Newly married, new to Tennessee, and lacking even an ounce of horticulture knowledge, Terry Hines shook hands with J.T. Hale, his new father-in-law, and started Hale & Hines Nursery in 1978. It was an intimidating experience, but Terry put his faith into action and set out to learn all he could about the nursery industry.
“I’d grown up in Southern Illinois — I’d never been in agriculture, much less on a tractor, prior to coming to Tennessee,” Terry says. “I was a city boy, a music major with a fine arts degree in music education and performance.”
Terry met the love of his life, Johnnie, in college, and he followed his bride to her family home. Terry had plans to start his own small business one day.
“When my father-in-law learned about my plans, he said to me, ‘There’s an empty farm for sale. Do you want to try the nursery business?’ I agreed, and we started the nursery,” Terry recalls.
His new business partner didn’t have any nursery production experience, but he did grow up on a farm. And he’d been a successful businessman prior to starting the nursery. The pair also gathered some knowledge and advice from area nurserymen.
“Some people were willing to share information with us. But we had the advantage of not having the ‘we’ve always done it that way’ mindset,” Terry says.
Terry and wife Johnnie on a mission trip in Uganda.
Photo Courtesy of Terry Hines
Hale & Hines Nursery sold primarily field-grown shade and ornamental trees, all balled and burlapped material, on 10 acres in the beginning.
For the next several years, Terry put in serious sweat equity, made several astute observations, implemented numerous improvements to production practices, and above all, found that he loved the nursery industry.
“When you find something that you really like, or even love doing, it’s not cumbersome to get up in the morning and go to work. You look forward to it,” Terry says.
Almost 40 years later, Terry loves the diversity of the work, the plants, and the continued opportunities to learn and innovate.
The couple make a trek to Israel almost annually.
Photo Courtesy of Terry Hines
“In this industry, you really have an opportunity to try something new, and see what works, and modify something you’ve seen. That gives you some creative outlet,” Terry explains. “We’re part of a really great family in this industry — it’s such a family-oriented industry — and you get the chance to build relationships with customers, suppliers and peers. There’s not many other industries like it with that much personal interaction and relationship building.”
Even as a new business owner and new nurseryman, Terry’s goal was to supply a quality product at a fair price to meet a demand. And in life, his goal was to be known as a person of integrity, and to be principled, ethical and honest. He looks to his Christian faith and lessons in the Bible to help shape his values. He lives by Colossians 3: 23-24 — 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (New International Version)
“People recognize when you’re working for the Lord and not for yourself or any other man, whether it’s your boss, your customer, or anyone you come in contact with,” Terry says.
Being honest not only keeps you out of trouble, but it builds solid and long-lasting relationships, he notes.
“As long as you’re truthful with everyone, you don’t have to remember what you said,” he says.
Terry’s sons (John, James and Peter) have all joined the family business.
Photo Courtesy of Terry Hines
Prayer and thanksgiving are integral parts of Terry’s life. Each day the staff gathers to say a word of prayer before lining out work.
“I try to always be thankful. Complaining is the opposite of thankful.”
A new realm
In 1998, J.T. Hale sold his ownership in the nursery to Terry.
“My father-in-law was a great partner. He was a good businessman and he had good business sense. He was a conservative business owner, and he was quite helpful to me as I learned to be a better business owner and manager,” Terry says.
Although Terry’s dad died while he was attending college, he learned self-confidence from his father — a trait that served him well as a new business owner learning the ropes of an unfamiliar industry, and as a seasoned nurseryman trying new production practices.
Much like that first foray into the nursery industry, by 2003 Terry was about to implement pot-in-pot production after growing B&B trees exclusively for 25 years. That same year, Terry’s son James joined the company. The nursery started with 15-, 30- and 45-gallon containers. But Terry didn’t go into the change lightly. He researched it and met with other industry colleagues to learn about the process.
J.T. Hale, Terry’s father-in-law, was a big influence.
Photo Courtesy of Terry Hines
“I tend to be cautious, and I really think on things for a while before making a major change like we did with container production,” Terry says. “I probably looked at it for a year, and we visited with people such as Charlie Parkerson at Lancaster Farms and Tom Demaline at Willoway Nurseries. They were so willing to share how they managed container production.”
The market was calling for more container trees, and Terry needed to act.
“Our business has always been blessed to have a good demand for the product we grow, and there was an increased demand in the market for container trees. Mainly because people didn’t want to inventory as much B&B material as they used to,” he explains.
Innovation station
At the start of their new container venture, Terry and his team modified a tree planter to install the PNP systems. They tried a second machine, but it was too slow and had too many moving parts, he says. Finally, they had a machine custom built to “plant” the pots instead of drilling holes for the sockets, which greatly increased efficiency of the labor-intensive project. The custom machine is pulled with a tractor.
Terry’s ability to modify and improve a process or piece of equipment is well-known in area nursery circles.
“He’s a very intelligent individual and he can do anything,” says Fred Shadow of Tennessee Valley Nursery in Winchester, Tenn., who sold Terry the first group of trees he ever planted. “He’ll look at what somebody’s doing and figure out how to improve it. He’s sharp and he’s innovative.”
Terry has implemented other innovations at the nursery, with a strong emphasis on irrigation. The nursery’s irrigation system from Tucor, a “smart” two-wire system, is state of the art and precise.
“We now water by variety with four different watering schedules depending on the variety,” he explains. “It’s got really good instrumentation, and can sense when the tree needs water and went to turn itself on and off.”
