July 2015 Culture, Grower News, Plant Health, Production

Celebrating the Past, Present and Future By Jasmina Dolce

When I was young, the United States had a vital localized independent distribution of flowering plants. Big box stores did not exist, and yes we still wrote using stone tablets, and bread was a nickel a loaf… but in all seriousness, even in the Los Angeles area there was a nearby garden center if you wanted it; and maybe a feed and seed, but mostly you ordered seed from the catalogs that came in the mail and grew your garden based on that.

Since there were so few, and fairly specialized, outlets for garden material, the grower network was fairly small and the distributors of mums, poinsettias and seed dominated the supply chain. Now with the emergence of big box outlets the dynamic changes.

The other force behind centralization was land value. As population centers expanded they pushed production farther out of the central population areas. Land values prohibited the retention of garden centers and agricultural supply demanding things be shipped from farther afield, so much so that most aspects of agriculture have moved out of the United States entirely except in regions where agriculture’s value holds out against urban expansion. As municipalities lost control of local supply you saw the emergence of farmer’s markets, co-ops and food trucks as the population tried to hold onto some level of localized supply.

The future doesn’t seem to be that difficult to predict because what is happening to the horticulture industry is really just a repeat of what happened to other U.S. industries. From grocery store to supermarket, from hardware store to big box store, from town doctor to mass health care, population density drives centralization.

Most people will buy things from a centralized ‘discount’ outlet. Does that mean that the days of independent garden centers are over? Absolutely not! But it does mean that everyone needs to ramp up their game, the new market will weed out all the semi-engaged operations and what will emerge is a new model of garden center. That new model will have to entertain, educate and provide an experience for shoppers that they cannot get elsewhere.

It means fusing a lot of different individual parts of our American lifestyle. Imagine a garden center with a coffee shop and restaurant, live music on occasion, attached or merged with a small scale botanic garden, a floral boutique, classes offered daily and full (and I do mean FULL) service gardening, landscaping, container design and problem solving. It is hard to imagine this kind of investment, but that is the kind of difference that will be required to maintain a successful independent retail outlet in the future. There are already lots of independent retailers who do this and do it well! Consumers will gravitate to whomever makes the gardening experience easiest, more enjoyable and most accessible.

It will be fascinating to watch how this all plays out!

Rick Schoellhorn,
new products, Proven Winners

Twenty-five years is one generation — congratulations! In one generation so much has changed in our industry: The quality of the product at every level is far better, a lot of the waste has gone, automation is common and we have discovered marketing. I cannot even begin to predict where we will be in another 25 years — nobody can. I just know it will be even better than today!

Anna Caroline Ball, president and CEO,
Ball Horticultural Co.

The first 25 years: There were lots of opportunities. The boundaries weren’t quite defined yet in regard to what was grown. More operations that were smaller and midsized with an exception of a handful of larger growers. Resources weren’t as tight along with labor. In the beginning, independents were the main selling channel; now they share the marketplace with the box stores. Selling and growing is becoming very focused to maintain a profit. Lots of unforeseen events outside our control are affecting our industry.

The next 25 years: Still opportunities within the cracks, but you have to look hard to find them. The boundaries will continue to grow as long as we keep an open mind to the possibilities. Change, change and more changing will be the normal to keep relevant to the coming consumers and environment. Garden centers will become life centers, helping the next generations with living and gardening in a very fast-paced life.

In the end it will still be about the passion and family values — that will never change.

One more thing: AmericanHort will have more segments in its membership, and finally we become one strong supply chain helping each other to prosper.

Danny Takao, owner/president, Takao Nursery

Congratulations to all the folks at GPN for 25 great years! I published my first article in GPN 19 years ago after meeting the editor at a BPI Conference in San Jose. Soon after that, I agreed to be their consulting editor. My objective in the early days was to help develop a significant source of technical information for growers — today with all of the changes that have occurred in information distribution, growers still are looking for detailed production information.

The challenge for publishers and groups doing educational endeavors is being able to deliver the information in an affordable manner. But that reflects our society — folks are tighter with expenses and have less time to read or attend events. Events – remember Ball’s GrowerExpo, the Southeast Greenhouse Conference and BPI conferences? For us academics, a significant change has been the funding reductions and downsizing of many programs. The industry has experienced significant consolidation at all levels.

