues to invest in seed and service.
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.
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.
GT in Brief
A Place for More Perennials
Jennifer Zurko
A new greenhouse will add to the total of about 15 acres of undercover production.
GT in Brief
In Memorium: John T. Nickel
Jennifer Zurko
John T. Nickel, Chairman of the Board for Greenleaf Nursery Co., passed away peacefully in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on April 19 at the age of 89.
GT in Brief
New Principle WP Bioinsecticide
JC Chong
BioWorks announced that the EPA approved the registration of its new Principle WP bioinsecticide.
GT in Brief
New Regulations for Pesticide Applicators
Jennifer Zurko
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed an online system called Bulletins Live! Two that determines if additional pesticide use limitations are needed to protect listed endangered species or habitat based on the specific application site, pesticide product and application month.
GT in Brief
NewGen Boxwood Joins Proven Winners ColorChoice
Jeb Fields
Spring Meadow Nursery, in partnership with Saunders Brothers, has added the NewGen series of boxwood to its Proven Winners ColorChoice shrubs line.
GT in Brief
On the Move
Jennifer Zurko
Dramm Corporation; Koppert; Priva North America; Profile Products; Suntory Flowers
GT in Brief
Organizational Changes at Ball FloraPlant
Jennifer Zurko
After a 36-year career at Ball, Dr. Mike Klopmeyer, President of Ball FloraPlant, retired in June 2025.
GT in Brief
Raker-Roberta’s to Grow HilverdaFlorist’s Potted Dianthus
Chris Beytes
Dutch flower breeder HilverdaFlorist has signed a license agreement with Raker–Roberta’s Young Plants of Litchfield, Michigan, to produce its complete dianthus program.
GT in Brief
Riverbend Nursery Acquires James Greenhouses
Jennifer Zurko
Riverbend Nursery Holdings LLC announced the acquisition of Colbert, Georgia-based James Greenhouses, a producer of perennial liners for wholesale growers in the United States.
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.
Inside Look
Sometimes You Need a Doctor
Jennifer Zurko
Sometimes there are emergencies that need special attention.
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.
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.
TRENDING NOW
All-purpose Substrate
Lambert Peat Moss Inc.
TRENDING NOW
Ball Seed Customer Days
Ball Seed
TRENDING NOW
Fertilizer and Soil Amendment
Oberland Agriscience Inc.
TRENDING NOW
Principle WP
BioWorks
TRENDING NOW
Solar Light Greenhouse
AgraTech
TRENDING NOW
Sundenia Suprema Vivid Pink
Suntory Flowers Ltd.