The process of divesting a proven division from a giant global company started when Bayer announced its intention to sell its Environmental Science business. The move affects numerous agriculture-facing industries, including the commercial greenhouse space.

With a large portfolio of fungicides, insecticides and herbicides supported by an experienced and respected team of professionals, Bayer exerts significant influence in the horticulture markets. Multiply those attributes across various other markets, including lawn and landscape, pest control, golf course agronomy, production ornamentals and vegetation management, and an attractive company is poised to emerge from the Environmental Science business.

Bayer veteran Gilles Galliou will lead the divestment. Galliou had been serving as the head of commercial operations for Bayer Vegetable Seeds Americas.

In an interview with Golf Course Industry and its sister publication Pest Control Technology (Editor’s Note: both publications are Greenhouse Management magazine sister publications as well) shortly after Bayer announced its decision to divest the Environmental Science business to focus on expanding its Crop Science division, Galliou explained the next steps for the business he now oversees.

“I’m going to be the CEO of this new company and the first role of that CEO is to separate the business and build a new structure,” he says. “We are fully integrated with Bayer today and the first step is to look at it as a separation. My role won’t only be on the focus and the separation, but also leading the organization as CEO when we are ready to be independent.”

The company developing from the divestment of Bayer’s Environmental Science division will be a big one. The business accounted for about $725 million in sales in 2019, according to a Bayer news release. Bayer intends to divest the professional business into one buyer, Galliou says. The commercial lawn and garden business, which includes products sold to consumers at big-box retailers, is part of a different Bayer division, thus not included in the divestment. The decision to divest Environmental Science, which was publicly announced to employees and customers Feb. 24, will begin a lengthy separation process.

“It’s just the beginning of the evaluation of Environmental Science being an independent company and it’s a process that is going to bring us to mid-2022 before it’s finalized,” Galliou says. “So it’s a marathon, it’s a long process. It’s not easy to separate a fully integrated division.”

The Environmental Science business will be based in Cary, North Carolina, effective June 1. The division conducts business on multiple continents and Bayer devoted significant time following the announcement communicating with employees about how the divestment will affect current operations and interactions with customers.

“This is not going to affect our employees and it’s not going to affect our relationship with our customers,” Galliou says. “This case is based on growth and it’s not based on cost management and, therefore, we will continue to fully engage our customers with the team that we have today. During the whole process our No. 1 focus will be to maintain the service and the product and the engagement we have toward our customers. It’s not going to affect that relationship. Our expectation is that it will maybe bring additional opportunities in the short and mid-term to those customers and employees.”

“The company we intend to build will be built on innovation. There will be a commitment of Bayer to continue investing in innovation in our markets."

Neither the COVID-19 pandemic nor lawsuits involving Roundup, an herbicide Bayer absorbed in its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto, are behind the decision to divest, according to Galliou. Bayer’s desire to bolster its presence in agricultural markets ultimately led to the move.

“It’s about being focused on the transformation and investment that Bayer Crop Science wants in the ag world and the fairness to Environmental Science that also needs investments,” Galliou says. “Maybe those investments are better placed outside. It’s not related to glyphosate or the pandemic.”

While the divestment represents a dramatic shift change for the German-owned agriculture multinational, Galliou says the companies’ long-standing tradition of embracing and driving innovation in all of the product channels it works withing will not be changing anytime soon.

“The company we intend to build will be built on innovation,” Galliou says. “There will be a commitment of Bayer to continue investing in innovation in our markets and this new company will be the outlet. The framework of working together with Bayer on innovation is still to be defined, but that’s going to be a major part of the organization going forward.”

Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s editor-in-chief.

As COVID-19 caused many to shelter in place, it also drove a trend for more homeowners to turn to their backyards as an escape.

Traven Pelletier, owner and designer of Lotus Gardenscapes, based in Dexter, Michigan, says the goal is to create a place where a person can feel at peace outside.

“Since everybody’s been sheltering in place and their travel budgets are basically sitting in their accounts, and they’re stuck at home a lot more people are investing in their own residential space and trying to create some sort of outdoor sanctuary for themselves,” Pelletier says.

