Grower adapts production and product to fit the market

Most growers will tell you they face some type of challenge on a regular basis. Sometimes it’s nice to visit a grower who isn’t plagued with the typical problems prevalent in our industry. Henry Maday, co-owner of Maday Wholesale Greenhouses Inc. in Crete, Ill., is one such grower. He hasn’t encountered serious problems with water quality or availability, energy costs, finding qualified labor or the immigration status of his employees.

That’s not to say that Maday doesn’t have production and management issues that he has to resolve. Instead, Maday has chosen to adapt to the situation and make the best out of what is at hand.

Gas costs

When the cost of natural gas increased sharply in 2005, Maday decided to upgrade the mechanical thermostats in his 10 quonset houses to Bartlett controllers. “We realized a significant savings in gas and were far better to control temperature overlaps and cool the houses to 34°F when empty after Christmas,” he said.

“Also, we do things a little differently now like growing the geranium stock in the main houses through the winter as opposed to heating two quonsets through the winter months. Things are a bit tighter in here until we open another section,” he said.

Year-round growing

Unlike some growers in the Midwest, Maday chooses to grow year-round. “We have few empty houses in winter,” Maday said. “We have poinsettias, then a few weeks later we have lilies, mums, hydrangeas and spring bulbs for Easter, all while gearing up for spring zonal geranium and vegetative annual production.”

For poinsettia production, Maday purchases 3,000 stock plants. He finishes 38,000 poinsettias annually. He produces varieties primarily from four breeders: Ecke Ranch, Fischer, Selecta First Class Plants and Dummen.

He grows what he considers to be premium poinsettia varieties.

“A larger percentage, I’d say 75-80 percent, are red. They are still the most popular,” Maday said.

He also produces some pink, white and marble cultivars. One recent change is that last year (2006) he discontinued growing burgundy-colored poinsettias. “They [burgundies] just didn’t sell very well,” Maday said.

To appeal to the higher-end clientele his customers serve, he produces 10,000 larger plants in 7- to 10-inch pots and 200 poinsettia topiary trees, too. The trees are started in March and April and are pinched twice so that they will finish 4 feet tall for Christmas sales.

Reiger begonias, cyclamen and azaleas round out his fall and winter crops. He also grows a large crop of zonal geraniums for spring sales.

“We produce 2,000 12-inch, 5,000 10-inch, 5,000 17 cm(6 1/2-inch) and 60,000 4 1/2-inch pots,” Maday said. “Red is less than 50 percent of the color spectrum.”

Easter is still a major holiday for the company. “For Easter, we still grow lilies, mums, tulips and hyacinths,” Maday said. “Easter is still the biggest holiday for mums for us.”

Maday also grows about 10,000 hardy chrysanthemums annually on 33,000 square feet of outdoor production area. To reduce his labor input, Maday installed a sequential water controller that automatically irrigates mums. The controller is part of the original equipment from the company’s previous location. Maday still uses a Wadsworth controller he purchased in the 1970s.

“We refurbished the old controller for about $600. It’s been around almost as long as I have,” Maday said.

Baskets boost annual sales

One item that Maday’s customers particularly like is a new product addition. Maday started growing 12-inch mixed baskets in 2005 by trying 200 of them. Last year, he sold nearly 1,000. “There’s a big market for big baskets,” he said.

The baskets are Western Pulp fiber 12-inch round that have a rustic look. “We have a more upscale clientele,” Maday said. “It’s appealing to them.”

Another distinction about his customers helps to ensure profitability. “Big-volume stores buy on price. Our customers expect top quality. We gear upscale so we can justify the price,” he said.

For the baskets, he buys rooted cuttings that include an assortment of vegetative annuals.

Maday also produced nearly 10,000 10-inch baskets in 2006. Most of these were Belden Pot planters with wire hangers. “They are nicer planters with more soil capacity, but they still cost more,” he said.

He cut costs in labor and equipment by switching to using all vegetative cuttings. “We don’t do any sowing or flats anymore. Specialize in what you do best,” he said.

Maday is open to altering his crop mix and container sizes to fit what the market wants. This is one way he stays profitable. “You have to know what’s happening with market trends. It is a must to keep up with the industry trade magazines and events,” Maday said.

