The Nursery Production Tour has been renamed the Nursery and Landscape Tour (Saturday, July 14, 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and it offers participants more than a visit and a chance to look around. Join industry colleagues as you tour two stops along the nursery supply chain.
The add-on cost of this tour is $125. It includes transportation, lunch, and stops at two tour locations. Space is limited, and early registration is strongly recommended. To register, please refer to the registration form or Cultivate18.org.
A. Brown & Sons Nursery
The first stop on the tour is A. Brown & Sons Nursery, a wholesale nursery which sprawls across 2,000 acres in Montgomery County and the Miami Valley area.
The nursery started as 10 acres of vegetable production, when it was founded in 1959 by Anthony (Tony) and Helen Brown, along with their six children John, Harry, Barbara, Ken, Vernon and Mike. Anthony had emigrated from Germany to the U.S. in 1929 and Helen was the daughter of German immigrants.
The nursery really took off in 1971 when Kenny and Vernon Brown returned from serving in the Vietnam War. The nursery is named after their father, Anthony, and has grown immensely in its 56 years of existence. Currently, seven of Anthony’s grandchildren work in the business. The third-generation of Browns is going strong.
When the recession hit in 2008, many area farmers went under. Ken Brown, the president of Brown’s Nursery, saw an opportunity and acquired many smaller farms during the recession, adding to its production space.
“He was buying farms when everyone else was getting rid of land,” says Kevin Ganger, biologist for A. Brown & Sons Nursery. “And every acre is bought and paid for.”
The Brown family has purchased much of the surrounding farmland and converted it to nursery use. The operation has swollen to 52 farms, many of which are named after the farmer who originally worked the land. Instead of numbered fields, names like Milligan Farm or Marshall Farm are common.
Ganger says the nursery decides what to plant on the newly acquired farms based on the soil type.
Ganger says the Brown family’s secret to success is quality product. The nursery doesn’t advertise, doesn’t do anything in the way of marketing. The trucks that ship Brown trees to west to Colorado, east to New York, north to Minnesota and south to Tennessee, bear no markings identifying their home nursery. That’s the way Brown’s has always done business, and the nursery has no plans to change anytime soon.
“Most of our business comes from word-of-mouth,” he says. “Someone buys a tree and tells a friend.”
A. Brown & Sons Nursery grows the tried-and-true crops that landscapers want. Ganger says the fact that the nursery sells large specimens, up to 5-inch B&B trees, means that the nursery needs to think long and hard about adding new varieties to its product line. There are some trees that won’t sell for 10 years. While he’d love to grow items like blue beech, many customers don’t want that long of a return on their investment. Hardiness is another major consideration.
“If it isn’t zoned for this area, we’re not going to grow it,” Ganger says.
Another key to the nursery’s success is its strong boxwood program. Concerns about boxwood blight haven’t touched Brown’s – the nursery grows 35,000 to 40,000 Buxus cuttings each year. It’s all homegrown. While most bareroot trees grown at the nursery arrive as liners from the West Coast, almost all of Brown’s shrubs are propagated in-house.
Ganger anticipates plenty of questions about the nursery’s boxwood program during the tour, as well as his irrigation and soil testing systems.
Matt McClellan
Peabody Landscape Group, Inc.
This tour will also visit Peabody Landscape Group, Inc. in central Ohio. The company was founded in started in 1982 and has grown throughout the area to provide landscape design-build and environmental site management services.
Peabody Landscape Group, Inc.’s president, David Peabody, has 31 years of experience in landscape architecture, construction and site management. The company takes on a wide range of jobs, from installing a mass planting on commercial sites to building new brick patios or attending perennial gardens at residential locations.
The “group” includes six different services, each with separate brands: AquaLawn Irrigation Services, Estate Gardener Services, Healthy Lawn Turfcare, Horticare Tree and Plant Specialists, Illumiscapes Architectural and Accent Lighting and Relaxed Outdoor Living.
The company has placed an emphasis on connecting with the younger generation to develop a future workforce. Patrick Lynch, senior designer at Peabody, and his twin brother Mike Lynch, account representative at Environmental Management in Columbus, both saw benefits in getting involved with FFA’s nursery and landscape-based Career Development Events, which is a testing program for high school students considering a career in landscaping.
A few years ago, Patrick and Mike had the idea to develop a more interactive landscaping competition for students.
“A teacher told me his students could never pass the test to attend CDE,” Patrick says. “So, I said, ‘What if we create an event where all high schools throughout Ohio, no matter what, can come? We could have test problems and industry representatives. Would you come?’ And he said, ‘In a heartbeat, my students would love it.’”
With that, the Lynch brothers pitched their idea for a more inclusive student landscaping competition to the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association. ONLA loved the idea – the state association formed a committee for the event and recruited help from contractors across the state. By 2016, the association hosted its first event, which it dubbed the Ohio High School Landscape Olympics.
Partnerships can help with these test problems, too. Patrick says Peabody Landscape teamed with Willoway Nursery to manage the plant installation test at OHLO 2017. In addition, he says some landscaping companies and local colleges donated money to provide ONLA with funds for food, tents and tables to use.
At OHLO, students compete in a variety of events like truck and trailer operation, skid-steer operation, sales presentation, irrigation, landscape maintenance and plant installation to name a few.
OHLO was such a hit among teachers and students in 2016 that ONLA decided to bring it back again in November 2017. This past fall, 250 students from 20 schools participated.
Megan Smalley, associate editor for Lawn & Landscape, contributed to this article.