The pulse irrigation system has reduced water consumption by 20 percent.
“By measuring volumetric water content, we can look on our computer and see how much water has been applied and how it relates to things like variety or sun exposure, for example,” he says.
The nursery uses injection-molded containers equipped with handles. Terry says some have lasted since 2003.
Terry is no stranger to irrigation innovations. For five years, the nursery was an industry partner in a USDA study, led by John Lea-Cox with the University of Maryland, that researched irrigation sensors and technology. With assistance from Lea-Cox, Terry installed his own Decagon sensor network in 2009 to monitor substrate water content primarily in his dogwood blocks. In spring 2010, an additional 6-node (30-sensor) research network was installed on three red maple trees. Eight 10-HS sensors were placed in each rootball at cardinal directions (North, East, South and West) at two depths. Terry wanted to use his networks to actually monitor water applications and leaching by making some simple modifications to the outer socket pot. As a result, two ECRN-50 rain gauges were added to each tree to measure the applied irrigation volume from the irrigation emitter and the leachate from each tree. Terry had a weather node that provided him environmental data on a 5-minute basis. By monitoring the eight sensors placed in the upper and lower quadrants of these trees, he monitored soil moisture by depth and throughout the season in real-time, relating this information to irrigation frequency and duration, or volume of application.
“We received lots of information on how to make good irrigation decisions from that study,” he adds.
Terry has been experimenting with drones to help with tasks at the nursery, a technology that will take off soon throughout the industry, he predicts.
“I think drone technology has some tremendous potential,” he says. “I think it will be ideal for inventory management, indicating plant stress and mapping for expansion. We’re doing some of these things on an experimental basis, but we’re anxious to hear about Jim Robbins’ drone study at another nursery. We may also be able to check on individual spray stakes in the pots with drones.”
Terry doesn’t rest on his laurels. He’s constantly thinking about the next way to improve functions and practices.
“My dad continually tries to think of ways to automate the industry and he’s continually making things more efficient,” says son John Hines, who joined the family business in 2006. “He pushes himself to make the business more profitable, even when you think he can’t do anything more.”
Son James concurs.
“When he finds that new technology or piece of equipment, he openly shares it with anyone,” James adds.
Terry and his team look for ways to increase efficiency at every turn. The nursery created its own concrete plant and pours its own concrete, builds structures in-house and builds most of its infrastructure.
After exhaustive research, Terry chose an Italian-made injection-molded container with handles for easier management, and they are heavy duty and built to last.
“We’ve got some sockets that we’ve been using since 2003. That’s how much they hold up,” he says.
Frank Sharum, owner of Sharum Landscape and Design in Fort Smith, Ark., calls Terry “the top container grower in the country.”
“He’s on the cutting-edge of just about everything. He has an amazing operation, and he has production down to an art,” Sharum says.
It’s a story that begins in a small town in Iowa in the summer of 1980. Two young, passionate horticulturists had just graduated college, gotten married, and moved back to the town of Cresco, Iowa, and were looking to take the next step in their professional lives—buy a greenhouse operation. Mike, alongside his new wife, Rachel, caught wind of a greenhouse for sale about 90 miles away, and brought the deal back to Cresco to discuss with the owner of Cresco Greenhouses, Arnie Kubalsky. The answer that Mike received when he asked if it was a good deal wasn’t what he expected: “I’m 61 and a half. You are my exit strategy.” About a week later, Mike and Rachel Gooder were the new owners of Cresco Greenhouses, which became Plantpeddler, a name that Mike came up with back in college. And so began the start of what has become a very successful career for Mike Gooder.
A milk carton, a seed and some soil
Mike was nudged into horticulture by many small events, the first of which happened during his first year of school, when he planted a French marigold seed in a milk carton. “I remember planting that seed, watching it grow,” he says. “I was lucky enough I planted it on the corner of the house and it got well-watered with [our] bulldog’s slobber. I remember that fall, that marigold was huge and at that moment I think I was hooked. And to this day we donate lots of products to schools for that very reason — to touch a kid. I think it’s instrumental for our future.”
As a teenager, Mike became involved with the FFA and managed the new high school greenhouse and entered FFA competitions. Up until that point, his goal had been to become a Department of Natural Resources officer and go into wildlife biology, but the greenhouse experience proved very influential.
During his time at Iowa State University, he met Rachel in a turf grass course. Rachel, an avid golfer, frequently missed their Friday classes for her tournaments, and she asked Mike to take notes for her. One summer, they worked at a golf course together because that was one of Rachel’s goals. However, that was all the time it took to decide their professional path should not end at the golf course, but at a greenhouse operation. Just after graduation and only about a week after getting married, they got the keys to what would become Plantpeddler.
Plantpeddler started out with a small retail location, and soon added another store, and more greenhouse space to support them. The extra space enabled them to add a wholesale division, which is 98 percent of their business today.
A green partnership
For many couples, it’s difficult to imagine both living and working with your spouse. However, Mike says, “Rachel and I haven’t known anything different,” and that it has worked out well for them. He and Rachel have distinct roles in the business based on their individual strengths and goals. Mike is on the sales and marketing side, while Rachel is in production, spending most of her time out in the greenhouse.
“We’ve had our issues,” Rachel says. “Every couple does. But we pretty much agree with the day-to-day operations and agree with what are the things we want to do. It’s easier for us to express our opinion to each other because he’s not my boss — he’s my partner. If we’re planning on expanding or we’re planning on adding different crops, it’s easier for us to talk about it because I’m going to tell him the truth and he’s going to tell me the truth. Because I can’t go home and gripe about my boss because I’d be griping to him.”