Reminiscing can be fun, but looking forward is more interesting and critical. Going forward, the pressures we see within the industry today will become even more intense. The companies that are most successful will be those that stay flexible and can adapt as changes occur. Our consumers are changing, and as in other markets, they will expect more information and convenience in both IGC and box store markets.

Living in a college town leads me to spend time thinking about how new consumers are introduced to our market. It is all about veggies and herbs. If our market is to grow, these emerging plant consumers must have a fun experience with their purchase of the first tomato, pepper and basil plants. There is a huge number of young potential plant consumers who are similar to Trader Joe’s type of consumers — they will spend more for a product that makes them feel good, because it is healthy and/or helps the environment. Our industry must do better at attracting and supporting this group of future consumers.

Jim Barrett, professor of horticulture,
University of Florida

Horticulture was the industry that I decided to pursue when I was a teenager. The choice was simple for me, I wanted a career that I would wholeheartedly enjoy each and every day. That was more than 25 years ago, and today I still love horticulture and what I do. As my career progresses, it seems like horticulture is shifting from an industry of hobbyists and small businesses to more intermediate to large enterprises today. History has told us that people have always incorporated plants and horticulture into their lifestyles; the future should be no different.

For the next 25 years, it will be important for us to stay in front of demographics and the changing trends. We will need to be innovative and utilize technology, all the while continuing to find ways of connecting with consumers and encouraging them to incorporate plants into their lifestyles. We need to continue to find ways of keeping horticulture relevant and enjoyable.

Paul Pilon, owner, Perennial Solutions Consulting

Many industry practices have changed in the past 25 years, perhaps influenced most by the rise of the box stores. They will continue to drive change. With more consolidation of growers and tighter alignment in the supply chain, hopefully, they will also continue to expand the overall market. Serving them brings many challenges, but also tremendous opportunity. I think the relationship will shift from the box stores having more power over growers, to one of greater cooperation, due to margin pressure on everyone. We are having great success working with our young plant partners, who grow for many different market segments, and I feel they will continue to do well. I agree with Yogi Berra, who I believe said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future!”

How we handle an unknown future is up to us. At Van Belle Nursery, we try not to take ourselves too seriously, and instead focus on improvement and people. That way, we feel we can adapt to any changes the next 25 years may bring. We are having fun, and a positive spirit will always be in demand!

Dave Van Belle, president, Van Belle Nursery

Upon reflecting on 25 years of pest management in greenhouse production systems, it appears that there have been two phases in regard to the use of pesticides, primarily systemic pesticides (mostly insecticides). In the 1980s, greenhouse producers were using pesticides such as aldicarb (Temik) and oxamyl (Vydate), which were systemic pesticides with a broad-spectrum of activity against many insect and even mite pests. However, they were very toxic to humans. As such, these pesticides were discontinued for use in greenhouses and there was an emphasis in using more selective pesticides that were less toxic to humans and had a narrower spectrum of pest activity. This was phase one.

Then in the mid-1990s, imidacloprid (Marathon) was the first of several neonicotinoids to be commercially available for use in greenhouse production systems. Neonicotinoids are also systemic pesticides (insecticides) with activity mostly against phloem-feeding insects (e.g., aphids and whiteflies), but they are less harmful to humans. These pesticides were (and still are) widely used throughout the industry; however, there were no considerations regarding any harmful effects to non-target organisms. Then, research started uncovering information that these pesticides may be directly and/or indirectly harmful to pollinators such as honey bees by getting into the pollen and nectar. Consequently, mainly due to several instances in Oregon in which neonicotinoids were responsible for killing honey bees and bumble bees (although this was associated with not reading the pesticide label), there is currently an uproar and subsequently a movement to ban or curtail the use of the neonicotinoid pesticides on ornamental crops. Again, this has generated interest in using more selective insecticides (or non-neonicotinoids) that are less harmful to pollinators. This is phase two (and is on-going).

Another case is the increased interest and use of biological control to regulate insect and mite pest populations in greenhouses. This involves the use of parasitoids, predators, and/or entomopathogenic nematodes. The increased interest is likely the result of concerns associated with pesticide resistance. In addition, there are a number of commercially available effective natural enemies for several insect and mite pests (e.g., fungus gnats and twospotted spider mite). Overall, I foresee an increase in the use of biological control in greenhouse production systems due to several factors including pesticide resistance and the current issues surrounding the neonicotinoid pesticides. However, only time will tell what will really happen.

Raymond Cloyd, professor and extension specialist in horticultural entomology/plant protection, Kansas State University