Travel & Taxes
Supplement - Cultivate ‘18
Learn which tax write-offs for trade show attendance are permissible.
Industry events such as Cultivate’18 in Columbus, Ohio, are a good way to gain know-how, find new suppliers and network with others in the industry. Best of all, Uncle Sam, in the form of our tax laws, is willing to pick up the expense of attending many of these events — at least for some.
Bottom-line, green industry businesses can deduct all non-extravagant “ordinary and necessary expenses” incurred attending business-related meetings, conferences, shows and other events. With certain limits, allowable expenses include travel, lodging, meals and associated out-of-pocket costs.
Unfortunately, many deductions for show attendance previously claimed on the personal tax returns of attendees, were temporarily suspended by last December’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) — the same bill that put a bigger crimp in the meals and entertainment deductions.
For a nursery to take the deduction, it must have the convention expenses on its books. If the owner/employee, or any attendee, pays an expense personally, they must submit an expense report detailing the expense, and the business must reimburse that expense to get the deduction.
Reform meals and entertainment
The TCJA eliminated, at least until 2026, the deductibility of some itemized deductions of individuals. Targeted were miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the former 2 percent floor. That means unreimbursed employee business expenses (including expenses for travel, lodging, meals, entertainment, continuing education and others) can no longer be claimed.
Fortunately, many of these deductions remain available for use by nurseries, including sole proprietorships. Although the TCJA isn’t too clear on how the new rules apply to business meals, under the new law, entertainment is no longer deductible.
However, no change has been made to the 50 percent deduction for business meals or the 100 percent deduction allowed for expenses incurred for recreational, social or similar activities that are primarily for the benefit of employees. Until the IRS issues some much-needed guidance, the specific tax treatment for many of these meals remains open to interpretation.
Travel, meals and entertainment
Although the TCJA appears to have wiped out many show-related expense deductions, many remain, at least for a nursery. If, for example, business is conducted during a meal, a deduction may be available. Of course, a deduction of 50 percent of the cost of meals incurred while traveling away from home on business is still possible.
While the tax laws limit the business meal deduction to only 50 percent of the expense, not too surprisingly, those rules contain quite a few gray areas. If, for instance, the business foots the bill to take employees to a conference, the full amount of their meals is deductible by the nursery business. The 50 percent rule applies only to the business owner.
If, on the other hand, a meal immediately precedes or follows a substantial business meeting, 50 percent of the cost can be deducted — so long as it was not “lavish or extravagant.”
Of course, if the nursery provides meals in a hospitality suite at a convention with the clear intent of generating business, the cost is usually deductible. Other meals, outside, that were paid for purely for goodwill purposes, may not qualify as “directly-related” to the business. Under the TCJA, meals during business travel and meals at a seminar or conference, are 50 percent deductible.
Because entertainment-related meals are now treated differently from customer or client business meals, it may be necessary to account for each separately. For instance, client or customer business meals are deductible only if they are not lavish or extravagant and only if the taxpayer, or a representative, is present. Because entertainment expenditures are no longer deductible, it is necessary to conduct business with the client or customer for the meal to be deductible.
Mixing business and pleasure
Generally, taking extra days for a mini-vacation won’t result in the loss of the show-attendance deduction. The tax rules permit a deduction for the total travel costs when the main purpose of the trip is attending a convention, trade show or conference.
When combining a vacation or side-trip with convention attendance, a good rule is to spend more days on business than on pleasure. When mixing business with pleasure, round-trip travel is fully deductible if more days are spent on business than on pleasure.
Under the tax rules, former and present, days spent traveling are usually considered business days. Obviously, lodging expenses cannot be deducted for personal days, but purchasing a reduced-fare ticket requiring stay-over days, means lodging costs for stay-over days is permissible.
When traveling by car, either the specific cost or a standard mileage deduction for the year of travel can be used. Currently, the standard rate for use of a car, van, pick-up or van is up a penny from 2017 to 54.5 cents per mile for any business travel.
Friends, family and others
When friends, family or other guests accompany an attendee to a show, convention or conference, only the business-related portion of the expenses can be deducted. In other words, deducting the cost of the family’s hotel suite is a no-no. Instead, the deduction should be limited to the cost of a single room, an amount readily available from the hotel.
Of course, if a bona fide business purpose exists for the individual's presence, and can be proven, a tax deduction might result. Incidental services, such as keeping notes or assisting in entertaining customers, are not enough to make the expenses deductible. Generally, the travel expenses of someone accompanying an attendee can be deducted if that person: is an employee of the business; has a bona fide business purpose for the travel; and would otherwise be allowed to deduct the travel expenses.
Convention types
Any nursery clearing the hurdles created by our lawmakers, with the proof to support it, may deduct the entire cost of sending attendees to a convention, show or conference (subject to the usual 50 percent limit on meals and entertainment) and minus any attendees’ personal expenses. However, the rules are tighter if the event is held outside the North American area or on a cruise ship.
Foreign conventions: To deduct the expense of attending a trade show or convention held outside the North American area, the business must show that the event is directly related to the active conduct of the nursery or growing operation, and it is as reasonable for the event to be held outside the North American area as it is to hold it within the North American area.
Cruise ship conventions: To deduct a cruise ship convention, meeting or other event, even more stringent rules exist. First, the cruise ship must be a U.S.-registered vessel. Next, the ship must make all of its ports of call in the U.S. or U.S. possessions.
Finally, the tax law limits cruise ship convention deductions to only $2,000 per year. And, don’t forget, a signed, written-statement stating the total days spent on the ship and how many hours were devoted to business each day. Another statement, this one from an officer of the sponsoring group or organization confirming both the scheduled activities and the attendance of the participant.