The strength of this partnership has played an important role in Plantpeddler’s success. “He and Rachel are like peanut butter and jelly,” Jeff Warschauer, vice president of Nexus Greenhouse Systems, says. “They are a team. Absolutely a team.”
The Gooders’ son, John, has been working at the greenhouse for the past three years since he graduated from Iowa State University with degrees in greenhouse management and horticulture, and a minor in ag entrepreneurial studies. “They’re both hands-on as owners,” John says. “They’re both not afraid to work their tail off. Where dad is more of the face of the company, mom’s been kind of behind the scenes, making sure that it’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing and getting us to where we’re going.” While he’s excited to one day take over the business, John says his parents will leave big shoes to fill.
Mike and Rachel got married on June 20, 1980 (bottom photo), and received the keys to Cresco Greenhouses eight days later.
Photos Courtesy of Mike Gooder
It’s not work
Mike Gooder’s passion is horticulture, and it drives him to lead Plantpeddler to be the best it can be. “I think the thing that sums it up easiest, and I’ve heard this from my wife and kids, is I don’t think it’s work,” he says. “Sure, there are days where you get a little stressed, but I’ve never had a day in my life that I can recall that I got up and dreaded going to the greenhouse. I find it very motivating. I enjoy the constant challenge of managing the business — managing the crop mix, managing the customer, managing the financial side.”
Mike’s energy and drive to continually improve Plantpeddler is something that Rachel sees every day. “Mike lives and breathes horticulture and is passionate about the business,” she says. “He never stands still. He’s always looking to the future and how to progress with our business.”
“He really is in it for the love of the game,” says Christopher Currey, assistant professor of horticulture at Iowa State University. “The guy loves plants, he loves being a greenhouse grower, he loves his wife, kids, family business and northeastern Iowa. Whatever Mike does, he does it with passion and enthusiasm.”
“When spending time with Mike, his passion for both horticulture and business is obvious,” says Jeffrey Boeke, a lifelong friend of Mike’s. “To put it simply, he lives and breathes it.”
Warschauer relates Mike ’s relationship with horticulture to a marriage. “The difference with Mike is that every day [his career is] a new marriage for him,” he says. “It’s past the handholding and the first kiss. He’s so passionate about what he does. [There’s] that old saying, that if you don’t really love what you do, you may do okay with it, but you’re not going to be the best in the business. You have to wake up every day with excitement.”
Supporting the horticulture community
Mike’s love of horticulture fuels a drive to ensure the future success of the horticulture industry, not just Plantpeddler’s. Stemming from his early FFA experience, he continues to support the organization and its local chapters, and believes the industry’s labor force issues could be eased by supporting FFA.
“The FFA of today has its largest membership ever,” Mike says. “That’s a big audience for us. Labor is the biggest problem, yet we have a pool of people that are in FFA. We need to be instrumental as an industry and help elevate horticulture as being a good career path for people, explain and tell that story to kids, especially in FFA because they have an ag interest. Hopefully, down the road [it will] appease some of our leadership and management situations that we’re faced with within the business.”
ISU, the Gooders’ alma mater, has also benefited greatly from Mike’s generosity. “[Mike] unequivocally offered support to my research project at Iowa State just because he wants to see the ISU Department of Horticulture do well,” Christopher says. Not only has Mike donated plant material for Christopher’s research and helped him promote ISU programs, but Mike is invested in the future of horticulture, Christopher says. “I hear him voicing concerns and asking questions about the greater industry and not just Plantpeddler and his bottom line,” Christopher says. “‘Where is the next generation of growers?’ [Mike asks], not just the growers of Cresco, Iowa. [He wants to know] how we get more students interested in majoring in horticulture and beyond that, specializing in greenhouse crop production.”
The Gooder family are a “work hard/play hard bunch,” Mike says, seen here with Rachel, daughter Abby, and son John.
Photos Courtesy of Mike Gooder
In the years that Warschauer has known Mike, he’s also known him to be very aware of what’s going on around him. “He’s a very strong community person,” he says.
Mike is an active participant in industry groups and events, as well as being involved with local events, and ISU for the past 15 years. “Most recently, I really enjoyed my time with AmericanHort,” he says. “I had been a member of the OFA, back when it was still the OFA, since high school. Locally, I’ve been involved in events [like] AgFest, I’ve been president of the Cresco Chamber of Commerce and [have done] a lot of public speaking, both in and outside of horticulture.” He also runs Plantpeddler’s Variety Day, which showcases their trial gardens and provides educational lectures by plant breeders and industry experts, such as Mike.
How to be a star plantpeddler
Leading a successful young plant company is no exact science, but fortunately Mike has the drive and personality to serve as a strong leader and support his employees without micromanaging. “I’m pretty laid back in my management style and I let key people in the company run it,” Mike says. “I’m the guy at the top that helps steer and give direction.” And some of Plantpeddler’s employees have been with them since the beginning. Now that his children are older, Mike is enjoying being on the road more again. He says his greatest satisfaction is that the place runs best when he’s gone, because that means he’s done a good job leading the company so far.