Different landscape professionals call this design concept various names: a nook, a sanctuary, a cocoon, a sheltered corner. Yet the simple desire that drives the design remains the same.

What is driving the demand?

Jan Johnsen, co-owner of Johnsen Landscapes & Pools, based in Mount Kisco, New York, says the demand for these sanctuaries increased incredibly starting mid-spring 2020.

“The trend started because all vacations and kids’ camp stays were canceled,” she says. “The enforced stay-at-home rule made everyone look around at their backyards and ponder what they could do.”

"... you look for that spot that can become that space. Just like in a house the pattern language of a nook is a special thing that you’re drawn to, so you try to create the same thing outdoors.” - Bruce Allentuck

Bruce Allentuck, LIC, owner of Allentuck Landscaping Co., based in Rockville, Maryland, calls these areas nooks. He says they have had a higher demand for these types of spaces of late, as well.

“I think people want to find a little place that they can isolate to and get their brain wrapped around things,” Allentuck says.

Comfort is driving the demand. Ketti Kupper, owner of Conscious Living Landscapes, based in Altadena, California, adds that people want to have a sense of protection and safety so they can fully relax.

“Everybody’s been isolated from other people and we spend tons of time in front of the laptop, in Zoom meetings or just doing work,” Allentuck says. “That’s fine indoors, but the outdoors is softer and comforting. I think people do want to feel that landscape hug.”

Creating a sheltered space

To create these spaces, use plant material to establish walls and ceiling in the landscape. Walls can be formed with screening plants and overstory and understory trees serve as the ceiling.

“I think it’s really important to put things that will appeal to different senses in there,” Allentuck says. “Grasses blowing in the wind or fragrant plants, flowers, of course, maybe some things that attract birds and nature that somebody can sit and watch and look at. It can be any number of ways that you do it, but you look for that spot that can become that space. Just like in a house the pattern language of a nook is a special thing that you’re drawn to, so you try to create the same thing outdoors.”

There’s a natural desire for humans to experience nature, but often outdoor spaces that are too windy or too hot preventing people from wanting to spend time outside. The plant walls and ceilings provide shelter from these harsh elements.

The goal is to provide a more immediate opportunity for people to experience nature rather than going to a local walking trail, which takes more of an effort to reach regularly.

"I try to create a partially enclosed sitting spot that has a hedge, wall, slope or large tree as a backdrop and an open view out to the front." -Ketti Kupper

“In every plan, I try to create a partially enclosed sitting spot that has a hedge, wall, slope or large tree as a backdrop and an open view out to the front,” Johnsen says. “I call this the ‘Lure of the Sheltered Corner.’ People naturally gravitate to the spot and will sit if a bench or chair is provided.”

Kupper says that lighting can also add to the sense of intimate delight as it can warm up the space.

“Auditory privacy is related to the nestled secure feeling,” Kupper says. “Windchimes or the white noise of a fountain help. Some plants are better for that too such as bamboo with the hollow culms dampening sound and the rustling leaves in the breeze.”

Kupper says the space should having something soothing or inspiring to view, with up-close succulents near the seating, as well as space for the client’s dog or cat to join.

What plants to use

The landscape professionals agree that the micro-climate and purpose of the place will drive the plant material selection for the most part. The screening material can be one plant type or a variety.

“I use layers when possible,” Kupper says. “A depth of field is always interesting. That would be a panel screen — or a panel screen in front of trees. And smaller open plants such as Caesalpinia in front and then something shorter and denser in front of that and smaller still nestled in as well. Another option is to create terraces or raised areas to get varying heights — even if the original space is flat, that can be done.”

To prevent having a space that comes across as claustrophobic, Allentuck says this is dependent on the individual’s taste but there should be good airflow and the client should be able to see out of the space.

“It can be a simple hedge or a large shrub that creates the backdrop,” Johnsen says. “Simpler is better. Try not to overplant an area. Let the shrubs grow in. Give it a few years for best results.”

Kupper advises limiting the number of plant types you’re using and to select some with lacey leaves that allow for overhead light. She says she typically uses clumping bamboos, Durantas, and other tree-like shrubs. She often uses Grewia or Calliandra haematocephala for a flat background screen.