Those dreaded receipts
While receipts for expenses of $75 or less are not required, whenever business expenses are claimed it’s usually a good idea to keep detailed records and receipts for everything. They often serve as a reminder of a deductible expense, especially where the payment was in cash.
When attending a show, meeting or conference, a copy of all charges, as well as a copy of the convention schedule/agenda can help prove it relevance to the nursery. Also keep in mind that while there is no overall dollar limit on the amount that can be deducted for the expenses incurred attending a trade show, costs that are “lavish and extravagant” cannot be deducted.
To recap, as with the travel and lodging expenses of other business trips, the primary reason for attending a trade show, convention, meeting or seminar must be business-related to qualify for deductions. When it comes to events for investment, political, social, or other purposes unrelated to business, only a limited expense deduction may be available. If the trip is strictly a disguised vacation, business travel expenses cannot be deducted. However, that 50 percent deduction for business-related meal expenses may be permitted.
In general, all “ordinary and necessary expenses” for attending business meetings and conferences can be deducted when the expense is directly related to the nursery. With certain limitations, allowable expenses include travel, lodging, meals and associated out-of-pocket costs — so long as they are not extravagant or for personal purposes.
Additional guidance is available from the IRS in "Publication 463: Travel, Entertainment, Gift and Car Expenses." A copy of this publication is available at www.irs.gov/formspubs. The principal or manager of any nursery needing help with this most confusing area of our tax rules might seek professional advice.
Time to shine
Supplement - Cultivate ‘18
Gather your team for Cultivate’18, the green industry’s largest show in North America.
In the midsummer heat, an estimated 10,000 people will converge on the Greater Columbus Convention Center to visit more than 700 exhibitors. The trade show takes place from Sunday, July 15 to Tuesday, July 17, but there are several educational opportunities the day before the show floor opens. As in previous years, AmericanHort has packed Saturday with several add-on tours and workshops that may be worth your time and money. And the seminars don’t stop when the show starts. We’ve highlighted some of the nursery and business-related sessions here. For all the details regarding Cultivate’18, including greenhouse, garden center, landscape and business sessions, visit www.cultivate18.org.
Saturday, July 14
Drone Workshop: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. | Room C150 In this workshop, we'll be introducing attendees to small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS). The focus will be on risk-based training for current and future commercial users of this cool, emerging technology. Attendees will achieve an improved understanding of flight regulations, types of platforms and sensors, data processing, potential agricultural uses, and liability issues related to UAS. Attendees will leave knowing how to make improved decisions to match the best sUAS with their needs. This workshop is partially supported by a grant from the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center (SRMEC). The cost of this workshop is $65.
Biocontrols Workshop: Learning to Identify Key Pests | 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Room C160 The basis for a good pest management program is knowing what you're dealing with. In this workshop, we'll teach you how to ID key pests found in the greenhouse. We'll be going beyond the basics and help take you to the next level. The workshop will continue at on offsite location after this session where we will discuss advanced release techniques. Hands-on demonstrations and discussions will be done with a top biocontrol specialist from the industry. The cost of this workshop is $125 and it is approved for pesticide re-certification credits.
Nursery and Landscape Tour | 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Union Station B If you have a multifunctional business in the nursery and landscape world, this tour is for you! We will visit A. Brown & Sons Nursery, a large grower of healthy, quality shade & ornamental trees, evergreens, shrubs and select perennials with more than 50 years growing experience. They supply a wide variety and great quantity of wholesale nursery stock to landscapers and re-wholesalers across the country. They also have a garden center and Landscaping crew that services the Dayton/Miami Valley region of Ohio. This tour will also visit Peabody Landscape Group, Inc. in central Ohio. They started in 1982 and have grown throughout the area to provide landscape design-build and environmental site management services. The cost of this tour is $125. (See more on the tours in this special supplement.)
CareerUP – Define your future | 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Short North Ballroom Connect with other young professionals who are ambitious about growing their careers and are passionate about revolutionizing the way we promote horticulture as a career, hobby, and life necessity. This one-day workshop series is tailored to emerging horticulture professionals to help you expand your skills, define your future, and navigate the green industry career ladder. The cost of this workshop is $125.
