A good and easy first step in greenhouse sanitation is to physically remove all crop debris. Weeds, plant debris and unsalable plants can serve as sites for insects and mites to live and for diseases to develop, progress or spread. To properly manage weeds, see “Weeds in the greenhouse: More than unsightly” here). Remove all weeds and crop debris and place them in a tightly sealed, covered garbage bin so that pests and pathogens are not able to migrate out of the trash and into your crop (Fig. 1). Remember to remove the trash daily. Also, remove spilled media because organic residues from plants and growing media reduce the effectiveness of disinfectants (Fig. 2).

If you ultimately compost the removed organic material, make sure the compost pile is at least 30 feet away from the greenhouse and not uphill or downwind from the greenhouse (Fig. 3). Situating the compost pile in this manner will prevent pests from migrating from the compost pile back to the greenhouse. When removing diseased or infested plants, discard them into containers or bags that are immediately adjacent to the plants and seal the container or bag to transport them out of the greenhouse immediately. In this way, inoculum or insects are contained and not spread throughout the greenhouse during transport.

Once all surfaces are free of organic matter, consider power-washing structures and walkways with soap and water when in between cropping cycles. Then, clean those same surfaces with a disinfectant. Make sure propagation or pruning tools such as knives, scissors, etc., are properly disinfected after being used on each bench or each variety or cultivar.

It is also best not to reuse pots as some diseases, like Thielaviopsis, are capable of surviving on recycled trays and thus infecting new crops. However, if you must use recycled containers, be sure that all organic matter is removed from the pots first and then disinfect them properly with a bleach, quaternary ammonium or peroxide product (Fig. 4). Some of these cleaning products have a short life span, so you may need to create new batches of disinfectant frequently while you are using it.

Also, remember to train employees to keep all irrigation hose nozzles off the ground. In fact, any tool that touches the floor should be disinfected before it touches any growing surfaces. While it may be tempting to do so, do not reuse growing media that has fallen on the floor during potting or during container filling operations due to the potential for contamination.

Once the greenhouse is sufficiently sanitized, to maintain the cleanliness, consider restricting entry into growing areas to necessary personnel and supervise all visitors. Consider requiring everyone to clean their shoes before entering growing areas by first removing any soil on the shoes and then using a foot bath or foot mat that contains disinfectant. Remember to change the disinfectant daily in these foot baths or mats. Also, make sure employees wash their hands thoroughly with warm, soapy water and perhaps other sanitizing products as well before work and at intervals throughout the day before handling plants. Think about having employees use protective clothing, such as disposable or sterile coveralls (Fig. 5), gloves or shoe coverings, during potting or transplanting, when taking cuttings, or when rouging diseased plants. Remove and dispose of used protective clothing before working with healthy plants.

Now that proper cleanliness protocols are in place, be sure not to introduce new problems from plant materials being brought into the greenhouse. Purchase high quality certified, disease-free stock whenever possible. Consider arranging a visit to your plant supplier to see their sanitation program. When new plant material is brought into your greenhouses, quarantine it in a separate area at first to inspect for disease and insects.

The author is an assistant professor at MSU and the director of the MSU Horticulture Gardens.

Ken Altman foresaw the consolidation coming to the greenhouse industry several decades before it happened. Early on, he realized that big box stores were starting to transform the plant business by shrinking the margins and stiffening the competition. So, he set out to reinforce his company’s relationships with retail customers — cementing Altman Plants as an invaluable supplier before the industry began to shift.

“As consolidation started changing the industry 10 or 15 years ago, customers started picking specific suppliers to work with,” says Erin McCarthy, who joined Altman as vice president of sales 23 years ago. “My job, when I came here, was to make Altman more important to each of our customers so that they’d want to pick us. We worked hard for many years to grow great products and build good customer relationships so we wouldn’t be marginalized.”

With this approach, Altman Plants laid a foundation for growth long before the company’s recent streak of acquisitions compounded its business — more than tripling its presence in Texas, multiplying its growing grounds in California and boosting its footprint from coast to coast.

We caught up with several company leaders for an update on how these integrations position Altman for success in 2020 and beyond.

Adding young plants

Altman’s recent string of acquisitions began in October of 2016, when Ken, his wife Deena and son Matt bought a majority share in Plug Connection, a 350,000-square-foot young plant producer located near Altman’s headquarters in Vista, California.

