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January 27, 2011
Now that 2011 has officially arrived, what are you going to do this month?
What are you and your employees doing during this “down time?”
While things may be a little slower in your greenhouses right now (there’s always plenty to do), this is the...
January 12, 2011
By taking risks and focusing on value, Rocket Farms’ production has grown substantially. When opportunity knocks, this big grower is prepared and ready to move forward.
Rocket Farms, headquartered in Salinas, Calif., was founded about 20 years ago...
January 12, 2011
The recovery remained lackluster in the third and fourth quarters of 2010, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth coming in at around 2 percent. We should, however, start to see the economy begin to re-accelerate in 2011. Consumer spending is...
December 21, 2010
I was fortunate to be one of 10 North Americans who participated in “The Sustainability Initiative” in the Netherlands. This pilot program was organized by the Agricultural Counselor’s Office of the Netherlands Embassy in Washington, D.C. We spent...
December 21, 2010
In a world of too many petunias, it is difficult to bring something to the market that is truly different. The Perfectunia series bred by Westhoff Plants in Germany makes growing petunias easy and profitable.
Perfectunias provide extremely early...
December 21, 2010
Iberis sempervirens ‘Tahoe’ is one of the earliest and brightest flowering perennials growers can produce for early spring sales. It boasts large clusters of white blooms covering its low-growing narrow evergreen foliage.
In the garden, ‘Tahoe’...
December 21, 2010
“Consumers, entrepreneurs, Federal Reserve members…all are befuddled by this economy. Uncertainty leads to inaction. While the future remains cloudy, businesses still have to plan for it.” — Brett Nelson, Forbes, October 25, 2010
Well, this...
December 21, 2010
Click Here to view this article as a PDF.
In the December 2009 issue of GPN, we published an article discussing the perplexing chlorosis problem in Oxalis regnellii, better known as the shamrock plant. The common suggested reasons for the chlorosis...
December 21, 2010
Growers are constantly looking for innovative and effective ways to get the most out of their production facilities. Here are some of the latest options to achieve those goals.
It is an understatement to say that greenhouse growers are looking for...
December 21, 2010
Growers know that a waterer can make or break you. Before every season, sales are analyzed, forecasts plotted, supplies ordered, facilities inspected and prepared, shipping tactics examined and sometimes rehearsed — everything is planned with...
December 21, 2010
Uncertain of what the future holds for the horticulture industry in 2011, the GPN staff was determined to find some answers. We asked some of our trusted industry friends to share their wisdom and outlook with us. Here’s what they had to say...
Q:...
December 21, 2010
Please click on the PDF version to the right to read about the diseases highlighted in this issue.
December 21, 2010
As we get ready to close the book on 2010, I got to thinking about what an eventful year this has been and all the things that have happened in our industry. Then I got to wondering about next year and what is going to happen in 2011.
So we asked...
December 06, 2010
In the past few weeks we have once again seen our industry consolidate and contract — Hines Nurseries filing for reorganization for the second time in two years, Weeks and J&P Roses filing bankruptcy, Iseli Nurseries filing for bankruptcy, and...
December 06, 2010
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) declared recently that the so-called great recession actually ended in June of 2009. The popular press has been largely panning this pronouncement, saying that it is out of touch with Main Street where...
December 06, 2010
“Location. Location. Location.” That is the mantra of the real estate world.
It’s also a pretty good motto for Norwin Heimos, the patriarch of N.G. Heimos Greenhouses in Millstadt, Ill. The large multifaceted grower has been growing and delivering...
November 30, 2010
Floriculture crops are grown under a wide variety of environmental conditions. One principle that applies to all crops is that their developmental rate (such as the rate of leaf unfolding or rate of flowering) decreases as temperature decreases. As...
November 30, 2010
If you have not been a huge fan of the fuzzy leafed lamb’s-ears type stachys typically grown in the past, put those thoughts to the side because there are some exciting and very marketable species of stachys available today. Stachys macrantha ‘...
November 30, 2010
Ease in production and versatility in use make the Dragon series a product worth trying
The antirrhinum Dragon series from the Ecke Ranch offers growers a new face in the snapdragon class. Dragons’ flowers have a unique and interesting open-faced...