Can Recycled Water Improve Your Profit Margin? | 1 to 4:30 p.m. | Room A210 Recycling irrigation is of critical importance to sustaining the horticulture industry’s water supply while reducing its environmental footprint. However, water quality in runoff containment ponds was not known until recently and its impacts on horticultural production remain largely unknown. This presentation highlights what we learned about recycled water quality through two major multi-institutional projects over the past decade. It also discusses how water quality may affect chlorine and pesticides’ performance, nutrient availability, plant quality and productivity, and how to reduce potential impacts. Speaker: Chuan Hong, Virginia Tech
Hydrangea Workshop: Get Blooming with the Best and Biggest Blooms | 1 to 5 p.m. | Room C170 Learn how to consistently produce blooming, high-quality, nursery-grown hydrangeas in your clients' desired bloom color at this hands-on workshop. We will cover fertilization, blueing, pH management, forcing, container substrates, and controlling growth with irrigation and plant growth regulators. Leave with the information you need to grow hydrangea crops that match your clients’ quality and size requirements every time. Speakers: Amy Fulcher, Anthony LeBude, Jim Owen, Jeff Stoven
Intellectual Property Rights for Plant Breeders and Growers: Obtaining and using multiple types of IP in a comprehensive strategy | 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. | Room A210 Intellectual property (IP) rights for plants have become increasingly important over the years and are now a major part of the business model of many breeders and growers of ornamental and fruit plants. This session will discuss the two main types of IP rights that breeders and growers should always be considering - plant patents and trademarks - and will provide valuable information on how to obtain and use both these types of IP protection, including: why growers and breeders should obtain both types of protection, how patents and trademarks are obtained, timing issues around filing applications, considerations to keep in mind when both types of protection are being sought, and strategies for utilizing both types of IP rights in a comprehensive strategy to maximize your protection and the monetization of your novel plant varieties. Speakers: Travis Bliss and Laura Pitts, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
Focusing on Substrates: The Wood Fiber Frenzy | 4 to 5 p.m. | Union Station A Recent commercialization and marketing of wood fiber substrates has generated a lot of excitement, curiosity, and questions in the horticultural production world. This session will highlight many North American and European wood substrate products, including Hydrafiber, Greenfibre, Hortifibre, Forest Fiber, Forest Gold, WholeTree, Clean Chip Residual, and Pine Tree Substrates. How are they different? How are they similar? What are the advantages, disadvantages, problems, and potentials? A review of the characteristics of these materials will be given as well as laboratory analysis and grower trial experience. Speaker: Brian Jackson, NC State (See Q&A with Brian Jackson in this supplement.)
Sunday, July 15
On the Front Lines: IR-4 Project and New Active Ingredients for Plant Success | 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. | Room A210 The IR-4 Project develops efficacy and crop safety data on new active ingredients and products to manage diseases, pests and weeds. We screen any type of active ingredient from living biologicals to designer chemistry to find the best tool for the situation. We then provide our information to the companies registering these actives to turn them into commercial products. In this presentation, we will highlight IR-4’s registration support research activities and then dive into recent research outcomes for new fungicides/bactericides, insecticides/miticides and herbicides. Speaker: Cristi Palmer, Ornamental Horticulture Program Manager IR-4 @ Rutgers University (See Q&A with Cristi Palmer in this supplement.)
Progressive Work Utilizing Manufacturing Principles | 10 to 10:20 a.m. | Knowledge Center Learn how manufacturing assembly techniques are being used in the Green Industry. Learn how progressive work is applied in potting/canning, sticking, patching/fixing, and shipping. See how these simple techniques will help you increase productivity as much as 40%. The best thing about this technique is that you do not need expensive equipment to make it work - use what you have. Speaker: Gerson Cortes, FlowVision
Assembling a PourThru Kit: What You Need to Know Now | 10 to 10:30 a.m. | Live for Growers Stage Which pH and EC meter should you purchase? What other pieces of equipment do you need? In this demonstration session, we'll provide you with the answers on how to assemble your own PourThru Toolbox so that you can begin an in-house nutrient monitoring program. Speaker: Brian Whipker, NC State
Safeguarding Boxwood with the Latest Research | 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. | Room A210 Is boxwood blight keeping you awake at night? Are you looking for new research to improve horticultural practices for better protection of your crops and customers from this destructive disease? If so, this is your session. It presents and translates the latest boxwood blight research into practical knowledge and technologies. It also discusses how they may be integrated into current production systems to strengthen the lines of defense against this disease. Speaker: Chuan Hong, Virginia Tech
Need Labor? Seed Your Future’s BLOOM! Has New Resources for You | 10:45 to 11: 45 a.m. | Room A113 According to industry research, one of the most challenging issues for horticulture businesses is the lack of qualified candidates to fill our open positions. Seed Your Future is the movement to help make long-term change in the industry and inspire more people to pursue careers working with plants. Last year you heard from Seed Your Future about our research findings - specifically our focus groups with middle schoolers, their parents, their teachers and their guidance counselors. Since then, we've launched a multi-faceted, education, marketing and PR campaign based on that research – BLOOM! Hear from Seed Your Future co-chair Anna Ball of Ball Horticultural Company, along with national leadership cabinet member Cole Mangum of Bell Nursery, and SYF executive director Susan E. Yoder. We'll share our new educational tools, PR outreach, and the partner toolkits you can use to participate in the movement and help ensure a qualified horticulture workforce for the future. Speakers: Anna Ball, Ball Horticulture Co.; Cole Mangum, Bell Nursery; Susan Yoder, Seed Your Future
Using Math in Real Life: Squeezing Every Drop Out of Nursery Irrigation | 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. | Room A220 Want to improve your nursery irrigation, but don’t know where to begin or unsure about the math? This session will give you the math primer you need to implement changes with immediate results. Join us for a math lesson you won't soon forget! We'll give you easy steps--things you can do the day you return to your nursery to make changes, small and big, that save water and fuel while maximizing the impact of your fertilizer. Calculations will be broken down, step by step, with easy-to-follow examples. Speaker: Amy Fulcher, University of Tennessee
New Ways to Find Labor | 11:30 to 11:50 a.m. | Knowledge Center Are you having trouble finding labor? Come join us for some new ways to think about recruiting and retaining employees. It’s time to step outside of the box! Speaker: John Terhesh, Willoway Nurseries (See Q&A with John Terhesh in this supplement.)
