Syngenta Flowers’ Dr. Alicain Carlson joins host Bill Calkins to discuss some key components of successful cut flower mum programs. Dr. Carlson starts by discussing some of the reason cut mums are so popular before highlighting some key varieties in the Syngenta Flowers portfolio. Then she jumps right into cultural and technical tips and tricks for sending high-quality flowers to market. From the start, you’ll need to follow some best practices when receiving and handling young plants—planting i...
Dec 24, 2024•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Retired Ball technical services manager Dr. Will Healy joins host Bill Calkins to discuss the ins and outs of finished African marigold production as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials. Will says African marigolds and French marigolds are like oranges and grapefruits when it comes to production protocols—meaning they’re similar (like the two citrus fruits) but very different in many ways. He takes you from plug transplant to shipping, with a pa...
Dec 18, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Retired Ball technical services manager Dr. Will Healy joins host Bill Calkins to help growers finish French marigolds for quick turns as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials. If elementary school kids can grow French marigolds in Dixie cups, they must not be too difficult … But finishing professional-quality crops requires attention to detail—especially pH, nutrition, moisture management and lighting. Will is here to explain all the nuances so y...
Dec 16, 2024•31 min•Ep 153•Transcript available on Metacast Ball Technical Services specialist Chris Ferguson joins host Bill Calkins to talk finished lantana production as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials. From transplanting best practices and nutrition strategies to irrigation management and container selection, there are plenty of nuances to be aware of and Chris is here to help. Resources: Watch the VIDEO! https://youtu.be/Gqoz00MIr7M GrowerTalks Insecticide, Miticide & Fungicide Guide: https:...
Dec 12, 2024•17 min•Ep 152•Transcript available on Metacast Ball Technical Services specialist Chris Ferguson joins host Bill Calkins to share best management practices for propagating lantana from unrooted cuttings as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials. From receiving, prioritizing and handling through all stages up until transplant, Chris is going to help you reduce risk and produce top-quality liners. WATCH THE VIDEO! https://youtu.be/Tff-o5FfZ9U...
Dec 10, 2024•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Syngenta Flowers technical lead Dr. Brian Krug joins host Bill Calkins to discuss two new series—Pansy Delta Pro and Viola Penny Pro—sharing tips and tricks for maximizing production of these breakthrough new varieties. The Delta Pro pansy series was released a couple years ago as a comprehensive upgrade to Delta, an industry leader for more than 30 years and Penny Pro violas are new for 2025. When such iconic series are completely retooled, it shows that the breeders have been hard at work and ...
Dec 04, 2024•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ball Technical Services specialist Josh Henry joins host Bill Calkins to take vegetative coleus to the finish line as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials. From transplanting and pinching to selecting media and producing for a range of finished container sizes, there are certainly best practices to follow when growing coleus. Josh covers all of this and more, including nutrition, light, temperature and PGRs to help you create a winning production...
Nov 27, 2024•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ball Technical Services specialist Josh Henry joins host Bill Calkins to share best management practices for propagating vegetative coleus from unrooted cuttings as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials. From receiving, prioritizing and handling through all stages up until transplant, Josh is going to help you reduce risk and produce top-quality liners. Resources: VIDEO: https://youtu.be/G32TupPcTF4 e-GRO Coleus Disorder Guide: https://www.e-gro.o...
Nov 25, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this comprehensive discussion covering a key cut flower, Ball Seed’s cut flower business manager Joan Mazat and Sakata Seed America’s product technical manager Bob Croft discuss F1 Anemone Gemstone (seed-raised anemone) and share tips and tricks for selecting and producing top-quality crops. Bob shares his experience with this F1 seed series—from germination to transplant and on to finishing and post-harvest care. He helps cut flower growers and flower farmers manage all factors of plant grow...
Nov 19, 2024•28 min•Ep 147•Transcript available on Metacast Ball Technical Services specialist and culture research manager, Dr. Nathan Jahnke, joins Tech On Demand host Bill Calkins to share research-based best practices for rehydrating unrooted cuttings before sticking. Cuttings can (and will) lose water at multiple points in the supply chain—arriving at greenhouses dehydrated by as much as 20%. As soon as harvest occurs, dehydration begins and although offshore farms have greatly improved harvest and handling processes in recent years, your young plan...