He has seen a rise in the demand for monochrome as well as contrasting flowers and colors in baskets and large containers.

Water source is a non-issue

Unlike many other U.S. growers, Maday does not have water supply issues. Behind the greenhouses is a retention pond built in a natural low spot. Maday initially started with a well, then assisted Mother Nature by digging out additional soil to form the pond.

Rainwater is collected in a cistern, where it flows into the pond. The main water source is the pond.

A windmill used to oxygenate the pond was installed about five years ago. The windmill generates air bubbles in the water to help retard algae growth and make the water “healthier.”

Creating the pond also helped to correct an alkalinity problem Maday was experiencing with the well water. He still occasionally has to inject a small amount of sulfuric acid into the water to maintain the proper pH. The pond does not entirely freeze over with the bubbler working year-round.

The well water was also too cold in summer. It was usually 55°F-60°F, Maday said. The pond water is much warmer, which helps the summer and fall crops grow better.

No water woes

For propagation, he set up dedicated mist lines.

The pond water is filtered twice before ZeroTol is injected for sanitary reasons.

Maday also purchased a Tekleen self-cleaning water filter.

“It saves money by saving time. It used to take half an hour to clean the old paper cartridge filter and it took 12 filters at a time,” Maday said.

“We finally realized there is a better way. Don’t take things for granted. Look at your operation from outside the box,” Maday said.

Labor is steady

The company has two main growers. Tom Miksich has been with Maday for 28 years. He started at the company’s Calumet City location and relocated when the operation moved to Crete. His knowledge and expertise have attributed to years of consistent top-quality mums and Easter lilies.

The other grower, Rick Hansen, started as an intern with Maday’s. He left the company and gained experience growing organically among other things. He worked for several larger growing operations in the Chicago area before heading back to Maday’s in 2000. His wide range of experience has proved beneficial to the company.

The company has 10 full-time employees along with four seasonal workers.

Hank shares running the operation with his two younger sisters, LaVerne Szypczak and Kathy Pagel.

“Two of the next generation are working here in sales and production,” he said.

His two brothers operate a nursery, and another brother and sister have horticulture-related businesses near New Smyrna, Fla.

“It’s what we do best since we were born and raised into this field of endeavor,” Maday said.

For more: Maday’s Wholesale Greenhouses Inc., 2215 E. Richton Road, Crete, IL 60417; (708) 672-6544; grow4alivn@aol.com.

Maday’s Wholesale Greenhouses Inc.

Founded: In 1925 by George S. Maday

Location: 20 acres in Crete, Ill., 20 miles south of Chicago.

Size: There is 95,000 square feet of greenhouses plus a 10,000-square-foot pole barn. Outside growing area is 33,000 square feet.

Employees: 10 full-time, plus four seasonal workers.

Customer base: Chicago-area florists, garden centers, interiorscapers and landscapers.

Crops: Include poinsettias, chrysanthemums, Easter lilies, spring bulbs, begonias, geraniums, new guinea impatiens, gerberas and vegetative annuals. 

Taxes force short move for big savings

What a difference a few miles can make. All Illinois grower Henry Maday had to do to save more than $80,000 a year was to move 12 miles from Calumet City in Cook County to Crete in Will County. The Chicago grower’s property tax bill plummeted from a high of $96,000 in Cook County in 1998 to about $16,000 in 2005 after the company’s relocation.

The Will County location -- with 10 new greenhouses and 20 total acres -- is a major upgrade from the Calumet City location’s 7 acres and 12 deteriorating greenhouses.

Maday is the third generation to run the family business. He also is in the third location for Maday’s Wholesale Greenhouses, which had its start in the southside of Chicago.

“It got to be too difficult,” Maday said. “We were really just working for the taxes.”

Although Maday made the move to Crete in 1990, he is still reaping the benefits of the move.

“In Cook County, we had no room to expand and renovation was not feasible,” he said.

The Crete location was purchased from a florist by Maday’s father in 1988. The florist lived on the acreage as well, so there was a house already on the property. “Dad bought the land thinking it might be a good place to relocate,” Maday said.

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The company’s customer base is primarily still the same as before the move and consists of Chicago-area florists, garden centers, interiorscapers and landscapers.

- Jyme Mariani