Crape myrtle Bark Scale: Solutions for Crape myrtles and Other At-Risk Hosts | 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. | Live for Growers Stage Crape myrtle is prized for its beauty and its relative freedom from pests in the United States. It provides pollen to pollinators in the summer, when few other trees are flowering. Unfortunately, this $66 million/year crop is threatened by an emerging pest: Crape myrtle bark scale (CMBS). CMBS has spread to 13 states and now counts the native American beautyberry among its host plants, causing significant concerns among stakeholders in the Green Industry and native flora. This session will inform you documented and confirmed alternative hosts of CMBS and provide solution to this pest. Speaker: Mengmeng Gu, Texas A&M
Water Tools for Growers: SCRI Research | 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. | Room A210 Water conservation, management, and recycling are critical aspects of plant production. Fortunately, new research results are providing new tools to help green industry professionals track water quality, implement solutions to manage water quality problems, and assess risk for plant disease problems based on your current (or newly adopted) production practice. Speaker: Sarah White, Clemson University
Getting a Handle on Boxwood Blight Mitigation 3:30 to 4 p.m. | Live for Growers stage Boxwood blight is a disease of increasing concern to all parties on the horticulture chain - from grower to consumer. This session looks beyond the latest research. We'll examine the state of knowledge about this disease and chart strategies to prevent, contain, and manage its accidental introduction at local, state, and national levels through live discussions with growers and other horticulturists. Speaker: Chuan Hong, Virginia Tech
Finessing Fertility Programs for Nursery Crops | 4 to 5 p.m. | Room A210 Understanding your fertility program can bring profit to your business. How much do you really know about the controlled release fertilizers and growing media amendments regularly added to your container mix? This session will review the basics about these components before diving into the latest research and recommendations. We'll discuss using fertilizer formulations to reduce phosphorus, share opportunities with controlled release fertilizer placement, examine nutrient movement within the container, and the effect of amendments and fertilizer on pH of pine bark based substrates. This overview of the basics, combined with new insights, will help you better understand and fine-tune your fertility program with an eye on increasing profitably. Speaker: Jim Owen, VT
Monday, July 16
Morning Jolt Keynote: Elevating Performance for Leaders and Their Teams | 8 to 9:15 a.m. | Short North Ballrooms In his can’t-miss keynote, Scott Greenberg, noted businessman and speaker, discusses both skill set and mindset, helping business leaders and their teams elevate performance and grow their companies. He’ll be challenging conventional thinking and getting people immediately focused on the ideas and actions that matter most. Speaker: Scott Greenberg
When Stuff Gets Hard: Managing Difficult Employment Issues | 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. | Room C170 Have you ever had to handle a sexual harassment issue, employee under the influence of drugs, or an employee with medical issues that limits his or her ability to do his or her job? In this session, we'll examine some of the most difficult employment issues a business can face and how supervisors, companies, and fellow employees should respond to these situations. Speaker: Richard Aliniz, Cruickshank & Alaniz
Stay on Track: Working Smarter with Productivity Metrics | 10 to 10:20 a.m. | Knowledge Center Want to know how cutting-edge research can help you reduce, remediate, and recycle irrigation water? Twenty-two researchers at nine universities across the U. S. have been working together over the past four years to help develop water treatment technologies, economic analyses, and practical water use and treatment strategies. In this session, you'll learn about the ongoing research, how it can help you save water and money, and how to stay up-to-date with tools the team is developing to help inform your decision-making processes. Speaker: Neil Marek, general manager, Magnolia Gardens Nursery tissue culture lab (See Q&A with Neil Marek in this supplement.)
Pollinators, Plants & You: Speed Updates on Recent Research | 10:45 to 11:15 a.m. | Live for Growers stage The IR-4 Project is facilitating a research project on how to protect pollinators in ornamental horticulture. In this presentation, we will provide short updates on several experiments examining the level of attractiveness of top selling crops and the amount of residues in pollen and nectar after foliar sprays or drenches with systemic insecticides. Speaker: Cristi Palmer, Rutgers University
Taming the Top 10 Troublesome Insect Pests of Woody Landscape Plants | 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. | Room A210 This talk covers the diagnosis and control of major insect pests of woody landscape plants including borers (e.g., emerald ash borer), Japanese beetles, scale insects, caterpillars, mites, sawflies, leaf miners, and other pests. It includes many tips on managing pests with non-chemical tactics or reduced risk insecticides with straight talk on which approaches are most effective. This session is eligible for pesticide re-certification credits for OH, IN, NJ, MA, MD, FL, MI, CT as of 4/12/2018 (This list will be updated as states approve sessions). Speaker: Daniel Potter, University of Kentucky
Understanding the New Tax Law | 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. | Room A220 Join national tax consulting leader K-Coe Isom, along with members of the AmericanHort advocacy team, to discuss elements of the new tax law and learn how to best position your business for success in the future. A presentation from K-Coe will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience. Speaker: Ryan Stroschein, K-Coe Isom
Back from the Ban: The Complex Issue of Sterile Cultivars from Invasive Species | 4 to 5 p.m. | Room A210 A number of landscape plants have escaped cultivation to become weedy or even invasive in native ecosystems. This has led to regulation or banning of some species of great economic importance to the nursery and landscape industries. To address this issue, breeders are developing new cultivars with reduced fertility. It remains to be seen if these cultivars will be allowed in states or regions for which the species-type is banned or otherwise regulated. This session will present a discussion between researchers, breeders, department of agriculture representatives, and industry members. Speakers: panel includes Ryan Contreras, Oregon State University; David Fujino, UC Davis; Dan Kenny, Ohio Dept. of Agriculture; Gary McAninch, Oregon Dept. of Agriculture; Tim Wood, Spring Meadow Nursery
Tuesday, July 17:
Weeding Out Weed Control Costs in Container Grown Nursery Crops | 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. | Room A210 Weed management in container nursery crops can be costly! Overall costs can be over $4000 per acre. Would you like to reduce your hand weeding labor and costs by 40% (or more)? In this presentation Dr. Neal will describe several weed management strategies and practices that have been shown to provide an average of 39% cost savings compared to standard grower practices.(This session qualifies for pesticide recertification credits in OH, NC, IN, NJ, MA, MD, FL, MI, CT as of 4/12/2018 (This list will be updated as state departments approve sessions). Speaker: Joseph Neal, NC State (See Q&A with Joseph Neal in this supplement.)