“Plug Connection was one of our biggest suppliers and we’re good friends with the owner [Tim Wada],” says Ken, co-president of the family business. “He got to a point where he wanted to retire, and he wanted to make sure that his people would be taken care of. The cultures of the companies were very similar, so we were a natural buyer.”

Bringing Plug Connection into the Altman family instantly strengthened the company’s supply chain.

“Prior to that acquisition, we were buying plugs from outside vendors. Now, Plug Connection supplies the majority of our annual plugs,” says Ron Fox, Altman’s director of southwest operations. “It’s given us the opportunity to work closely with them to get what we’re looking for in plugs, to help us produce quality plants on time.”

Since Plug Connection continues to operate as a separate company, the vertical integration of young plant production benefits the entire supply chain — even beyond Altman Plants.

“At the time of the acquisition, Altman was probably one-third of the business of Plug Connection,” Ken says. “I’m really proud that we’ve been able to maintain those non-Altman customers and find new ones. We’re dedicated to making Plug Connection’s other customers happy, and Plug Connection is now many times the size it was when we took over.”

A few months later, Altman purchased the assets of EuroAmerican Propagators, a young plant grower in Bonsall, California, that filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in January 2017. EuroAmerican’s propagation facilities became part of Plug Connection, adding 55 acres of space for producing plugs, rooted liners, grafted vegetables and tissue culture liners.

Acquiring an industry leader

Altman’s next big expansion came right before Christmas of 2018 when it acquired the assets of Color Spot Nurseries from Wells Fargo following a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. One of the largest-growing operations in the country, Color Spot’s remaining assets increased greenhouse space by 30% — adding an estimated 11 million square feet of greenhouse space and 1,500 acres of outdoor production.

Of course, Altman had been growing steadily between acquisitions, as well. In 2018, the company added 32 acres of greenhouse space and about 50 acres the previous year — spanning more than 2,100 acres across several states before the Color Spot acquisition.

The acquisition of Color Spot “added some significant additional product lines, a lot more growing capacity and a lot of great people,” says Fox, who joined Altman as general manager of the Texas division in 2015, a year after the company entered the Lone Star State. Back then, Altman only operated 35 acres of production space in Texas — but quickly doubled its presence there by 2016, doubled again by 2018 and doubled a third time in 2019 with the addition of Color Spot’s assets.

Today, Altman owns between 30 and 35 million square feet of greenhouse space, with facilities in California, Colorado, Texas and Florida, as well as distribution centers in Arizona, New Jersey and Georgia. The Color Spot acquisition added facilities in Fallbrook, Salinas and Lodi, California, as well as Troup and San Antonio, Texas. Altman also took over three locations in Waco, Walnut Springs and Fort Davis, Texas, that were previously closed; although the company still maintains these vacant locations, Fox says, the plans for these facilities haven’t been finalized yet.

Color Spot’s facilities all transitioned to the Altman name, except for a 600-acre woody ornamental nursery in San Antonio, which continues to operate as Lone Star Growers. By introducing shrubs into Altman’s selection, the nursery strengthens the company’s offering to customers, while the other acquired locations expand its capacity to produce its core products — including cacti, succulents, annuals and perennials.

Altman and Color Spot already shared many of the same customers, so the acquisition increased Altman’s existing business with those big box retailers, while also increasing its market penetration with independent operations, grocery chains and landscape suppliers.

“It gave us more production locations from which to sell to more companies in more areas, so now we’re almost everywhere in the country across the south, so we can stage plants closer to the market,” Ken says. “It’s strengthened our relationship with our customers and it just makes distribution easier when you have more people and more facilities to share across the system.”

Becoming one family

Blending Color Spot’s employees into the Altman family was no easy feat — but Altman’s leaders knew that cultural integration was critical to the long-term success of the acquisition. So, they set the expectation for cooperation out of the gate.

Within the first couple weeks after the acquisition was finalized in December of 2018, Co-Presidents Ken and Matt made the rounds with their managers to meet the management and production teams at the new facilities, where they shared their goals for the transition. Since Matt is fluent in Spanish, he also addressed the Spanish-speaking employees so that everyone felt connected to the message.

“We had a pretty simple message,” Ken says. “One, we’re going to stand for quality in our plants. Two, we’re going to say yes to the customer and three, we’re going to operate as one company. These are things that we’ve always stood for.”

Fortunately, because both companies served similar customers in the same territories, Color Spot’s teammates were already familiar with Altman Plants. Many employees already knew each other, which eased the transition as Altman absorbed nearly all of Color Spot’s people.