One of Mike’s leadership philosophies is: “Never limit yourself by knowing where the edges of the box are.” It’s a nod to his desire to keep improving the company, even when the changes might be expensive, unfamiliar or risky. Plantpeddler has grown almost every major ornamental crop, but “we have failed” at just about all of them, Mike says. “But as I tell my staff, in baseball if you have a winning record, it might be 51-49, but you still won,” he says. “You’re not going to make all good decisions; you’re going to make bad decisions along the way. But as long as we learn from every one of those mistakes, it will drive us to our goals.”
Another sports-themed guiding principle came from Plantpeddler’s CPA, Joan Leuenberger, when she came in for her first interview. “One of the first lines that she told me is, ‘Mike, you can only have so many players on the team; you’ve got to have the best players,’” he recalls. “I think about that all the time.”
Mike’s vivacious, curious, generous and detail-oriented personality and ability to relate to employees and industry colleagues have contributed greatly to his success and leadership, according to friends and colleagues. “Mike has a wide-ranging and forward-thinking mind,” Christopher says. “He’s got a lot of perspective.”
“What really sets Mike apart from many, however, is his understanding and appreciation for people,” Boeke says. “For Mike, horticulture is about people, not plants. For Mike, successful business is about people, not money. Not forgetting where you came from and who influenced you as well as who continues to support you is the golden ticket for a successful business and a successful life. Mike inherently knows this and those relationships define who he is, who he wants to be, and who he will become. This is what sets him apart from many in the corporate world.”
Mike’s collaborative, “go-getter” attitude is what Rachel sees. “Mike speaks his mind,” Rachel says. “If the industry is in trouble, he says, ‘let’s fix it.’ He doesn’t sit on his hands and let somebody else do it.”
John considers his father to be one of his mentors. “It amazes me every day where his mind goes,” he says. “It’s always onto the next level of Plantpeddler. It’s not just status quo.”
Plantpeddler’s management team has about 200 years of experience between them, Mike says.
Photo: Dean Riggott
“Mike is always concerned about the other person more than he is himself,” Warschauer says. “Once a partner, once a friend of Mike’s, whether you’re a supplier, family, the guy across the street — you’re in for life. He’s there for you and would give you the shirt off his back.”
Learning from other leaders
The biggest influence on Mike’s leadership has been his father. “He started many successful businesses with no fear of failure his entire life,” Mike says. “Watching his example of leadership and his entrepreneurial element is definitely one of the things that’s given me a lot of confidence. I often think about a lot of the things that he taught me.”
While his father was an important role model, Mike also took lessons from others in his life. “I’ve been blessed by a number of people that have been very influential and good role models,” he says. Among them, he lists his uncle on his dad’s side; his best friend Jeffrey Boeke’s father, a pharmacist who taught him about “the social side, conversation and the outdoors;” and the previous owners of Cresco Greenhouses, Arnie and Pauline Kubalsky, and their children, who helped them through the transition and wanted to “be a part of our success,” rather than simply walking away after the sale. Mike also mentions Norm White, a pillar of the industry. “Norm White has [always] been one of my role models,” he says. In general, he’s tried to emulate the success of his mentors over the years.
Guiding Plantpeddler through troubled waters
Plantpeddler has undergone many necessary transitions to stay relevant and make it through challenging economic times. At one point in the 1990s, Mike “saw the writing on the wall” about big box stores putting smaller stores out of business, and knew that Plantpeddler had to shift its focus in order to survive. Mike decided that, instead of using the money they set aside for a new greenhouse, they would hire a consulting firm to guide them into the future. “We invested about $350,000 during that two-year period in a project called PP2000 that led us to identify opportunities,” Mike says. “The problem was that nobody in the U.S. was shipping a good begonia liner that matched the European level of quality. We went to Europe. We learned how to do begonias the right way. The change that came out of the box stores getting into the florist business and driving small florists and grocery out of the industry allowed us to see an opportunity to get into a crop and product that’s one of our mainstays today.”
“Adapting the company and its people to growth and change is probably the most dynamic and interesting part,” Mike says. “Change is a powerful word. There are a lot of people that fear the word ‘change,’ and you’d better be careful how you approach change because change means insecurity to a lot of people. If you’re going to survive change you need to make sure you have buy-in from your key players. That’s the one part where we’ve exceled is making sure everybody knew the reason for the change, hopefully what point that was going to take us to, and what the goal was after the change had happened.”
The Great Recession of the late 2000s was as much of a challenge for Plantpeddler as it was for other businesses. “We got bounced around between banks,” Mike says. But he wasn’t ready to give up quite yet. “Probably most people would’ve said at this point ‘Forget it, throw it in — it’s not worth it,’” he says. “But with a never-fail attitude, there’s always a way to get the job done.” Plantpeddler, under Mike’s leadership, pushed through, and the company is stronger now than ever.
Rachel says that economic crises aren’t the only ones that have affected Plantpeddler over the years, and that Mike has handled all of them well. “He’s pretty levelheaded,” she says. “We’ve had so many ups and downs. We got hit by a tornado twice; we’ve had a fire and other emergencies. And [his response is] ‘It happened—now what are we going to do to fix it?’ That’s been Mike all of his life.”
“I’m at my best when we’re at our worst,” Mike says. “Everything is going along fine, the greenhouse looks really good, and all of a sudden you get spanked by a Midwestern storm. Glass is blown out all over, crops are all messed up. You’ve still got to take the business and put it back on its feet and get back in operation within hours.”
Mike and Rachel work as a team to ensure both production and sales are running smoothly.