Horticultural Tags and Signs to Fit Every Budget | 10 to 10:30 a.m. | Live for Growers stage Whether you have a budget of a few hundred dollars or thousands, you can still up your game and improve your marketing with high-quality labels, tags, and signs. Join us for this session, and we'll show you how. Speaker: Todd Davis, Horticultural Marketing and Printing/Orora Visual
The Green Slime: Nostoc Know-How | 11:30 to 11:50 a.m. | Knowledge Center Nostoc, that dreaded green slime that grows along common surfaces in nurseries (gravel, cement, ground cloth), is not a pest to nursery crops—but it does pose a safety hazard for workers by creating slippery surfaces. If the infestation is severe enough, colonies of this bacteria can spread to containers, where it is visible and unappealing to buyers. Join this session to understand known control methods for Nostoc. This project was funded by the Horticultural Research Institute, the research arm of AmericanHort. Speaker: Joseph Neal, NC State
Technical help
Features - Special Focus // Irrigation
Learn how WaterQual, a new online tool, helps interpret your irrigation water quality testing.
Figure 2. Surface water sources such as this irrigation pond may require treatment for biological water issues such as algae or plant pathogens.
Photos provided by the authors
Many challenges can result from poor quality of your irrigation water. When using well or municipal supply water, issues mainly arise from high levels of dissolved ions such as sodium, chloride, or bicarbonates. Chemical water problems may require a treatment technology such as reverse osmosis (Figure 1). If you are irrigating from a catchment pond (Figure 2), biological issues such as algae and plant pathogens may require a sanitizing technology such as chlorination. Filtration (Figure 3) is needed with both well and surface water sources to remove particles such as sediment that clog fine irrigation emitters.
Sending in a water sample to a horticulture laboratory for testing is the first step to diagnose a water issue. See the sidebar on how to sample your irrigation water. Tables 1 and 2 provide guidelines on what parameters should be tested.
However, measuring is not management – you need to interpret and act on water test results. For this reason, we designed a free online tool for growers called WaterQual (Figure 4) available at cleanwater3.org/growertools.asp.
Figure 1. Technologies such as this reverse osmosis system may be required to treat chemical water quality issues such as high electrical conductivity.
Enter the results from your water test report into WaterQual to highlight likely problems for use in irrigation in greenhouses and nurseries.
The extension tool is in English and Spanish, and can be used on a desktop or mobile device. WaterQual is a collaboration of the University of Connecticut and University of Florida, with funding by federal and industry partners.
WaterQual interpretation
An example water report from a California nursery is shown in Figure 4. WaterQual highlights several key points for this grower:
Table 1. Chemical water quality measurements *Not interpreted in WaterQual
Moderate pH and high alkalinity: pH and alkalinity levels this high mean pH adjustment (addition of acid) will be required in the spray tank for some pesticides. Injection of acid is recommended to reduce alkalinity and avoid an increase in substrate-pH over time.
Figure 3. There are many filtration options, such as these automatic back-flushing disc filters, to remove particles (“suspended solids”) from irrigation water.
High chloride, and moderate EC and sodium: The high chloride level increases electrical conductivity (dissolved salt level) of the irrigation water and the risk of salt burn of foliage and roots. It may be necessary to have periodic leaching of the root substrate or replacement of a recirculating nutrient solution to avoid salt build up and restore nutrient balance. Treatments such as reverse osmosis or blending with rainwater may be necessary.
Table 2. Biological water quality measurements *Not interpreted in WaterQual
High calcium: Ca is a fertilizer nutrient. Increased Ca can limit plant uptake of other required nutrients such as potassium and magnesium, but fertilizer levels are often as high as 200 ppm. As Ca level increases in the water source, decrease the applied fertilizer Ca.
High total suspended solids: Filtration is necessary, with increasing need for multi-stage filtration to avoid clogging of drip or micro-irrigation equipment as TSS increases. It is also important to know what types of particles are present (biological, chemical, or mineral) in order to select the best filtration option.
Figure 4. Example data in the online WaterQual tool available at cleanwater3.org/growertools.asp.
High levels of aerobic bacteria: The risk of clogging of irrigation equipment is high because the bacteria count is above 10,000 CFU/mL.
We suggest you get your water tested at a laboratory, and try out the WaterQual tool. If you would like more training on water quality and treatment, take our new four-week online course “Water Quality and Treatment” which begins on Nov. 5 2018. See hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/ for more information on this and other courses. Additional resources are available at cleanwater3.org.
Acknowledgements This work is supported by Critical Agricultural Research and Extension grant #11947449, the Clean WateR3 Specialty Crops Research Initiative grant #2014-51181-22372, and the Floriculture Nursery Research Initiative grant #58-3607-8-725 from the USDA NIFA, and industry partners in the Floriculture Research Alliance.
About the Authors Dr. Paul Fisher is a professor and extension specialist at the University of Florida, pfisher@ufl.edu; Dr. Rosa Raudales is an assistant professor and extension specialist at the University of Connecticut, rosa.raudales@uconn.edu; Dr. Bruce MacKay is the managing director of ThomasBaine Ltd., a company specializing in eLearning and decision-support software for the horticulture industry, bruce@thomasbaine.com
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Features - Special Focus // Water Management
Learn how to properly schedule irrigation to improve water management.