“The people who came from Color Spot were more like us than not,” McCarthy says, citing shared values like passion and hard work. “From the very beginning, our goal was to be one company and not have ‘the Color Spot people’ or ‘the Altman people.’ It was important that our company culture was ingrained in the new team members.”

When Color Spot employees saw how connected and passionate Altman’s team was, they were eager to jump onboard.

“As a family business, we take a lot of pride in having a people-centered approach,” says Matt, co-president and COO. “When you understand the value of what everyone’s contributing, you can build something long-lasting. The people from Color Spot really embraced our cultural values, because entering a family-owned business with a long-term vision opened up more opportunities for them.”

Many of Altman’s leaders noticed that Color Spot’s employees seemed “receptive, even eager, to become part of the Altman team,” Fox says. This enthusiasm made the acquisition even smoother, thanks to Altman’s strong reputation in the marketplace, and Color Spot’s belief “that Altman, being family-owned and having a passion for plants, would bring both stability and reinvestment to their facilities,” Fox says.

Systems in sync

After evaluating both companies’ operating systems, Altman decided to keep its homegrown ERP software, Evolution. The West Coast facilities transitioned by February, while the Texas locations waited until August to convert after peak production. This conversion was one of the biggest changes Altman had to navigate to sync up its new team.

“In many ways, your software system defines your business processes and the way you approach things as disparate as your financials to your customers to your inventory,” Matt says. “Our systems have been a big part of our success. I’ve heard of other companies running multiple systems and it creates a lot of complexity, so we just ripped the Band-Aid off and went for it. Everyone focused their efforts on the conversion and it was a testament to their teamwork that we were able to convert as quickly as we did.”

Meanwhile, Altman continued to invest in more robust software solutions to keep the entire team connected across geographies. For example, improved electronic data logging allows merchandisers and dispatchers to see where drivers are and better predict arrival times.

“We already had divisions across different states,” McCarthy says, “but the Color Spot purchase taught us that we have to be able to work better with people who are remote, so we’re focusing more on improving communications.”

Streamlining operations

While cultural values and software systems laid the foundation for Altman’s integration, the true change began when the teams actually started working together.

“We spent a lot of time face-to-face getting to know the strengths and challenges at each operation, so then as specific needs arose, we had a better idea of how we could truly help each other,” Fox says. “A lot of that time was spent in the greenhouses looking at plants — not in the conference room looking at PowerPoint presentations — because we’re plant people first, and the quality we’re bringing to customers starts there.”

This boots-on-the-ground approach familiarized Altman’s team with Color Spot’s facilities so they could understand each location’s capabilities. As the spring season picked up pace, other facilities stepped up to ship products for busier locations to help the company stay on schedule.

As the year progressed, Altman brought in consultants to objectively review the growing operations and identify opportunities to improve efficiency.

“I asked each general manager and head grower to not only walk their own facility with the growing consultant, but to pick one of the other facilities and travel there to walk through it together,” Fox says. “That provided an effective forum for discussing plant culture and sharing best practices. We have a lot of back-and-forth communication looking at systems in each of the facilities, sharing what we know and figuring out how we can make it better.”

Early on, Altman focused on streamlining the production lines for three reasons: “One, that’s where a lot of man-hours are incurred,” Fox says. “Two, the efficiency of those production lines is directly related to quality, which is potting the plants on time. And three, that’s one of the areas where ideas for mechanization and product flow come most readily.”

Last November, after observing operations throughout peak growing season, Altman made some significant changes to the production lines in the facilities it acquired from Color Spot. In Troup, they added an automated transplant line. In San Antonio, they reoriented one of the production lines to face the other direction, which opened more space on both ends to move inputs to the line and expedite product flow.

In Fallbrook, the company completely revamped the production lines, replacing all existing six old lines with five high-speed new lines. They also augmented Salinas with two new lines and we added three twin frame transplanters into the California facilities, all in an effort to stay efficient with labor hours and ensure on-time production.

Looking ahead

McCarthy and Fox agree: the biggest change at Altman over the last few years is that there’s a lot more people around now — more than 6,000 employees total. But their collective goal of delivering quality plants remains unchanged throughout their recent growth.

“We don’t think of ourselves as a big company,” Matt says. “We approach the business in much the same way we did many years ago — by working very hard to please our customers, with high standards and pride in our product quality, while looking for ways to bring innovation to the marketplace.”