Nov 14, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is all about a cutting-edge approach to insect and disease control—the use of botanical oil-based pesticides within IPM programs. Host Bill Calkins is joined by the director of research and development with the crop technologies division at Kemin Industries, Emily Fuerst. Emily is a highly accomplished scientist with more than 15 years’ experience merging science with agricultural insights to drive innovation across product categories and her passion for insects and expertise in the...
Oct 31, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Retired Ball technical manager Dr. Will Healy joins host Bill Calkins to share protocols for finishing seed-raised coleus as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials. From media selection and nutrition to water, light and temperature, finishing crops requires careful attention to avoid losses and send high quality product out the door on time. Will is going to help reduce your risk in this process.
Oct 24, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Retired Ball technical manager Dr. Will Healy joins host Bill Calkins to share protocols for finishing seed-raised begonias (semperflorens and interspecific) as part of the Tech On Demand series covering crop culture for key annuals and perennials. From media selection and nutrition to water, light and temperature, finishing crops requires careful attention to avoid losses and send high quality product out the door on time. Will is going to help reduce your risk in this process. VIDEO: Achieving...
Oct 22, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Syngenta Flowers’ Dr. Jamie Gibson joins host Bill Calkins to discuss just about everything you need to know when producing amazing crops of both Sunfinity Yellow Dark Center (from seeds or plugs) and Sunfinity Double (from unrooted cuttings or liners). This sunflower broke into the industry as a gamechanger not long ago and after multiple years wowing shoppers at retail and in landscape installations, the Syngenta team debuted Double Sunfinity at California Spring Trials this year. Yellow Dark ...
Oct 08, 2024•51 min•Ep 142•Transcript available on Metacast Syngenta Flowers’ Dr. Alicain Carlson joins host Bill Calkins to discuss some key components of successful cut flower dahlia programs when starting from unrooted cuttings (URCs). Traditionally, most dahlia crops have been started from tubers, which were dug up and stored each year before replanting. Now, with beautiful dahlias available from URC, many growers are taking advantage of the benefits that come from this form of production. When buying from a reputable supplier, these inputs are virus...
Oct 01, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast This episode supplements information shared in the past two editions of the GrowerTalks Biosolutions Guide that was released in June 2023 and 2024—a popular grower tool intended to help professional growers stay up to date on the latest research into biosolutions, as well as trialed and tested products and strategies. Many greenhouse owners, growers and IPM managers are moving down the path of softer, more sustainable pest and disease control tactics but continue to use traditional or synthetic ...
Sep 11, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Bill Calkins is joined on this Tech On Demand Rewind episode by Darwin Perennials’ General Manager Karl Batschke to take you through some new ways to better produce some of the latest and greatest perennial genetics. But he didn’t talk about the easy ones. Instead, Karl addressed some of the more challenging crops and also newer crops that require different cultural and technical regimes. Let’s call them “Perennial Problem Children”. And like a good guidance counselor, Karl treated each one...
Aug 27, 2024•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast TESTING NURSERY MEDIA FROM THE AUGUST 2024 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY LYNN GRIFFITH NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: Don’t just grab a containerized plant and call that a sample. We like to think of our potting media and fertilizers being perfectly uniform. The truth is they are not. Take about eight to 10 subsamples for each media sample you wish to collect, whether testing in house or at an outside lab. Insert the soil probe from top to bottom of the soil profile. Give the soil ...
Aug 13, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Joining host Bill Calkins live on the show floor at American Hort’s Cultivate ’24 event, Dr. JC Chong dives deep into a few new products from SePRO, recent research findings and why some chemistries offer more benefits than meets the eye. JC is the Technical Development Manager at SePRO following an extensive academic career that includes a BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona, graduate training at the University of Georgia, post-doctoral training at the Universi...
Jul 31, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this comprehensive episode covering a key cut flower, Ball Seed’s cut flower business manager Joan Mazat and Sakata Seed America’s product technical manager Bob Croft join host Bill Calkins to discuss Lisianthus and share tips and tricks for selecting and producing top-quality crops. You’ll quickly realize that Bob has tremendous knowledge about and experience with Lisianthus, as he walks greenhouse growers and flower farmers through the ins and outs of the crop—from site preparation and prop...
Jul 14, 2024•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this conversational Tech On Demand podcast two-part episode, host Bill Calkins and his guest Jeremy Webber cover an extremely popular topic these days, biosolutions, in a way that showcases Jeremy’s experience as a grower and as a trusted biocontrols advisor who’s worked with greenhouses of all sizes (growing a wide range of crops from edibles to ornamentals to cannabis and more) to develop and implement biological crop protection programs. As crop team manager at Koppert US, Jeremy works wit...
