RootMaker® containers are unique, patented root-pruning containers resulting from more than 50 years of research by Dr. Carl Whitcomb. The RootMaker® System is the most thoroughly researched root-pruning system on the market and is designed to create fibrous, non-circling root systems, both horizontally and vertically, at all phases of production to equip plants for transplanting success. Our containers are not simply root packaging. They are production tools designed to create superior plants.
At RootMaker®, we are dedicated to helping our customers reach their production goals. Each customer, each geographical location, each type of plant has different needs. For example, the RootTrapper® container success story stems from the increasing need for a container that helps conserve water. Today, thanks to customer requests and continued testing of root system manipulation, we have a wide range of products that create superior plants. For years, customers have requested a larger RootMaker® container. We are now introducing our new blow-molded 15-gallon that is the first edition of larger RootMakers®.
Whether a customer is just starting out or has been using our containers for years, we want to be sure that they are using the best containers to suit their needs in order to provide superior performance and production. We often hear from customers expressing their appreciation about the quality of our products and the service that we provide.
David Thompson of Rennerwood shared, “Rennerwood, Inc. has been growing in RootMaker® containers since the mid-1980s. We have proven over the years that RootMaker® containers produce the absolute best possible root system available to our industry. Over the past 26 years we have enjoyed comparing root systems by trialing every possible root manipulation container, including copper coated containers, on the market. To date we have not found a container that comes close to producing the root system on a tree as does the RootMaker® container. I challenge any container to produce the results we find with RootMaker® Products.”
The fibrous root system increases absorption of water and nutrients which increases top growth, stem diameter, and flowers. The success of the plant is determined by how well it can use the available energy. The more energy, the stronger and more efficient the plant. Recognized as the leader of root pruning technology, helping nurseries around the world reach their growing potential, we are changing the way plants are grown.
“Whether a customer is just starting out or has been using our containers for years, we want to be sure that they are using the best containers to suit their needs in order to provide superior performance and production.”
For more than 90 years, Lambert Peat Moss, a family-owned business, has been acknowledged as a leader in the sphagnum peat moss industry and a steward of the environment. Our devotion and passion for our products makes the perfect partner, whether you are a professional grower or an amateur horticulturist. Well-known for our ability to quickly adapt to the customer’s requests and special needs, Lambert’s success is based on its preoccupation for quality control and consistency of our products.
At Lambert, quality is a priority; that’s why we maintain a complete in-house quality control laboratory. Our agronomists and engineers have developed rigorous standards and procedures to make sure that every cubic foot of product leaving the yard complies with our strict standards. We reassess quality control procedures regularly to increase product quality. To comply with chemical standards, we sample products constantly and analyze for pH and EC. We also analyze particle size distribution, porosity and moisture content, and we frequently measure the yield and firmness of our bags. Finally, we run random greenhouse tests to evaluate our products performance.
But the true pillar of Lambert’s success is its people. Our technical staff of experienced agronomists and soil technicians is always ready to help and advise our customers with any questions they may have. In addition, our sales team is comprised of industry veterans who truly love what they do and strive for customer success.
Lambert offers a large selection of professional and retail growing mixes as well as selected premium types of Canadian sphagnum peat moss for specific uses and productions. The “LM” and “GFM” series are professional growing substrates that use Canadian peat moss as a base to provide growers with a superior and consistent growing media. These mixes can use other components that may include perlite, vermiculite, coir, Ecopeat and composted bark. Lambert also produces organic mixes (OMRI Listed) for germination, growing or especially for crop that require high drainage.
Lambert Peat Moss also offers commercial growers its exclusive ECOPEAT, a highly fibrous natural wood fiber collected from our peat bogs. Depending on the characteristics you’re looking for, choose from our ECOPEAT as a stand-alone product or from our complete line of ready-to-use ECOPEAT Mixes (EPM). If you need exceptional balance of air space and water-holding capacity, with superior longevity and minimal shrinkage, EPM will be the best product to look for.
In order to surpass and meet the needs of its clients, Lambert proposes the possibility to customize all its Standard Professional Peat-Based Substrates and gives the option to custom blend virtually any formulation that suits the growers. Depending on the characteristics the producer is looking for, he can choose the peat grade, adjust the pH (up or down), include a moisture content, a nutrient charge, an organic-approved input, biologicals or disease-suppressive products. We can provide endless possibilities to fulfill any grower’s expectations. Lambert can assist retailers to develop their own private label of retail potting mixes and landscape soils for the horticultural market.
Lambert proudly holds the VeriFlora® – Certified Peatland Products certification for responsible peatland management since 2011. This certification program is the industry’s most important standard. Compliance with this program guarantees a firm commitment to ongoing improvement in the production of substrates for horticultural growth and sustainable practices.
The Lambert family and its employees take pride in providing customers with the highest quality of peat products and peat-based mixes while simultaneously nurturing the land that it harvests from. From our family to yours, we are honored to be at the root of your success since 1928.