Photo: Dean Riggott
Boeke says that Mike’s resilience is due in part to his desire to keeping growing, professionally and personally, even when the situation is less than ideal. “A continual pursuit for growth of knowledge, growth of business, and obviously the growth of plants is what motivates him,” Boeke says. “There have been times when things didn’t work too well and other times when they did. Regardless of the outcomes, the race continues for Mike, exemplifying a ‘pick yourself up and get busy’ mentality.”
Building a legacy
Being able to pass on a strong, viable greenhouse business is of paramount importance to Mike, who is a dedicated family man. “I think the most important thing is to build a legacy that I can pass to our children and to the people that have helped build the company,” he says. “One of the unique features of our industry is you can have a family-owned business and have multiple generations.”
His children, Abby and John, grew up around the business. Upon graduating from ISU three years ago, John decided to learn from his parents before they decided to step down. “I realized that if I was going to go back to Plantpeddler, I was going to have to learn the ropes from some of the most knowledgeable and the hardest working people I knew — my parents,” he says. “There was no better place for knowledge than from the people who got Plantpeddler where it is today.”
It’s been a “privilege” to grow up in the greenhouse and watch it grow along with him, John says, and a great opportunity to work with and learn from his father. “I’ve worked with him every day and grown up with the guy,” John says. “I’ve been fortunate that I’ve seen all angles of him and not just as a son but as an employee. And it’s been a fun situation I find myself in. I wouldn’t change it at all.”
However, John says that he’s had to work just as hard as everyone else to prove himself within the company. “I can’t say there’s any favoritism toward me as their kid since I’ve been back full-time with the company,” he says. “It’s more of a formal deal on that side. But it’s nice because you can tell them your thoughts and know that they’re actually listening — not just because you’re their kid, but also because you’re an employee and work next to them. And you work just as hard as they have over the years. It’s an interesting relationship to juggle because usually family dinners turn into business discussions.”
And those family dinners turned business dinners helped shape the Gooder children’s perspectives on the business, Mike says. “It’s made the kids very aware of the challenges of the business,” he says. “Failures and successes, they’ve lived them, they’ve heard us talk through them.” But as a family, they were also a “work hard/play hard bunch,” he says. Whether it was a boating trip on the Mississippi River or a trip to see an Iowa State football game, horticulture would inevitably sneak in in the form of a visit to a garden or a greenhouse.
Mike hopes that his children see him as a leader, but also as a human. “We all have our weak spots and our flaws, not unlike anyone,” Mike says. “I hope they see through that side and see a person that’s passionate about business, passionate about the people that have helped build the company, and extremely passionate for our customers and their success.”
Mike has done his best to lead by example, and hopes that his children have seen that in order to be successful, you have to be passionate. “You have to believe in what you’re doing and put all of yourself into it,” Mike says.
Powerful prevention
2017 Horticultural Industries Leadership Awards - ADVERTORIAL: Japanese beetle
The unique active ingredient in Mainspring GNL provides flexibility for growers against chewing and sucking pests.
Japanese beetle defoliate trees rapidly and move quickly throughout the nursery.
Leaf-feeding beetles, including the Japanese beetle, have become one of the most destructive pests that nursery growers face. Since the damage is caused by adults, and there is often more than one generation per season, it has become imperative to stop them early to avoid skeletonized foliage. Leaf-feeding beetles can be found across the country and are most active from May through August, so applying an insecticide in spring is recommended for prevention.
“Controlling insect and disease problems in outdoor environments can be extremely challenging. Nursery growers typically have larger production acreage to protect, so providing new products with long residual activity is especially important for them,” says Nancy Rechcigl, Technical Field Manager, Ornamentals at Syngenta. “And many of the ornamentals produced in the nursery setting have long crop times, so having a strong resistance management program is also critical.”
Syngenta’s research and development activities — with a focus on bringing new active ingredients with unique modes of action to the ornamental market — is key to growers’ long-term success. Neonicotinoids have long been used to combat infestations in the nursery. However, recent bans and limitations have forced growers to consider alternative chemistries. Powered by a unique active ingredient in a recently added chemistry class, Mainspring® GNL insecticide offers effective control of leaf-feeding beetles as well as other pests, including aphids, thrips and caterpillars. When used preventively, Mainspring GNL keeps pest populations from building to damaging levels and helps reduce additional pest pressure later in the season. It works primarily through ingestion by stopping insects from feeding, which limits disease transmission and unsightly damage to foliage and flowers.
“Mainspring GNL brings a new class of chemistry to the ornamental industry. It is a Diamide IRAC group 28,” Rechcigl explains. “Unlike foliar applications of Pyrethroids, Carbamates and Bt products, which stay on the surface of the leaves, Mainspring GNL has translaminar activity and as a foliar spray, penetrates into the tissue. This allows Mainspring GNL to have longer residual activity, so applications can be made on a longer interval. In our Japanese beetle trials, a 14-day interval provided excellent control with minimal feeding injury.”
Nursery trials
Stanton Gill, Extension Specialist in IPM and Entomology at the University of Maryland, conducted trials at two Maryland nurseries to evaluate Mainspring GNL spray treatments for control of Japanese beetles.
Japanese beetles are difficult to control because they defoliate trees quickly and rapidly spread through the nursery.
“When they emerge, Japanese beetles have certain preferred plants they go to. The first thing they go to in a nursery is purple leaf plum. It’s like a giant magnet,” Gill explains.
Untreated (left) vs. Mainspring GNL 8 fl. oz. foliar spray.
In one of his trials, the beetles completely defoliated all the purple leaf plums on the site between Thursday and the following Monday.