In the future, “growth is really not our main objective,” McCarthy says. Instead, Altman Plants will continue to focus on the same mission as before.

“We’re not infatuated with growth for growth’s sake,” Fox says. “We see growth as the natural byproduct of doing the best job we can for our customers. When we have opportunities to get bigger, we’ll get better at the same time, because it gives us more ability to support our goals of quality products and happy customers.”

Although the biggest acquisitions lie in Altman’s rear-view, there’s still plenty of change and growth ahead for the family business.

“We can’t stand still. We have to be thinking about: How do we improve the business? How do we make ourselves more efficient? How do we bring more value to the customer?” Matt says. “I think everybody’s pretty excited to have a year without additional activity so we can put 100% of our effort into improving and building on what we have.”

The author is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Greenhouse Management magazine.

Air pollutants from a faulty heating system can affect greenhouse plant production by damaging leaves or flowers and reducing plant growth. Although the visible effect on the plants may be obvious, the cause may be difficult to find.

The most common pollutants are sulfur dioxide, ethylene and fumes from escaping fuel.

Sulfur dioxide

All fuels contain sulfur, some more than others. During the combustion process, sulfur is converted to sulfur dioxide. If this leaks into the greenhouse and combines with the moisture there, sulfuric acid is formed. In excess, this can be toxic.

At high levels, which might occur should you have to use unvented heaters during a power outage, severe leaf burn can occur. Young leaves seem to be more susceptible. Long term, low levels — which can stem from a cracked firebox or leaky exhaust pipe — may result in flecking and premature leaf drop. Sulfur dioxide concentrations as low as 0.5 ppm can cause injury. When purchasing fuel, specify a sulfur content of less than 0.02% by weight to help reduce this potential.

Ethylene

This clear, odorless gas is a byproduct of the combustion of fossil fuels. Ethylene can be damaging at levels as low as 0.05 ppm. Even a few hours exposure can cause devastating effects on the growth and flowering of plants. Injury includes epinasty, abortion of flower buds, defoliation and chlorosis.

Indicator plants are a good way to monitor the presence of sulfur dioxide and ethylene in a greenhouse. Tomato seedlings are often used as they germinate quickly and can be grown on a year-round basis. They respond very quickly, in as little as three hours. Test equipment is expensive and frequently doesn’t measure accurately at the low gas levels that affect plants.

Fuel fumes

Leaks of raw fuel can affect plants. Propane or natural gas at levels of 50 ppm can have damaging effects. Also, if fuel oil volatilizes on a hot surface, it can emit harmful vapors into the air. Check piping frequently for leaks.

The following are areas of the heating system that frequently cause pollution problems.

Firebox leaks

Continual expansion and contraction of metal in a furnace’s heat exchanger can stress the welds and result in cracks. These cracks are a prime source of pollution, especially in older units that are used only for spring production.

A furnace can be checked by placing a furnace candle or smoke bomb inside the firebox and observing any escaping smoke. An alternative is to insert a trouble light into the firebox at night and look for light rays in the heat exchanger area. Some units can be repaired by cutting into the outside of the metal furnace enclosure and welding the split seam. In other cases, the whole firebox must be replaced.

Chimney connector

The flue pipe should be securely fastened to prevent leaks. Sheet metal screws can be used to fasten the joints. If the sections do not fit tightly, fill the cracks with a pipe cement.

Chimney height

To get adequate draft for combustion and to reduce the potential for backdrafts, the top of the chimney must extend above the peak of the greenhouse and any nearby obstructions. Heating codes recommend a height of 3 feet above the ridge of the greenhouse or 2 feet above a 10-foot horizontal line to any part of the structure. A cap on the chimney can help reduce drafts, a common cause of fumes inside the greenhouse.

Makeup air

Today’s tight greenhouses require an outside source of makeup air to feed the combustion process. On a cold night, when the heating system is operating almost continuously, the oxygen can be depleted in two or three hours if no makeup air is provided.

Many high-efficiency furnaces and boilers (separated combustion and condensing) are piped to an outside air source. For heating units without this connection, outside air can be brought into the area of the burner using PVC drainpipe or galvanized stovepipe. The pipe size should be at least as large as the flue on the furnace. The pipe should extend from the furnace through the side or end wall and above the expected snow line. A cap and screen should be placed on the exterior end to shed water and keep out animals.