"Another option is to create terraces or raised areas to get varying heights — even if the original space is flat, that can be done.” -Ketti Kupper

Allentuck’s preferred plants include skip laurels as they are dense and green. Viburnums are thick as well and offer fragrance. They attract birds in the fall with their berries. Allentuck also likes to use larger ornamental grasses like Karl Foerster grass. Rhododendrons and mountain laurels can give a mountain feel if in the right mirco-environment.

Some of Johnsen’s go-to plants for these spaces include oakleaf hydrangeas, leatherleaf viburnum, bottlebrush buckeye and Joe Pye Weed. For flowers that can be good in these spaces, check out Jan Johnsen’s latest book, "Floratopia."

“Everyone loves a quiet outdoor sitting spot where they can enjoy the birds singing or the breeze rustling the leaves,” Johnsen says. “It is so relaxing. Green plants enliven us, and sitting on a stone bench or rock also helps to ground us. We need grounding these days.”

Jill Odom is the content manager for the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) and is based in Fairfax, Virginia.

An integrated pest management (IPM) plan is an essential part of many growers’ overall growing approach. This has become especially true in recent years as more greenhouse operations are embracing environmental-consensus strategies to combat pest issues.

This, however, doesn’t mean that growers are turning away from chemistry altogether. In fact, the opposite is true: many successful IPM programs utilize new chemistry that only works to enhance an IPM program and help plants grow better.

Two highly effective options

SePRO has a comprehensive line of economic solutions that fit into any IPM program: Hachi-Hachi® SC, Rycar®, Akari® and Talus® to name a few.

Each of those products is part of SePRO’s still-growing line of non-neonicotinoid insecticides. With an improved formulation, Hachi-Hachi SC is an insecticide that offers growers broad-spectrum insect control that is highly efficacious on thrips, aphids, leafhoppers, lepidopteran insects, scale, mealybugs, whiteflies and coleopteran insects, including red-headed flea beetle. The product targets insects at all stages of life and demonstrates fungistatic activity against both powdery and downy mildew.

As part of an IPM program, Hachi-Hachi SC’s unique chemistry strengthens every IPM program by reducing the risk of resistance development over time. It can be used both in greenhouses and nurseries.

The product label, application information and more can be found at: bit.ly/hachi-hachi-sc-label

Rycar is another effective tool for growers to combat insect pests. It provides high-level control over both B- and Q-biotypes of whiteflies in addition to aphids, mealybugs, chili thrips and leafhoppers.

When Rycar acts via contact or ingestion, it stops insects from feeding within two hours before the pest — be it whiteflies or another species — succumbs to starvation in the next 48 hours.

And like Hachi-Hachi SC, it has unique chemistry that reduces the risk of resistance development. It also is “soft” on beneficial insects, making it a great tool to incorporate into a IPM program. It can be used both in greenhouses and nurseries.

The product label, application information and more can be found at: bit.ly/rycar-label

Proper integration

At Minnesota-based Dan and Jerry’s Greenhouse, grower Dan Tschirhart has been using Hachi-Hachi SC dating back to its original formulation. Now, with the updated formula, Tschirhart has made it a staple of his summer production, specifically on mums and asters.

According to Tschirhart, he mostly uses Topflor® — another SePRO product — and biologicals during the busy spring season. When summer rolls around, and temperatures rise, the biologicals have to take a back seat and Hachi-Hachi SC steps in.

“[In the spring], I try to be on the softer side and use a lot of biologicals,” he says. “Once it warms up, I can’t get the same level of effectiveness out of that approach.”

However, Tschirhart says that using biologicals in the spring before transitioning to Hachi-Hachi SC in the summer works hand-in-hand as part of an IPM strategy. He says that because he uses biologicals all spring, it lessens the amount of resistance that pests will develop to chemicals heading into the summer — thus helping Hachi-Hachi SC hit maximum effectiveness.

