High Caliper Growing founder
Ralph Reiger

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Our Story

High Caliper Growing, Inc. was founded as Root Control, Inc in 1984. However, the story began six years earlier. Then co-founder, Ralph Reiger, took an early retirement from the investing firm, Merrill Lynch & Co, and started The Tree Farm in Guthrie, Oklahoma. In the beginning, Ralph was using the traditional method of ball & burlap. Oklahoma wasn’t exactly the center of the nursery industry, therefore Ralph immediately began to have problems finding skilled employees to dig trees. In 1980, Ralph didn’t realize it, but he started A Growing Revolution by developing the first fabric container used in the horticulture industry. He fashioned the first fabric container at his home in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and planted River Birch, Elm and Conifers in the bags in hopes they would grow well and be easy to harvest. Two years later, when it came time dig, Ralph realized the fabric had root pruned the plants’ root structure, giving him a vastly improved plant. The Root Control Bag was revolutionized, and the concept of A Growing Revolution was born.

The Root Control Bag immediately drew the attention to a number of progressive nurseryman and in 1984, Ralph formed Root Control Inc. Since that time, we have helped thousands of customers grow millions of trees in all fifty states and a number of countries worldwide.

In 2004, the company changed its name to High Caliper Growing, Inc. to better reflect our mission in the nursery industry. Ralph’s son, Kurt Reiger, is now President of High Caliper Growing. High Caliper Growing is a family-owned business employing over 100 employees. Our office and manufacturing plant is located in Oklahoma City. Our fabric containers are proudly made in the USA and are now sold worldwide as a retail item known as the Smart Pot®. High Caliper Growing proudly supports the horticulture industry with long term memberships in state and national nursery organizations. Every step along the way, innovation was spurred by attending to the needs of our great customers. Learn more about our innovative fabric containers and our fabric tree collar straps.

Root Control Bag

The Root Control Bag started A Growing Revolution™ in 1984. The first porous fabric container was intended to make harvesting field-grown trees quick and easy, but the side effects were astounding. A true production tool was born for nurserymen world-wide. Nearly 80% of the root structure was intact after harvesting due to root prun¬ing inside the Root Control Bag and it was half the size and weight of a traditional balled & burlapped tree. Advantages of the Root Control Bag include no expensive tree spades for harvest, anyone can dig, ship more trees per truck, grow more trees per acre, significantly expand harvest season and nearly 100% transplant survival welcomed from root pruning that began at the beginning. Whether you’re growing from 1 inch to 6 inches, we have a Root Control Bag for you. Our Root Control Bags are 100% made in the USA and custom sizing is available.

Smart Pot Pro

High Caliper Growing still has customers from the 1980s using the Root Control Bags which lead us to develop an above ground version, known as the Smart Pot Pro. One reason a farmer plows his field is to give it aeration. The Smart Pot Pro containers breath from top to bottom, enhancing and creating a healthy root structure. Rigid plastic containers do the opposite. Plastic containers cannot breathe and limit aeration only to the top, whereas a Smart Pot Pro container, air continuously flows through all around. This allows for natural air root pruning. Root pruning increases the amount of fibrous roots in the containers. Recent university studies have found more than twice the root structure in plants grown in a Smart Pot Pro when compared to the same plant grown in the same sized plastic container. Because of the porous fabric of a Smart Pot Pro, it also releases heat when compared to plastic containers. The University of New Hampshire showed that on an 80-degree day, temperatures inside a plastic container were as high as 125 degrees! Inside a Smart Pot Pro, the temperature was only about 80 degrees. The Smart Pot Pro is available in numerous sizes, from 1 gallon up to 400 gallons. Custom sizes are also available for our Smart Pot Pros.

Pot Pruner

Did you know the High Caliper Growing Pot Pruner turns any plastic pot into a root pruning container? The Pot Pruner is a porous fabric sleeve that is custom made to line the inside of a standard plastic container creating the container into a root pruning pot. It helps plant growth because it stops root circling and promotes lateral root branching, as well as insulates. How does the Pot Pruner work? When the roots of a plant touch the fabric sleeve, they entangle and do not circle. The root tip loses its apical dominance, and the root structure begins to side branch, developing a healthy, fibrous root mass. Because the roots do not circle, you gain extra time and flexibility. When a plant stays longer than anticipated, the Pot Pruner continues to root prune, creating a healthy root ball that explodes with new growth when the plant is shifted. It’s ideal for Pot-In-Pot. Tell us the brand and model number of your nursery container you are using, and we will cut a Pot Pruner specifically for you.