Figure 2. Measuring substrate volumetric moisture content with a portable handheld sensor.
Photos courtesy of Tom Fernandez
In last month’s issue we discussed how much water a substrate can hold and how much to replenish at various depletion levels, but not how quickly plants use water. A better understanding of plant water use will allow irrigation scheduling based on the plants rather than a set volume of water. There are several methods to determine how much water a plant uses in a day or a certain time period. Methods include determining leaching fraction (LF), using substrate moisture sensors, or by weight. Scheduling irrigation based on LF has been around for a long time. LF is the amount of water used over a certain period plus enough to cause a desired amount of leaching. To determine LF:
a. Overhead Irrigation: before a normally scheduled irrigation event place 5 to 10 potted plants of the same species individually into larger containers, such as a bucket, that fits tightly around the pot so that water entering the bucket has to go through the substrate.
b. Micro-irrigation (individual plant): before a normally scheduled irrigation, place 5 to 10 potted plants individually into drip pans.
Make sure there is a large enough gap between the bottom of the bucket or drip pan and the pot so that water is not reabsorbed by the substrate, a 1 inch tall ring of PVC pipe or a block of non-absorbent material can be used to provide the gap, or with some buckets the pot may rest on the rim of the bucket so that there is a gap underneath.
a. Overhead: Do the same as 1a except with 5 to 10 of the same size but empty pots, no plant and no substrate.
b. Micro-irrigation: place 5-10 emitters individually into a container that will collect the expected volume of water for the run time.
Run your irrigation system for the normal period, record the time.
Measure the volume of water collected in each bucket/container.
Average the volume collected from buckets with plants and average that collected from buckets without plants (or emitter containers), divide the average with plants by the average without plants, multiply by 100 to get LF (Table 1). See link 1 for an alternative method to determine LF.
You can measure distribution uniformity at the same time if you increase the number of empty containers or emitter only measurements and disperse these throughout your irrigation zone. See links 2 and 3 for methods to determine distribution uniformity.
If the LF is different from your target you can calculate the correct run time for the desired from the information collected:
The MSU Research Nursery at the beginning of an experiment to determine plant daily water use.
Using the LF data in Table 1, where a low LF was used, suppose the soluble salts have risen above recommended levels and you want to provide a 25% LF irrigation. Also suppose the run time was 45 minutes. The run time needed for a 25% LF is:
After the 54-minute leaching irrigation you can go back to the 45-minute irrigation to conserve water. Just remember, as discussed in the previous article, when you go to low LF or other water conserving irrigation it is important to regularly monitor leachate pH and EC (link 4).
Many older recommendations target a LF of 10-20 percent, however, this is based primarily on greenhouse production. For nursery production, at least in the eastern U.S., LF can be much lower because plants periodically receive rain that will leach out enough salts to keep EC at acceptable levels. Since part of a leaner irrigation program includes monitoring EC at least monthly, LF can be increased periodically if EC begins to rise too high and then returned to the lower level as in the example above. Continuously leaching salts (fertilizers) from nursery crops is unnecessary unless there is a problem with high salts in the irrigation water. Consistently high EC with soluble salts in the irrigation water indicates the fertilizer rate may be too high resulting leaching out fertilizer you paid for. We have been irrigating woody plants at zero LF for over 10 years and have not had problems with high soluble salts even during a very dry growing season in Michigan with only 11 inches of rain. Nurseries in more arid regions and those with high soluble salts in their irrigation water that are considering irrigating at low leaching fractions must monitor leachate EC at least monthly to make sure salts are not building up.
We use sensors that measure substrate volumetric moisture content (SVMC- defined in last month’s article) to schedule irrigation. We have used both time domain reflectometry and capacitance sensors, currently we are using capacitance sensors. Handheld portable sensors or permanently placed sensors can be used and we have used both, currently we are using the latter. There are several brands and types of sensors available but make sure you get one appropriate for the expected use. Handheld sensors are rugged enough to be repeatedly inserted into substrates but not most permanent sensors. To determine plant water use with moisture sensors:
Irrigate to cause leaching out of the drain holes.
Wait 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow large pores to drain then measure SVMC with the sensor- this will give you container capacity (SVMCCC).
Wait 24 hours (or some other desired time interval) and measure SVMC again (SVMC24)
The difference between the measurements is how much water has been used by the plant and evaporated, or daily water use (DWU).
To determine how much water to apply to replace DWU: Gallons DWU = (SVMCCC - SVMC24) x container volume acre-inch to apply = gallons DWU x 231 / pr2 231 is the constant to convert gallons to cubic inches, pr2 is the area of the container top.
Figure 3. Growth index (average of width in 2 directions and height in inches) of Callicarpa dichotoma ’Early Amethyst' at the end of one growing season. From left to right: plants irrigated with 3/4 acre-inch (Control) of water daily, plants irrigated to replace 100 percent of the daily water use (100 percent DWU), plants irrigated alternating 100 percent DWU and 75 percent DWU every other day (100 percent -75 percent DWU) or a 3 day cycle of 1 day at 100 percent DWU and 2 days at 75 percent DWU (100 percent -75 percent -75 percent DWU). The numbers on the containers are growth index, there were no significant differences.
This calculation over-estimates to a minor extent since you don’t fill pots up to the very top with substrate.