As the world’s leading manufacturer of professional-grade mycorrhizal inoculant products, Mycorrhizal Applications researches, produces, and markets a diverse selection of mycorrhizal fungi species, with the mission to “harness the power and wisdom of natural systems to promote living soils and increase quality, productivity, and health in all industries involving soils, plants, and people.”
Once introduced to the plant’s root system, mycorrhizae create a microscopic network within the growing media, which acts as a living extension of the plant’s roots, actively delivering nutrients, water, and resources to the plant. Mycorrhizal fungi are the most researched soil organisms in the world, with scholarly research articles and published trials numbering in the tens of thousands. Approximately 95 percent of plant species on Earth rely on symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi to thrive and reach their full genetic potential.
Professional horticulturists, nurseries, greenhouses, landscape professionals, farmers, forestry nurseries, restoration/erosion control specialists, and even growing media and fertilizer manufacturers utilize the MycoApply® professional line of mycorrhizal inoculants produced by Mycorrhizal Applications to maximize plant success and improve return on input investment. By establishing this vital symbiosis, growers can reduce their fertilizer inputs by as much as 30-50 percent. MycoApply® helps growers optimize plant performance, stress resilience, and sustainability, and is available from horticulture distributors and suppliers throughout the U.S.
Mycorrhizal Applications is not only one of the first commercial producers of mycorrhizae for horticulture, agriculture, and all industries involving soils, plants, and people, they also offer unique and valuable customer service and technical support.
As the leader in the field of commercial mycorrhizal inoculant products, the team at Mycorrhizal Applications has decades of experience helping professional growers adopt this crucial symbiotic technology. Growers can work with Mycorrhizal Applications to determine the best blend of mycorrhizal species to utilize for the particular crops that they grow, discuss which inoculation methods to consider, and plan for the ideal timing in the production process for inoculation in order to ensure the lowest cost and maximum return on investment. Mycorrhizal Applications is also actively working with growers across the country who are adopting mycorrhizae in their greenhouse or nursery. If interested in learning more about applying mycorrhizae, growers can contact the Mycorrhizal Applications team for information, resources, and also to determine if an on-site consultation is available.
MycoApply® product information, technical resources, informative articles, a map of U.S. horticulture distributors, and much more is available at the company’s website.
At Jiffy, our focus is providing growers with the highest quality products which enhance the successful propagation or cultivation of plants.
The Jiffypot R2 is specifically designed for uses in which the pot integrity is expected to stand up over an extended period of time (greater than six months and fewer than two years). Keeping most of the original characteristics of the original Jiffypot, using peat and wood fiber as the main ingredients, it is the addition of an extra raw material that makes sure the pot stays dry (hydrophobic in the early stages) and maintains its rigid form over the long term (still maintaining its natural, earthy look).
Much like the original Jiffypot, the R2 was designed with the plant’s overall health as the primary concern throughout the process. Often plants that are taken from their ‘original’ environments before planting will experience a transplant shock, causing stunted growth and in some cases failed crops. Jiffypot R2 allows growers/consumers the ability to have an eco-friendly solution that can be handled and planted in its original environment, leading to greater success rates and easier planting. The R2 pot is fully biodegradable when placed in the soil. You simply plant the pot and all directly into the ground or into larger containers without disturbing the root zone, and thus no soil loss. Your planting program is one forward action, without returning for cleanup.
Landscapers have seen the benefits of the R2 pot as well. The Jiffy R2 pot allows landscapers and home gardeners the opportunity to plant the pot without any cleanup or disposal issues (zero waste). As in any business, time is money. Savings of up to 30 percent in labor costs have been experienced by our customers, which more than pays for the cost of the R2 pot. This is truly an “added value” concept for any grower or nursery looking to improve their customer’s handling requirements.
Benefits of the R2 aren’t limited to the planting of the pot as a whole. Through extensive trialing at Van Pines Nursery in Holland, Mich., growers have seen that trees grown in the Jiffy R2 pot will be able to go to market 1-2 years sooner due to increased top growth and heavier root mass. The R2 pot allows for the free flow of oxygen (fully breathable walls), while letting the roots grow freely through the pot wall and allowing air to act as a natural root pruner. Natural root pruning keeps the roots from spiraling in the pot, allowing for a better root structure and a stronger crop all around. Jiffy has selected thermoformed trays made in-house for some pots, while we can also recommend other shuttle or carrying trays from other manufacturers, depending on the pot size.
“The biggest benefit to our customers and us is the 360 degree air root pruning and extending the accelerated growth characteristics of the plug onto the 2nd year. Within our own operation we are seeing Jiffypot R2 grown trees going to market 1-2 years sooner compared to standard plastic pots.” -Evan Van Slooten, Van Pines Nursery, Holland, Mich.