“After they defoliate their preferred host, they begin to fan out across the nursery. When they need to find a new food source, they’ll move around the nursery to a non-preferred plant,” Gill says. “They like littleleaf linden or London planetrees, even though it’s not their first choice. The last thing they’ll feed on is Rose of Sharon. What’s interesting at that stage, they go for the flower. River birch is also highly attractive to Japanese beetles. They will defoliate those things just as fast as purple leaf plum.”
During the first year of the trial, Gill and his team made foliar applications of Mainspring GNL, which performed well, he reports.
“We also used Btg (Bacillus thuringiensis galleriae) from Phyllom BioProducts. They gave us two rates, a medium and a high. The high rate was better, but Mainspring GNL is clearly different. With foliar applications — 8 oz per 100 gallons of water — growers are going to get about 10-14 days out of that. When it wears off and goes below a toxic level to the beetle, they’re going to be back out on those plants immediately,” Gill explains. “So growers have to be on top of their game. When using Mainspring GNL, get it applied early as a foliar spray. If you use the higher rate, you can go a little bit longer, but you’re going to have to keep a close watch. Japanese beetles are active for six to seven weeks of feeding, so if you can make it through two to three applications, if you use the mid-rate, you’re good to go. With Japanese beetles, we see a lot of other products that last a couple days and then you have to re-spray. So there is a lot more spraying with other materials.”
Gill also trialed Mainspring GNL as a drench, and those results are currently being analyzed.
Beneficials such as assassin bugs were observed on trees during Mainspring GNL application trials in Maryland.
Focus on prevention
Apply Mainspring GNL as part of a preventive pest management strategy. Mainspring GNL should not be used as a clean-up insecticide. Tank mix with another insecticide if quick knock down of adults is needed.
“Mainspring GNL should not be used if high pest populations have already developed in the crop. First, knock down or reduce the population with a product that has quick contact activity, then rotate to Mainspring GNL,” Rechcigl explains.
Mainspring GNL stops insect feeding shortly after ingestion, which limits damage to the plant, as well as disease transmission. It leads to insect mortality within two to seven days.
Stewartia treated with 8 fl. oz. foliar spray of Mainspring GNL.
Product flexibility
Mainspring GNL can be used at many stages of nursery and greenhouse crop production.
Use sites and application methods include: spray, drench, chemigation, ebb-and-flood irrigation, in-ground soil drench and bark treatment.
When applied as a spray, Mainspring GNL has translaminar and locally systemic activity. The active ingredient penetrates the plant cuticle to form a reservoir within the plant tissue.
When drenched, Mainspring GNL is taken up by the roots and moves upward in the xylem throughout the plant canopy.
Gill found that Mainspring GNL was compatible with beneficial insects, and found the beneficials to be “quite active” during his trials.
“Beneficials don’t seem to be affected by Mainspring GNL. It fits in the IPM [integrated pest management] approach, which is something we push heavily at the university. Use materials that have the least impact on your good guys because they are helping clean up things. That’s a major benefit,” Gill says.
Syngenta is committed to working with nursery and greenhouse growers to develop comprehensive solutions to the pest and disease issues they face. These solutions put their innovative products into agronomic and rotational programs that consider modes of action, application methods, preferred timing and application rates.
Agronomic programs offer growers comprehensive, long-lasting management of insects and diseases affecting a specific crop. With a focus on proactive rather than reactive treatments, these programs can help growers save resources by avoiding curative applications.
“Agronomic programs provide a framework for the grower to follow that addresses the primary problems they are likely to encounter when growing a particular crop,” says Nancy Rechcigl, Technical Field Manager, Ornamentals at Syngenta. “It helps to ensure their success by reducing or preventing the problems that would affect the quality and sell-through of the crop.” Having an agronomic program does not eliminate the need for scouting. Monitoring the crop and environmental conditions are still important for proper timing and application of treatments.
A key component of an agronomic program is a well-researched rotation, which serves as a valuable resistance management strategy.
“We take into account the primary insect and disease problems the crop may develop over the course of production. Then we select two to three products with different modes of action that have strong performance and residual activity for each problem. Each product is put in a rotation at a point where it will provide the best benefit,” Rechcigl says. “So the agronomic program is robust and built with a strong resistance management strategy.”
Syngenta introduced many downloadable agronomic programs in early 2017. Through the online resource, GreenCastOnline.com/Solutions, growers can search for and download programs fit for their operation.
Incorporating products with systemic activity and different modes of action reduces the risk of resistance and is key to successfully controlling downy mildew, a potentially devastating disease.
Photo courtesy of Ohio State University
A downy mildew program
Incorporating products with systemic activity and different modes of action reduces the risk of resistance and is key to successfully controlling downy mildew, a potentially devastating disease. A program using Segovis®, Micora® and Subdue Maxx® fungicides delivers long-lasting protection with differing modes of action so that impatiens and other susceptible annuals and perennials can thrive in the garden and remain viable crops in growers’ operations.
In 2016, Fulya Baysal-Gurel, Assistant Professor at Tennessee State University’s Otis Floyd Nursery Research Center in McMinnville, Tenn., conducted a study to evaluate fungicide rotations at 7- or 14-day spray application intervals for the control of downy mildew on roses.
“Rose plants can be latently infected with the downy mildew pathogen,” Baysal-Gurel explains. “When the conducive conditions such as cool weather and high humidity occur for disease development, symptoms may appear overnight. Therefore, preventive fungicide applications in a rotation are critical to control downy mildew.”