“That’s the beauty of using a lot of biologicals going into the summer,” he adds. “I don’t have a lot of resistance to manage, so then everything works better. And Hachi-Hachi SC has some fungicidal properties and that’s helpful as well, especially with mums and asters.”

He adds that Hachi-Hachi SC is great for him and the rest of the Dan and Jerry’s grower team because it’s great as part of a rotation and in helping suppress whitefly population.

Added benefits

According to Tschirhart, Dan and Jerry’s has been a neonicotinoid-free facility for four-plus years. As a result, he says that the number of products available to use is limited. That can make production tougher than it already is.

“It’s tough, especially for whiteflies if you’re neonic free,” he says. “When it comes to the Q-biotype and such, you’re pretty limited for what you’ve got available. It gets dicey, so it’s helpful to have other options.”

Both Hachi-Hachi SC and Rycar, however, are neonicotinoid-free. This makes it a key product for Tschirhart to use not just now, but for the foreseeable future. He also notes that it is more affordable than some of the other products on the market and that it’s helpful to not have to identify the specific whitefly type before beginning treatment.

“I don’t have any problem with rotating through with it,” he says. “And this is a no neonicotinoid facility, so anything that I can get for additional whitefly suppression is absolutely hopefully.”

Another grower calls Hachi-Hachi SC essential. In hundreds of acres of greenhouse and nursery space, the grower uses it to combat thrips, aphids, red-headed flea beetle and mealybug control in addition to using it in a fungicide rotation for plants susceptible to downy and powdery mildew.

As for Rycar, the grower says it is his preferred “first shot fired” when aphids, mealybug or whitefly are out of control.

“Growers who aren’t using Hachi-Hachi SC or Rycar are missing two important tools in the crop protection toolbox,” the grower says. “If these products are new to you, congratulations.  You’re in for a treat.”

Growers invest a large amount of capital into their greenhouses, equipment and even automation to create an efficient and profitable grow. An operation could have the most high-tech equipment money can buy, but if they neglect their lighting, the grow can fall apart and the operation will end up losing money on energy costs and unhealthy crops.

Supplemental lighting is an integral part of any grow operation, and a proper lighting plan ensures that the lights are perfectly configured in order to deliver even, uniform light throughout the greenhouse in the most effective and efficient way possible.

There are many important factors to consider when designing a lighting plan, including light intensity, plant requirements, greenhouse layout, greenhouse cladding and more. Each of these elements influences the lighting inside the greenhouse in one way or another, so a lighting plan needs to consider all of these factors in order to be effective and efficient. A comprehensive greenhouse lighting plan takes things such as crop needs, greenhouse layout and light intensity into account to ensure for uniform, even light distribution over all plants for a healthy and thriving grow.

How to create a comprehensive lighting plan

Before getting into specific lighting plans, it is important for growers to know the lighting options they have and choose the best ones for their specific crops and greenhouses.

There are four types of supplemental lighting that are most commonly used in greenhouses:

LED: LED fixtures are one of the longest lasting and most energy-efficient greenhouse lighting options. While their upfront cost may be a bit higher than other options, they will provide energy cost savings to make up for it, so growers can expect a return on their investment. LEDs have a lifespan of about 50,000 hours and higher end models even provide flexibility of the color spectrum.

"A lighting plan should be designed by a greenhouse specialist with specific greenhouse lighting experience. — Janine Coppola

High pressure sodium: High pressure sodium, or HPS, fixtures are a type of high intensity discharge (HID) lighting, which means they give off a bright and intense light to crops. They provide a good spectrum of light to crops and are efficient and a popular choice among greenhouse growers.

Ceramic metal halide: Ceramic metal halide fixtures, another form of HID lighting, are similar to HPS fixtures. They offer a similar intensity to HPS fixtures, but provide intense blue or white spectrum light, and are well-suited for vegetative growth stages. These lights are ideal for locations that lack natural light.

T5: T5 fixtures are more efficient and compact than their more traditional, older fluorescent counterparts. These full spectrum fixtures are ideal for greenhouses with an absence of natural sunlight and are beneficial for large areas due to their efficiency. They also work well for propagation.