Whether it’s plant blindness, concrete jungles or a lack of plant science curriculum in schools, a large portion of the public doesn’t even recognize the word horticulture. But a diverse group from the horticulture industry has been in the trenches for the last five years promoting plants, their value and making worthwhile connections with school-age children and young adults. Seed Your Future has brought together academia, public gardens, plant producers, associations and others to make plants a part of their lives and to consider horticulture careers.
Seed Your Future (SYF), which started as a kernel idea at an American Society of Horticultural Science conference, first wanted to find out why the number of students enrolling in college and university horticulture programs had dwindled. Once the idea became a full-fledged and funded movement, the group developed research plans. Since then, SYF has conducted three phases of research: one with the industry, which dealt with the problem of not having enough qualified applicants to fill jobs; one with the public to find out about attitudes toward horticulture and related careers; and one with middle school-aged children, their parents, teachers and guidance counselors to find out about curriculum in schools and if they understood the careers available to them in the horticulture field.
“With the research, we found there were misconceptions and stereotypes of careers in horticulture,” explains Susan Yoder, SYF’s executive director. “We learned that we needed to talk about the great diversity of careers — from arborist to zoological horticulturist and everything in between.”
In 2018, SYF launched BLOOM!, a campaign that uses language school-age children understand and connects plants with things they care about like fashion, technology and professional sports.
“We told the story of how drones can be used in the industry or how turf management involves horticulture science,” Yoder says. “Anything we do that’s youth focused needs to be contemporary and resonate with them. We don’t want to lecture them.”
Research found that 52 percent of phone survey participants ages 18–34 were not familiar with the word "horticulture." And focus groups with school-aged children revealed they thought the word horticulture was “weird.” They came up with their own term, “plantology,” saying it sounded cool.
With the help of Scholastic, SYF created a “plant power learning module” for grades 6-8. From “connecting with nature” to researching “green-collar careers,” BLOOM! Is filling in the gaps where schools stopped teaching plant science.
Research found that most students past middle school, and earlier in some cases, no longer receive any education about plants, according to Jeff Gibson, who’s on the SYF advisory council. He’s also the landscape business manager and university trials manager at Ball Horticultural.
SYF is currently reviewing the data from the first year of BLOOM!, and preliminary reports show that the campaign reached just under 1 million children last year and it garnered more than 1 million views on social media, including Instagram (@wearebloom), Facebook (We Are BLOOM) and YouTube (We Are Bloom!), according to Yoder.
“Our goal, with Scholastic’s help, is that at least every sixth, seventh and eighth grade teacher knows about BLOOM!,” she says.
SYF’s research also helped create the just-launched career resource tool (seedyourfuture.org/careers) and once again, focus groups had something to say about the terminology. One group in Chicago wasn’t impressed with the word arborist. Their suggestion: urban lumberjack.
“It goes back to rethinking old language and making it resonate with today’s youth,” Yoder says.
There are 102 careers on this list so far, coupled with videos featuring people in those careers and links to professional organizations. SYF’s plan is to keep building on that list and be the go-to resource for career questions and planning. Currently, there’s information about two- and four-year programs for those career choices, and SYF plans to add information about certifications and apprenticeship programs.
Kate Santos, regional director at Dümmen Orange, says she “stumbled upon this industry almost by accident and have often described it as one of the ‘best kept secrets’ out there.” Santos, who is on the SYF Leadership Cabinet, knows that it can no longer remain a secret.
“For our industry to remain healthy and continue to grow we need to get the word out. Seed Your Future provides the foundation and platform to communicate the secret of our amazing industry and inspire and educate the next generation about the countless opportunities there are working with plants,” Santos says. “The future workforce of our industry depends upon organizations like Seed Your Future, because it is so pivotal that career paths with plants are known and enticing to the next generation. The students today will define both the success and the future of our industry, and I don’t know about you, but I want to do whatever I can to make sure the best of the best choose plants.”
This June, SYF is hosting a summit at Longwood Gardens, which will provide ideas for colleges and universities to recruit students into horticultural programs.
John Dole is associate dean and director of academic programs at North Carolina State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and is a founding member of SYF. He currently serves on the SYF Leadership Council.
“I am ecstatic over how Seed Your Future is going. The original goals were to promote horticulture and promote careers in horticulture, and I believe Seed Your Future is doing that,” Dole says. “It has a strategic plan, funding, and an excellent group of wonderful volunteers and is making a big impact. Credit needs to be given to Susan Yoder, the dynamic executive director of SYF, the Leadership Cabinet chairs, Anna Ball and Paul Redmon, and the Advisory Council chairs, Charlie Hall and Sarah Cathcart — they are dedicated and amazing.”
While curriculum and careers make up an important part of SYF, it’s just as important to simply introduce children to plants and nature — to cure plant blindness.
“We must get more Americans connected with nature again,” Yoder says. “We need to have this broader level of engagement, not just about our industry and workforce, but also about the health and future of our planet from growing our food to researching diseases.”
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