The initial fungicide application was Subdue Maxx (2 fl oz/100 gal) and Micora (4 fl oz/100 gal), which was made after observing the first symptoms of downy mildew on Pink Double Knock Out® roses. Next, Mural® fungicide (7 oz/100 gal) and Segovis (2 fl oz/100 gal) were alternated at 7- or 14-day application intervals.
“Fungicide rotation programs at 7- or 14-day application intervals equally and significantly reduced downy mildew incidence as well as the average number of infected leaves compared to the non-treated control,” says Baysal-Gurel. “This study also showed that the 7-day rotation program significantly increased plant height and width compared to the non-treated control plants.”
The strong residual performance and broad-spectrum activity of Mural allows it to be used in a flexible manner depending upon where its strength is needed, Rechcigl says.
“Placing Mural in the rotation with strong, systemic oomycete products, like Segovis and Subdue Maxx, provides comprehensive control of most diseases a grower may encounter on roses,” Rechcigl adds. “Mural provides strong activity on leaf spot diseases, powdery mildew and rusts, and it also has activity on downy mildew diseases.”
Mural also has the benefit of having both translaminar and systemic activity. It can be used as a spray or a drench —depending on the grower’s primary targets or problems.
“Growers may use it as a drench to control root and stem rots such as Rhizoctonia and get the systemic benefit of suppressing powdery mildew on the crop as well,” Rechcigl says.
Drench applications
Baysal-Gurel and her team conducted another study to evaluate systemic fungicide drench applications for the control of downy mildew on roses. Treatments were Segovis (1.0 fl oz/100 gal and 3.0 fl oz/100 gal), Subdue Maxx (2 fl oz/100 gal) and two Syngenta experimental products A13836B (2.75 fl oz/100 gal) and A14658C (20 fl oz/100 gal). Treatments were applied as a drench at the first signs of downy mildew with a volume of 20 fl oz per No. 3 nursery container.
According to Baysal-Gurel, all fungicide treatments “significantly reduced the final severity rating, disease progression, downy mildew incidence, and average number of infected leaves compared to the non-treated control. The severity of downy mildew and disease progression among fungicide-treated plants was significantly lower in plants treated with the higher rate of Segovis.”
She also notes that “all treatments significantly increased the plant height and width compared to the non-treated control. Our drench trial shows the benefit of using systemic products in the treatment program — with one application providing excellent protection for 30 days.”
Segovis is effective in this rotation because of its translaminar and systemic activity, which will likely extend the grower’s treatment interval while maintaining good protection, says Baysal-Gurel.
Syngenta has tested this rotation and many more to ensure their effectiveness in the greenhouse or nursery. By developing these programs, Syngenta can help save growers’ time and resources so they don’t have to spend their time looking for the appropriate product to use and ensuring it controls the insect/disease and is compatible in their operation.
“The programs provide efficiency and economic benefits to the grower. It will help them save time since a comprehensive program is already developed and ready to be implemented, and it has a built-in resistance management strategy as part of the program, which is critically important,” Rechcigl explains. “Being prepared also means growers are less likely to encounter the problems they’re trying to prevent with fewer applications, so quality remains high and shrink and input costs remains low. Curative or corrective treatments often require higher rates and more applications, therefore increasing production costs.”
These agronomic programs have been tested so growers can be confident using them to grow beautifully strong plants that flourish long after they leave the production facility.
Horticulture runs in the family for sisters Christa (Walters) Steenwyk and Karin Walters, whose grandparents opened Walters Gardens in 1946. Their father, John Walters, still serves as CEO of the wholesale perennial growing operation based in Zeedale, Michigan. But Christa, 35, and Karin, 31, are already shaping how Walters Gardens will look under third-generation leadership. Inspired by their grandfather’s appetite for risk, the sisters are stepping outside of their respective roles as creative director and marketing director to push the company — and the industry — forward.
GM: How did you end up in the family business?
Karin: We’ve both technically worked here since we were 14 — weeding, cleaning offices, collecting seeds off baptisia, digging out daylilies in the field. We’d done a little bit in every department before working full-time in marketing.
Christa: I think part of my dad’s strategy was to instill work ethic by having us do jobs that weren’t so fun or pretty, to encourage us to go to college and find careers for ourselves. I went to school for graphic design in Chicago. After a while, I decided to move back to Michigan, and my dad said, ‘Try working here between jobs.’
Then I found the fun side of horticulture. You’re working with one of the best products: plants. Another big draw is how friendly people are. I was hooked, but it wasn’t something I thought I’d pursue when I was younger.
Karin: I had no plans of going into the family business when I went to college, either. I majored in English, and when I had to start looking for jobs, I wasn’t sure where to begin. There was a position open in the marketing department so my dad said, ‘What do you think about working for me?’
Karin and Christa both went to college and contemplated other careers before coming back to the family business.
GM: Why is this business important and exciting to you?
Christa: My dad will be at Walters Gardens for a long time, but as he starts to transition, it’s important for us to carry on the tradition and keep an enjoyable work environment. We respect the generations above us, and want to continue that legacy.
[To grow the Walters Gardens family], we have to help people who are new to the industry feel included — mentor them, encourage them, help them figure out what they want to do in their career. It’s top-of-mind for us to keep young people passionate about gardening.
GM: What are the biggest challenges facing the industry, and how are you overcoming them?
