Panoramic Farm (Marshville, North Carolina) is a 20-plus-year-old greenhouse and nursery wholesale grower that “specializes in grasses, perennials, woody ornamentals and material used in green infrastructure.” The Tar Heel State operation leverages 55 total acres of container and raised bed outdoor production and 80,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse space in a quest to highlight the top performing varieties of what they deem “plants with a purpose.”

Panoramic uses Fine Americas’ line of plant growth regulators throughout its propagation efforts, and former grower JC Dawkins (Dawkins has since left Panoramic to start his own growing operation) was involved in setting up side-by-side trials among Panoramic’s many crops to find out which PGR options worked best on which crops, at various rates, timings, and even environmental conditions.

Dawkins says Fine Americas’ Advocate PGR has “made our propagation program more efficient and successful.” As any seasoned grower knows, the propagation stage can often be the most difficult, yet it’s also incredibly important that plants get off to a good start early on in life.

“We used to dip all of our cuttings in hormone before sticking — switching to Advocate has eliminated that step,” Dawkins shares.

He adds that this has made propagation work safer for their employees, as now there is only one person working with the chemical. “And it has made us more efficient by 10 or 20%,” he notes.

How much more efficient? Recently, the Panoramic crew stuck 33,000 cuttings, which, prior to adding Advocate to the rotation, would have “taken us a long time to dip all of those cuttings,” Dawkins recalls.

Additionally, Dawkins and the team at Panoramic appreciate the easier handling characteristics and a more universal growth habit on young plants dipped or drenched in Advocate.

“The liquid solution is much easier and safer to mix than the old powder rooting hormone that we used to use, and it has improved our success rate by its uniformity across the entire crop and slightly sped up our time to root,” he adds.

Crest is another Fine Americas PGR that Dawkins and his team trialed in 2021. Dawkins was thrilled with what he saw from that product on the operation’s coneflower species.

“We saw more top growth, and I’m still not 100% sure what had those plants growing so slow this spring, but that Crest really got those coneflowers moving,” Dawkins says. “It was a really big, noticeable difference between the treated and the non-treated plants.”

Photo courtesy of Mycorrhizal Applications

At the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania, Ted Stutz, owner of Ohio Earth Food, took a week-long course from Dr. Elaine Ingham, microbiologist, soil biology researcher and founder of Soil Foodweb Inc., he says. She gave an overview on the life of soil and the roles different microbes play in the health of the soil.

“She kept speaking so highly of mycorrhizal fungi and a huge part it plays in [the soil food web], and that if soil has been left bare for a length of time, that [fungi] might have died off,” Stutz says. “To get it back in the soil, she said it needs to get inoculated. She really believed in a product called MycoApply from Mycorrhizal Applications out of Oregon. So I tracked them down.”

Hearing Ingham talk highly of MycoApply was enough to persuade Stutz to search out to the company and use their product in his potting mixes. “In those days, when you described mycorrhizal fungi to a person, it took either one of two things [to convince a grower to use it]: a deep understanding of soil life and biology, or you had trust in the person that’s selling it, because it sounds a little bit wild,” he says.

This is in part because mycorrhizal fungi was considered one of the more complicated products for growing if you don’t already understand it fully, Stutz says.

While Ingham’s course was the impetus to him seeking out the company, Mycorrhizal Applications’ product quality and service is what kept him as a returning customer.

“We make our own potting soils, including The Seed Catapult, and we’ve been making our standard potting soil, which is called Plant Pro, for probably approaching 30 years,” he says. In partnership with Mycorrhizal Applications, Stutz determined that the MycoApply Endo granular mycorrhizal inoculant product was ideal for mixing with media. Mycorrhizal Applications then worked with him to blend MycoApply into his potting soils to add value and boost the performance.

Growers today understand the value that mycorrhizae provide, and it is something that most professional growers will look for to ensure that mycorrhizal inoculation is included in their growing protocols. By choosing a potting mix that already includes these key soil microbes, growers can cut out the need for any additional steps in the production process to achieve inoculation, since the propagules (the mycorrhizal active ingredients) are already included in the substrate.

“Choosing to work with Mycorrhizal Applications, the leading mycorrhizal manufacturer on our products, that’s kind of like having a name-brand ingredient,” Stutz says. “It has allowed us to get the premium price for that product that it deserves.”

Stutz explains, “The bottom line is now you can get this super, high-performing mycorrhizal fungi that normally was in such a large-quantity bag from MycoApply, and we put it in our stuff, and you can get it in one small bag of potting soil for $9 … People loved that they get high-quality mycorrhizal fungi spores in a potting soil that’s already proven for just a dollar more per bag.”