Jul 10, 2024•43 min•Ep 135•Transcript available on Metacast In this conversational Tech On Demand podcast two-part episode, host Bill Calkins and his guest Jeremy Webber cover an extremely popular topic these days, biosolutions, in a way that showcases Jeremy’s experience as a grower and as a trusted biocontrols advisor who’s worked with greenhouses of all sizes (growing a wide range of crops from edibles to ornamentals to cannabis and more) to develop and implement biological crop protection programs. As crop team manager at Koppert US, Jeremy works wit...
Jul 09, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR UNROOTED CUTTINGS FROM THE NOVEMBER 2022 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY JULIE MARTENS FORNEY NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: When delays are excessive, cuttings experience moisture loss, low carbohydrates and possible pathogen development. In some species, ethylene sensitivity increases as carbohydrate levels drop. If cuttings are stressed due to shipping delays, you might see dropping leaves, leaf yellowing or death, dead growing tips or disease. Read t...
Jul 02, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast You may or may not know that before this podcast, Bill Calkins hosted another one called STEM: Insider Tips for Greenhouse Pros and although the technology was different, the topics were important and the guests were top-notch. Every now and then, he’ll jump back in time and re-release a STEM episode. In this Tech On Demand Podcast Rewind, we’re wrapping up a 2-part Rewind miniseries on poinsettias. You’ll recognize the guests—now-retired Ball Seed Technical Manager Dr. Will Healy tackled the ea...
Jun 26, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast You may or may not know that before this podcast, Bill Calkins hosted another one called STEM: Insider Tips for Greenhouse Pros and although the technology was different (old school mic, Skype, all sorts of file converting …) the topics were important and the guests were top-notch. Once every couple weeks, we’ll jump back in time and re-release a STEM episode. In this Tech On Demand Podcast Rewind, we’re kicking off a 2-part Rewind miniseries on poinsettias. You’ll recognize the guests—now-retir...
Jun 24, 2024•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast HOW TO DEEP CLEAN YOUR WEBSITE FROM THE NOVEMBER 2022 ISSUE OF GREEN PROFIT MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY KATIE ELZER-PETERS NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: … it’s time to deep clean your website and really look hard at what works, what doesn’t, what you never got around to and what needs to change to keep up with new security risks, altered consumer behavior and the prevailing economic winds. Read the digital edition of Green Profit Magazine—November 2022: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gp_22_...
Jun 13, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast CULTIVATING A FUTURE IN GARDEN RETAIL FROM THE APRIL 2024 ISSUE OF GREEN PROFIT MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY JEFF O’BRIEN NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: Garden retailers are facing a critical challenge as the shift from traditional customers to fresh-thinking Millennials (and younger generations) reshapes the future of how the horticulture industry evolves. As the demographic landscape of our society shifts, so too must the strategies of garden retailers and how they connect with this new wave of cust...
Jun 11, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast EARLY SPRING JUMP-STARTS THE SEASON FROM THE JUNE 2024 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY AMY MORRIS NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: As we wait for winter to fade into a distant memory and the first hints of spring color to emerge, we prepare our crops for sales, in hopes of growing our business. An early spring can lead to increased consumer spending, and gardeners feeling optimistic and ready to spend, especially younger consumers and new plant lovers. Read the digital edition of Growe...
Jun 06, 2024•6 min•Ep 128•Transcript available on Metacast RE-CHECK YOUR CHECKLIST—A SAFETY CONSULTANT’S GUIDE TO MANAGING GREENHOUSE RISKS FROM THE JUNE 2024 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY ZACH BRUCE NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: My job is to guide our customers through potential hazards. We discuss risk scenarios, navigate the ever-changing regulatory landscape and identify gaps in safety programs. My goal is to help growers of all sizes enhance safety within their business. This article is a reflection of those conversations. I’ve gathe...
Jun 04, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast MAKING USE OF UV-C FROM THE MAY 2024 ISSUE OF INSIDE GROWER MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY CHRIS BEYTES NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: However, used correctly, the benefits seem to outweigh the risk: UV-C systems are relatively easy to implement, are cost-effective, require no re-entry period, reduce chemical use, improve the overall health of your crops, and can help you comply with existing and new regulations regarding chemical use and runoff water sanitation. Overall, as UV-C technology becomes more...
May 28, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