Now is a good time to inspect, correct any problems to improve the efficiency of the heating system and reduce the potential for pollution.

With about 10 acres of production under cover and 4 acres of outdoor space, SunBlest Gardens in Crawfordville, Florida, grows Boston ferns, liriope, multiple spring bedding plants, mums and poinsettias.

Because of the Sunshine State’s warm and humid climate, SunBlest grows for 10 to 11 months of the year. Through these extended seasons, head grower Jared Jent and his team require pest and disease control and prevention, as well as compact growth. Over the past several months, they have achieved desired results using a few SePRO products.

Preventing diseases with Obtego

Jent began trialing the SePRO’s Obtego Fungicide and Plant Symbiont on mums and poinsettias in the summer of 2019 to see how it would perform in helping prevent diseases such as Pythium and Phytophthora.

In Crawfordville, temperatures were around 90o to 100o F for much of the summer, Jent says. “Most of my biologicals are really stressed during that time, but Obtego continued to work during the entire time,” he says.

SunBlest Gardens direct-sticks mums in May and June, then moves them into its finished area two to three weeks after propagation. A trial of a one-time, 5 ounces per 100 gallons of water drench of Obtego on 5,000 to 6,000 mums helped keep the crops healthy.

Obtego contains unique strains of Trichoderma asperellum and Trichoderma gamsii, which according to Jent, are two species that attach to plant’s roots and promote root growth. “Plus, there’s beneficial fungi to help pick up the nutrients, water,” he says. “I’d say you just have more root area, and therefore you have a healthier plant.”

As with its mums, SunBlest drenched Obtego on poinsettias after transplant and saw promising results.

“When you come with the biological, then you have this relationship in the soil that’s thriving, so you don’t have to continuously come back with your synthetics every four to five weeks,” Jent says. “We see that as a good thing because if you’re [applying] a one-time drench, your roots are thriving; these Trichodermas are thriving. We can see this relationship in the pot with all the colonization.”

Increasing compactness with Topflor

To control the growth of poinsettias and spring bedding plants, Jent uses SePRO’s Topflor Plant Growth Regulator.

On poinsettias, SunBlest applies a 0.2 parts-per-million (ppm) drench directly after transplant, then about a 0.1 ppm drench in October and a 0.1 to 1 ppm drench in November.

“I always recommend the one right after propagation, and that’s a nice toning [application],” Jent says. “The plants look good after that — it strengthens them. Then October is when you just have to look at your graphical tracking and decide how much you need to increase or decrease on your plant height.”

In Crawfordville, temperatures can still be 80o F as late as November, Jent says. Because of this, SunBlest uses higher PGR rates than growers in other parts of the country.

As with other PGRs, Topflor reduces poinsettia height and improves performance. And while Jent says he has experienced bract size reduction with another PGR, he hasn’t had that experience with Topflor.

“You can [overapply PGRs on] plants, then you get this really kind of crunchy-looking growth just because you have too much PGR on it and it just looks real tight, versus with Topflor we don’t see so much of that tightness,” he says.

SunBlest’s 2020 spring bedding plant production has also benefited from Topflor. “We’re seeing the nice, toned look,” Jent says. “The plants are not stretching.”

Controlling whiteflies and chilli thrips with Rycar

For whitefly and chilli thrips control, Jent rotates Rycar Insecticide from SePRO to prevent insecticide resistance. For both pests, he sprays a rate of 3 ounces per 100 gallons.

Throughout poinsettia production in 2019, Jent says SunBlest made about four to five applications of Rycar and saw whitefly populations decrease.

“If you look at your sticky cards and look at your population, do a spray, check a few poinsettias, you do not see very many after a Rycar spray,” he says.

Jent says Rycar has curative properties that allow growers to cut down a population if it has recently increased.

“Also, you can spray it on bracts, which is pretty big,” he says. “Before ship, we can go and spray [the crop] with Rycar and have no phyto on the bracts and they’re good to ship.”

So far in 2020, SunBlest has seen positive results spraying Rycar on chilli thrips, following the same application rates and timings as it followed when controlling whitefly on poinsettia.

Overall, Jent says his use of SePRO products has been a success. “At the end of the day, when you have to make a choice about what to spray, it’s [about] what you feel the best about spraying,” he says. “I think all those products are good choices. They’re definitely products that you want to put out there. If you’re going to put your time and effort into something, then these are the products that I would choose.”