Tree Collar

Since 1984, High Caliper Growing has led a growing revolution for nurserymen. Our one-of-a-kind Tree Collars are the premium device to prevent blow-over and protect your investments. Developed on a Florida farm where wind and hurricane damage are a constant threat, Tree Collars attach to a cable creating a permanent holding station with easy on and off access to your plants. Sizes are available for a sapling up to a 6-inch tree. Give them a try and see how Tree Collars can save you money firsthand. Benefits include keeping trees up-tight and upright, reduced labor cost with quick and secure attachment, more sellable trees without damage, reduced fertilizer costs from blow-over, and the Tree Collars last at least 5 years so they will quickly pay for themselves. If you are looking to enhance your own growing revolution, Tree Collars are a sure-fire product for success.

For more: www.treebag.com

In July, Nursery Management magazine conducted a survey to learn how growers across North America administer pest management plans, budget for insect control, scout for pests and much more. Our survey of more than 300 growers revealed which pest growers battle most often and how they manage control programs. See how your peers handle insect management.

Editor’s note: Due to rounding, not all percentages add up to 100.

To view the full report, click here.

Growers can take a proactive step toward reducing insect pests and install insect screening over greenhouse vent openings.

“Screening isn’t cheap, there is an initial investment. But in the long run there is a savings in the reduction of pesticide applications, cleaner plants [and a] healthier environment,” says Raymond Cloyd, an entomologist, professor and extension specialist at Kansas State University.

He adds that insect screening should be part of any IPM program and is compatible with the use of biological controls.

Insect screening can help keep out the common insects that plague a growing operation. Properly sized and fitted insect screening will also keep the beneficial insects from escaping, but more importantly it will keep flying insects out that Cloyd says “inundate the biologicals” like thrips (Thysanoptera), whiteflies (Aleyrodidae), onion or allium leafminers (Phytomyza gymnostoma Loew), and shore flies (Ephydridae).

Insect screening is particularly important in locations where greenhouses are near adjoining fields of corn, soybeans and other crops, where insects can enter the greenhouse from the fields, particularly during harvest time.

Sizing up the situation

Once a grower gets the go-ahead from procurement to invest in screening material, the next course of action is to select the right product for their greenhouse.

“The first thing I ask them to do is contact the National Greenhouse Manufacturers Association,” Cloyd says. “This association has guidelines on how to install this screening; you just can’t put screening on your vents, you’ll burn out your fans.”

Cloyd says he has worked with many growers in the installation stage of greenhouse screening. He says the first step in properly installing insect screens involves calculating the square footage of space needed for the cages or boxes that are installed on the exterior of the greenhouse. The cages provide adequate ventilation and cooling while preventing fan motors from burning out.

The other consideration is the size of the holes or pore spaces in the screening opening. Thrips, for example, are narrow and thin, and can squeeze through some of the smallest openings.

In his book “Greenhouse Pest Management,” Cloyd advises greenhouse operators to install the insect screening based on the smallest insect that needs to be excluded and says that a virus screen may also reduce the incidence of viral diseases, such as the impatiens necrotic spot and tomato spotted wilt viruses, both vectored by the western flower thrip.

Accordion screening

The folding, or accordion, system, is sold by Holland Gaas, a company in the Netherlands. Accordion screening can be installed over venlo vents, continuous vents, sidewall vents or butterfly vents outside a greenhouse.

“Insect [screening] has made a bunch of leaps from the beginning — from pest [screening] over padded end walls and cages — to the newest innovation, accordion netting,” says Julie Gilbert-Vijverberg, director of Batesville, Indiana-based G&V Greenhouse Solutions and U.S. representative for Holland Gaas.

Gilbert-Vijverbert says greenhouse owners should consult with manufacturers before installing accordion screening to find out the projected cubic feet per minute (CFM) of their fans and see if the openings need to be retrofitted with cages or boxes to maintain adequate air flow. Newer greenhouses may not need the boxes and cages. A greenhouse manufacturer or a greenhouse construction company can help configure the airflow reduction to have adequate airflow for growers’ greenhouse needs.

Maintaining your screening

Standard greenhouse screens can last from five to 10 years if it is maintained properly, Cloyd says.

“You’ve got to keep them clean because dirt and debris can build up,” he says. “I know growers who have used them for up to 10 years.”

Gilbert-Vijverberg recommends cleaning the screening once a year, especially if your houses are located near farm fields where farmers are plowing. The debris that is kicked up by the plowing clings to the screens, reducing ventilation. Gilbert-Vijverberg says growers can clean the surface of accordion screening by using a pressure washer set at 2,500 psi with a fan tip and lightly spraying from the inside out, or if thrips are your main problem, from the outside in. She says conventional greenhouse screening should be cleaned with a garden hose and spray gun.

The more you have invested in a crop, the more you need to protect it, and insect screening not only provides a good insect barrier but a level of security that all is well with your crop. Insect screening is another consideration for growers looking for crop protection and peace of mind.

Neil is a horticulturist and owner of Green Industry Marketing. This article first appeared in sister publication, Greenhouse Management magazine.