When it comes to its customer service and support, Stutz says Mycorrhizal Applications goes beyond other suppliers.

By having reps from the Oregon company visit Ohio Earth Food at trade shows or its retail locations in Ohio and Wisconsin, despite being across the country, Stutz says he was able to learn more about the fungi and feel confident explaining its benefits to potential customers.

“You get this expensive product and [it’s] one that needs to be explained and used properly,” Stutz says. “Having all that training was amazing for our profitability. They are super committed to their product performing … I sell 120 other products [from different suppliers] and their dedication to performance and support for their dealers is way beyond anybody else. It’s not even in the same league.”

Photos courtesy of Revolution Farms

Revolution Farms, a hydroponic lettuce grower based in Caledonia, Michigan, has used Fluence by OSRAM’s LED solutions since opening its doors in 2018. According to head grower Tammam Serage, LEDs were the primary lighting choice for two reasons: efficiency and spectral customization.

 "It started with lighting efficiency requirements," Serage says. "There's also the benefit of having a customized light - that's something we really wanted. We originally started out with blue and red spectra. However, we switched to Fluence’s LEDs because they give us the specific broad-spectrum strategy needed to increase plant production."

Serage says with Fluence’s LEDs, it's been much easier to hit the targeted daily light integral (DLI) in his greenhouse.

"With Fluence’s LEDs, we required a specific frequency across the broad spectrum," he explains. "Now, we can reduce our production time while increasing yields. We are able to achieve the DLI needed throughout the year, even during Michigan winters. "This marked a key development for Revolution Farms. The company added two acres for crop production in 2020 while also adding several new retail partners, including two dozen Meijer stores in western Michigan.

Serage adds Fluence has been a strong partner for Revolution Farms due to Fluence’s knowledgeable  customer service. In working with Fluence, Revolution received lighting and layout plans and the technical service they needed to maximize the LED system’s efficiency. Because Serage and the rest of the cultivation team are busy managing the farm’s day-to-day operations, he says Fluence’s support and technical expertise makes his job significantly easier.

 "It helps, as far as having lighting plans and having those plans presented to us so we can review them, approve them and make any small adjustments we might want," Serage says. "It's definitely saved us a lot of time, especially when setting up lights in the new expansion we've built."

Serage added Revolution Farms also sends data to Fluence to ensure specific calculations (including production per mol of light) can be crafted and used to measure how efficient production actually is.

"That's a big metric for us," he adds. "And they save us a lot of time, so we can focus on cultivation."

For more information: www.revolutionfarms.com; fluence.science

“Heuchera are a very versatile perennial that have multiple seasons of interest and can also be used for multiple seasons of sales,” she explains. “The wide array of foliage colors, shapes and textures make this perennial a great compliment to a fall lineup, and many of them are the perfect shades of amber, purple, orange and black to invoke an autumnal vibe.”

Robles adds that Heuchera can be sold as “standalone crops that can be placed on a patio or walkway to complement containers of garden mums, or planted in combinations with other fall crops for a premium product for consumers.”

“And Heuchera is a great pivot crop for fall, since its foliage complements other more traditional fall crops such as garden mums, cabbage/kale, pansies and ornamental grasses perfectly.”

Of course, growers new to this variety will want to know how it can benefit their production cycles agronomically. Good heat and humidity tolerance, as well as some varieties thriving in low light, and even showing quicker production cycles compared to other traditional fall crops, top the list, according to Robles.

“If they are started when it is still hot and high light, the lighter foliage colors including chartreuse, green, amber and silver will benefit from 30-50% shade, and the darker colors including black, red and deeper oranges do well in a range of light conditions from shade to full sun,” she explains. “Heuchera also grow well at cooler temperatures, so they are quite adaptable for growing for a fall crop if temperatures drop before the crop is finished.”

Of course, none of the aforementioned benefits actually matter if today’s plant consumers aren’t interested in adding the crop to their homes or landscapes. Robles says the variety is growing in popularity and will likely continue to do so as consumers become more aware of them as an alternative fall crop.

“Heuchera have been gaining traction in the fall for decorating, and a Google or Instagram search for ‘fall containers’ will show them used in combinations with lots of other plants,” she shares. “They are very low maintenance and offer great color and texture through the fall, even tolerating light frosts.”

And, since they are a perennial, consumers can enjoy them for years to come, or even discard and buy a new one next year, if that’s what they choose to do.

“The only other thing I would tell [growers] is, with the greater demand for plant material over the last couple of years, to get their orders in sooner rather than later for next fall,” Robles explains, noting that as of press time, it is probably too late to start production for the 2021 season.