Growers need to consider the spectrum of light their crops need when choosing their lighting fixtures and designing their lighting plans. The spectrum of light necessary for growth varies from crop to crop, and different lights will generate different color spectrums.

For example, a lettuce grower might only need metal halide fixtures since lettuce does not need to flower like a tomato or cannabis plant would. Growers of flowering crops, on the other hand, would need high pressure sodium or full spectrum LED fixtures. Higher end LEDs work well for smart lighting applications, as the color spectrum can be adjusted or changed based on the growth stage of the crop. And light intensity can be dimmed for various stages of growth.

After lighting is chosen, it is time for growers to create their greenhouse lighting plan. It is important to note that a lighting plan should be designed by a greenhouse specialist with specific greenhouse lighting experience. This will ensure that the plan is designed for maximum efficiency and will properly function for the needs of the crops, while boosting the operation’s profitability.

3 factors you must account for

There are many factors that must be taken into account when designing a greenhouse lighting plan. Adrian Valois, greenhouse specialist at GrowSpan Greenhouse Structures, cites three key considerations for growers to keep in mind when creating their lighting plan.

“The first thing that you need to think about is your crop. Different crops have very specific needs when it comes to the right spectrum of light they need to thrive,” he says. “Second, you need to have a layout for your crops, so that you can maximize each light fixture being used. Third, you need to have the right wattage and coverage for each light.”

The greenhouse’s layout has an immense effect on its lighting plan, so growers should try to maximize each light by having a good crop layout. For example, if crops can be grown in a 2- by 2-foot area instead of a 3- by 3-foot area, growers can have 25 plants under supplemental lighting instead of 10. Based on how plants and equipment are situated throughout the greenhouse, lighting placement needs to be adjusted in order to reduce shadows and deliver the maximum amount of uniform light to the crops in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Equipment around the greenhouse or even the light fixtures themselves can cast shadows on the crops below, limiting the light they can take in. When lighting is not properly hung, rafters and purlins can cast shadows as well. It would be counterproductive for a grower to install light fixtures only for their shadows to hinder their crops from taking in that light.

Light intensity is of paramount importance when a grower is creating a lighting plan. The light intensity needed by different plants varies, and too high or too low light intensity can be detrimental. Finding the perfect light levels for the crops and the right light coverage will ensure plants thrive.

“Light intensity is more important than the number of fixtures. The right light will provide more coverage, resulting in less fixtures,” Valois says. “More wattage usually results in fewer light fixtures and same quality, so this is highly recommended.”

Another factor to consider is the heat that the lighting fixtures give off. Certain crops may benefit from added heat and growers may even end up saving some money on heating costs. Other crops may not need the heat, especially if the greenhouse is already located in a warmer environment. Growers should consider what temperatures their crops thrive under and how much heat their lighting choice gives off when designing their lighting plan.

“Heat actually helps a lot of growers who only need supplemental lighting during the colder months,” Valois says. “Having a good spread will also help reduce heating costs inside your greenhouse, especially if using high pressure sodium or metal halide fixtures, but you might have to place them a little higher than if you were to use LEDs.”

Different claddings have different light transmission rates, so growers should take their specific cladding into consideration when creating their lighting plan. A greenhouse that has cladding with a lower light transmission rate may need more supplemental lighting than a greenhouse that has cladding with a higher light transmission rate. Growers should also consider the R-value, or heat retention, of their cladding as their lights may give off heat that will then become trapped within the greenhouse if their cladding has a higher R-value.

When creating a lighting plan, growers should think ahead and consider the possible expansion of their operation. Keeping this in mind from the beginning will make the expansion process easier down the line.

“If a grower is expanding, keep in mind the coverage of each light fixture when doing so,” Valois says. “This could save growers a lot of money if they expand by the right amount.”

Key grower takeaway

A comprehensive lighting plan considers every aspect of the greenhouse and the crops to ensure the even and uniform distribution of light for the healthiest grow possible. With all of these factors being taken into account, the perfect lighting plan can be designed for an efficient, effective and thriving grow.

Janine Coppola works for GrowSpan Greenhouse Structures. For more information visit www.GrowSpan.com.