Karin: The industry isn’t really expanding; it’s staying the same. Maybe there’s a little growth, but if you have a success story, it’s probably because a competitor went out of business. You have to be creative and aggressive [to grow in this industry].
Christa: Our grandpa offered us some advice about the struggles he went through during his career: Stay ahead of the game. He’s always taken risks; he was one of the first to establish a tissue culture lab — which we now use to initiate plants that come out of our hybridizing program.
Karin: He was also one of the first to introduce a patented plant. When we interviewed him for our 70th anniversary, he said a lot of people told him he was crazy for his choices — having certain plants or buying a farm he couldn’t afford.
Christa: He jokes that some chances he took didn’t work out, but a lot of them did. So our challenge is [deciding] what to take chances on, because we always want to be doing something new. If we didn’t make some changes during the recent economic downturn, if our company just stayed how it had been 10 years ago, would we be here today?
When they're not in the greenhouse, Karin and Christa enjoy traveling to trade shows and visiting other greenhouses to expand their knowledge base.
GM: Why aren’t more young people excited about this industry?
Karin: Honestly, I don’t think it occurs to people that there is a horticulture industry. If you’re in FFA or 4-H, you’re thinking about agriculture, so usually we get overlooked by ag. They don’t understand the opportunities here.
Christa: There are so many types of jobs in this industry, but people don’t see all those jobs when they think ‘greenhouse.’ We should do a better job of offering internships to show students what all this industry has to offer.
A lot of people who are interested in growing want to start with vegetables. I love industry professionals like Brie Arthur, who grow vegetables but also talk about the importance of growing perennials, shrubs and annuals with those vegetables.
A lot of companies outside this industry are talking about connecting with influencers, like bloggers that talk about fashion or food. How can the horticulture industry partner with people like that? Gardening is a lifestyle, and those partnerships could help us engage with customers.
The skills Karin and Christa learned during their college years have been useful at Walters Gardens.
GM: How could the industry be more supportive of young professionals?
Christa: New horticulturists — whether they’re young or just new to the industry — they’re looking for opportunity. They don’t want to be stuck in a job. They want flexibility to work from home or take an afternoon off and make it up later. They want opportunities to travel, to attend trade shows, to go to seminars.
Karin: If you’re in a position to send a young person to an industry event like Cultivate, but you’re sending the same people every year, take a chance on someone who’s never been before.
Christa: And if you go every year and they’re not giving someone else a chance, offer to stay back. Someone did that for me and it meant the world to me.
Walters Gardens grows and breeds a wide variety of perennials at its Michigan facilities.
GM: Speaking of traveling to tradeshows, describe your trip overseas earlier this year.
Christa: One of my friends, Bob Blew from Centerton Nursery [in Bridgeton, New Jersey], and I have been talking for years about how to bring together industry professionals our age. We both like to travel, and we run into each other at events. We ended up traveling to IPM Essen [in Germany] with about 10 next-generation business owners and other industry professionals our age, which gave us great perspective. We went on two days of tours to various nurseries, and there was something for everybody — a wholesale nursery, a finished grower, a retailer.
This was our first trip with this group; we wanted to keep it as unorganized yet organized as possible. Anyone who wants to travel with us is welcome. We’re hoping to do IPM every other year, and a couple of us are going to the Perennial Plant Association (PPA) Symposium this year.
Karin: We each get excited about different things, so it’s really interesting to hear what people got out of the trip. Plus, once you become friends, you can ask them questions about the industry, like, ‘Are you noticing this trend in your business?’ You’re more interconnected.
GM: Does the industry need an association for young professionals, or are small grassroots groups more effective?
Christa: We’ve talked about that in depth, and I don’t think we came up with an answer. Some people can be turned off by something too organized, and they like more easygoing get-togethers. But it would be cool to have a group that would have speakers and panels and idea groups.
Karin: This generation is eager to make some changes, but [their perception] is that associations don't get anything done.
Christa: They need to start fresh to make [the loosely organized group that] we’re looking for. But in addition, existing conferences like PPA should have a night or part of the event where young people have a chance to get together. And I notice a lot of [association] boards are always industry vets. Get some perspective from the younger generation, because both perspectives are important.
GM: What can the industry do to remain more relevant to young consumers?
Christa: You’ve got to keep your mind open and try as many things as you can to reach that consumer. Encourage people who aren’t necessarily into gardening to come to events by doing butterfly exhibits or having bands play. We’re continuously thinking about people that are into decorating their homes or cooking local food, and how to encourage them to get into gardening. How can we reach them with what they’re already doing? Don’t just focus on gardeners; expand beyond that.
Karin: I don’t think we need to totally revolutionize the horticulture business, but we need to find a way to appeal to those people. [Look beyond] our industry, to general trends like same-day delivery on Amazon — is that feasible for us? For example, when I want to find specialty plants, I first look online. That’s the mindset [of our generation].
Christa: Even though Target is five minutes down the road, I’d rather go to Target.com and order in-store pickup so I’m not spending as much time at the store. Could more local garden centers put their inventory on Google Shopping results, and offer in-store pick-up?
Karin: It’s good to keep tabs on those trends, whether we can do it or not, because we’re kind of an old-school industry. Our natural inclination is to stick our head in the sand and ignore what’s going on, and that’s a mistake. But I also think it’s a mistake to jump on every single trend.
Christa: We have to continuously educate ourselves on what the home gardener is doing to stay relevant.
Brooke is a freelance writer based in Cleveland, Ohio, and a regular contributor to Greenhouse Management and its sister publications.
Karen E. Varga