In steps 2 and 3, sample at least 10 pots for each species or similar water use group (Figure 1) and use the average in step 5. Step 2 should not be done every day, it defeats the purpose of improving irrigation practices to irrigate to drainage every day. Repeat step 2 monthly since CC often changes as plant roots fill pore spaces or substrates settle and shrink. Sampling with the handheld sensors (Figure 2) is very quick- just a few seconds each measurement- but still not something you want to do every day. Step 3 should be done each time you think the irrigation rate needs to be changed. When we used handheld sensors we would measure when there was a noticeable change in the weather (temperature, daylength, humidity, consistent periods of high winds) or approximately every 2 weeks (links 5,6,7). Our current permanently placed sensors provide continuous SVMC (link 7). Permanent sensors are usually part of an automated system that can be continuously monitored with computers (see links 8,9 for a description of these systems). Automated systems can be programed to replace daily irrigation or various other time intervals for more advanced irrigation management such as cyclic irrigation, set-point irrigation or other management needs. Replacing only DWU is basically the same as zero LF so monitor and manage EC as discussed for LF.
As an example of the above calculations, suppose your SVMCCC = 43% (step 2), your SVMC24 = 36% (step 3) and you are growing in true 3 gallon containers (not all 3 gallon containers have an actual volume of 3 gallons) with a top diameter of 11 inches or a radius of 5.5 inches. For individual container emitters we’ll use an application rate of 2 gallons per hour and for overhead irrigation a rate of ¾ acre-inch per hour.
Individual container emitters:
Gallons per plant DWU = (0.43 – 0.36) x 3 = 0.21 gallons
Multiply acre-inch by 27,154 to determine the gallons per acre = 13,860
Figure 4. Growth index (average of width in 2 directions and height in inches) of Thuja plicata ‘Atrovirens’ at the end of one growing season. From left to right: plants irrigated with 3/4 acre-inch (control) of water daily, plants irrigated to replace 100 percent of the daily water use (100 percent DWU), plants irrigated alternating 100 percent DWU and 75 percent DWU every other day (100-75 percent DWU) or a cycle of 1 day at 100 percent DWU and 2 days at 75 percent DWU (100-75-75 percent DWU). The numbers on the containers are growth index, numbers followed by different letters are significantly different at p < 0.05.
These calculations do not account for distribution uniformity. Divide runtime by distribution uniformity to correct.
Finally you can also determine DWU simply by measuring the weight of the containers at container capacity and 24 hours later. Divide the weight difference in pounds by 8.3 (water weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon). So if the difference in weight is 1.74 pounds, the DWU is 1.74 / 8.3 = 0.21 gallons. Use this DWU in the above calculations.
By knowing the DWU, we can start grouping plants with similar DWU into similar irrigation blocks. Measuring and replacing the exact DWU for each crop in is impractical but measuring a representative species for similar DWU groups will allow more efficient irrigation scheduling. A grouping based on DWU (averaged over the season) for plants grown at our research nursery is shown in Figure 1. Most plants had a DWU less than 5% SVMC (see last month’s article). Since local and daily climatic conditions will affect DWU, the amount of irrigation to apply will vary depending on time of year and geographic location but relative water use (high, medium, low) should be similar.
Table 1. Leaching fraction is determined by measuring the water leached from container plants and water collected from the same size container without a plant during a normal irrigation period. Average the water collected from the container plants and divide by the average collected without a plant, multiply by 100 to get the leaching fraction. Leaching fraction in this example is 10 percent (100 x 85 / 857)
Most plants are tougher than we give them credit. Even if we don’t completely replace plant DWU, many plants grow well and sometimes better when irrigated slightly on the dry side. For 7 years our irrigation experiments with 3-gallon shrubs used ¾ acre-inch daily irrigation as control with treatments to apply 100 percent DWU, alternating 100 percent DWU with 1 or 2 days of 75 percent DWU (100-75 percent DWU, 100-75-75 percent DWU). For 30 out of the 37 species we’ve studied, we found the same or better growth for these treatments as for the control (Figure 3), we found lower growth with the control for four species (Figure 4) and lower growth for 100-75-75 percent DWU for three species compared to the control (links 5,6,7). We also found reduced foliar nutrient levels for several plants irrigated with the ¾ acre-inch rate compared to the other treatments (notice control plant chlorosis in Figure 4), indicating that we were leaching fertilizers out of the containers.
Irrigating with low to zero leaching not only reduces the amount of water used for irrigation but reduces the amount of runoff. Depending on species we have been able to reduce the amount of irrigation by 30-70 percent, the amount of runoff water by 30-85 percent and the amount of nitrate and phosphate in runoff by 30-50 percent. To attain results this high might be difficult for a commercial nursery with a much more diverse product mix but substantial reductions in water use, runoff and nutrient loss could certainly be attained.
When scheduling is done properly, it can result in more efficient water use, nutrients retained where they are available for plant uptake, reduced problems with alkaline water, reduced plant losses, improved plant growth and quality, shortened production cycle, less runoff and less off-site movement of water and nutrients.
R. Thomas Fernandez is a professor in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University; fernan15@msu.edu. The author wishes to acknowledge the many years of support from Spring Meadow Nursery, Inc., Renewed Earth LLC, Harrell’s Fertilizer, USDA NIFA Hatch Project MICL 02473, USDA SCRI Clean WateR3 – Reduce, Remediate, Recycle Grant Number 2014-51181-22372, MSU Project GREEEN, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. I would also like to thank my former graduate students Aaron Warsaw and Nicholas Pershey, much of whose research contributed to this article.
Matt McClellan
