Doing more with less: improving profits in the woody ornamentals market when labor is scarce

There’s been a lot of talk about automation recently - plenty in the past and there’s likely to be plenty of discussion for some time to come. Labor is getting harder and harder to come by, and any labor you can get is costing more and more.

There’s a lot of talk, but not a lot of real help out there – but there are some fundamental tweaks and changes you can look into to potentially solve this looming problem. Instead of trying to find where the next set of workers is going to come from, more and more people are looking at how they can do more with less.

Decent landscape and ornamental trees (especially those that you have sunk over 5 years of your time and money into growing) are a high value product. Customers want them to look their best and they don’t want them to blow down. Unfortunately, there’s been enough lawsuits to see what happens when they do. The suppliers of the best trees, grown economically to keep them at the right price point, are going to be successful.

The Solution

It all starts, perhaps surprisingly, with the containers you chose to propagate your plants in. You can find out more on why it is important to start by thinking about the container, in this article in Nursery Management.

The solution is to use tough, long-life, air root pruning trays or containers that are built to be compatible with automation machinery, easy for people to use and carry, and produce excellent plants without any circling roots.

So often “great roots” are the main selling point of any propagation container. While great roots are of course very important and are a must-have, if the tray or container takes so much time and effort to use, then those great roots are going to end up being more trouble than they are worth.

A system that allows the removal of individual cells is often best, such as the Proptek® Pot in Frame™, or the Ellepot® compatible Sleeve and Tray™. These allow the most flexibility from seeding to shipping.

Excellent media, fertilizers, machinery, seeds and cuttings often get used with a flimsy, one-time use pot that ends up choking up the roots of the plant. The right media, for example, helps to get a decent plant - but by using the right container, you can make these other ingredients of propagation shine to really produce the very best.

The Benefits & How It All Works

That’s enough talk about the problem – there’s enough of that on the internet already – here’s the facts on how getting the container right means a solid platform for success for your nursery. These 10 points are all true regardless of using an insert system like the Ellepot®, or a more traditional loose-fill approach.

Saving 1 – Save time on Seeding and Filling

A tough injection molded container can be de-stacked automatically a lot easier than other types of tray. This is because they come apart much easier than a flimsy thermoformed tray and also because they can take the punishment a de-stacker can often enact on the trays. Using relatively simple bits of machinery and conveyors, the trays can be filled automatically, seeded and watered without a human hand ever touching them. Already, a first step to saving big on labor.

Saving 2 – Save Time on Sorting & Grading.

Using a propagation system that allows you to remove each cell individually really starts to show its merits. Yes, they command a slightly higher price, but the benefits far outweigh this extra cost. In fact, this is just a one-time cost – but after a few uses the containers start paying for themselves, and by the time you get to the end of their life you will have saved a lot of money. At all stages of growing, plants can be moved and inspected without pulling – this can even be automated with technology, but is not vital to starting to create efficiency savings. If you do have to pull the plant to check the roots, with a solution like this, they just slide on out without damaging the roots or stem of the plant. This is only possible because of the excellent, non-circling root structure that is developing, and the fact that the roots can’t dig into the plastic cell walls. This saves a huge amount of time as this is a lot easier than having to pull all the plants and rearrange, but also saves money as less plants are lost.

Saving 3 – No Benching Required

The right trays and containers should come with their own in-built benching system to keep the plants slightly off the ground. No rails or bench materials are required and, perhaps more importantly, no labor hours are needed to set up the benching in the first place – something that we all know takes up way too much time. If you already have benches set up in your growing areas – the frames will just sit right on top of them.

Another advantage of this self-benching system in combination with decent air pruning windows is a much more even dry-down. This means plants are not sitting in puddles which means less chance of disease.

Saving 4 – Quicker Bumping up and Transplanting

As previously mentioned, plants pull easier in a tough injection molded container that has been designed to create great roots. You can even get a “plant popper” that can pop out potentially hundreds of plants at once. This becomes a pretty easy task for folks to do which saves a lot of manual hours, which means less staff are required – but there’s also some fantastic machinery out there that will automate this stage too. It would depend on your set up and size as to which option would work most economically for you. Or looking it at from the other angle: keep the same number of staff but create the opportunity to grow and expand as a business.

Saving 5 – Quicker Turnaround

It’s all about roots. Always has been and always will be. Better roots mean better plants and that means happier customers. But better roots and better plants means quicker finishing and shipping out the door. This means more plants turned during a year, meaning more dollars per square foot of nursery - which means more money for you, the grower. As an example, we’ve found with Eucalyptus that they grow a massive 33% faster -which underlines the fact that the plant is happier, grows faster, and also implies it will have less disease issues.

Saving 6 – Long-life Containers

Investing into a decent container is going to cost a few extra dollars. But the following year you won’t have to buy any. Nor the year after that. Nor the year after that… nor until your kids are all grown up if you look after the containers well. There’s even some Proptek trays in California that are over 30 years old, and they are still producing excellent plants to this day. If the up-front cost is perhaps a little too much, then an option is that you can often get finance to spread out the cost over a few years. Containers such as those from Proptek are looked at as assets by banks and lenders. Speak to your local Farm Credit representative for more details and information.

Saving 7 – Higher Take rates

Improved aeration of the media and better drainage means better roots and nutrient take up. In addition, cleaner containers, plants not sitting wet, plants sorted easier & problems identified a lot earlier – these are all going to improve how well your plants grow. We have found take rates can be improved drastically just by using the right containers. Having more plants survive is going to increase your profitability enormously.

Saving 8 – Moving Around the Nursery

The tough design of an injection molded tray helps here – especially if it includes its own built-in feet.

A large amount of plants can be carried with an adapted forklift that has multiple prongs rather than just the 2 – the fork simply slides under the frames and picks up all the plants and takes them to the greenhouse or shade house.

This is a much easier job than the back-breaking work it can be to load and unload a trailer – quicker too. This means you need less people – but also those people you do need are doing a much more enjoyable, safe and comfortable job. And happier workers are much more effective at their jobs.

Saving 9 – Less Time & Money on HR

Fewer workers means less cost in terms of wages for sure, but there are other more hidden cost savings too. Less people around means a much easier job for the managers, making them more efficient and giving them time to concentrate on other things that could be making the operation even more efficient. There’s less health insurance to pay, less chance of someone being off sick, smaller chances of accidents. Because the work is generally more pleasant and safe with the right equipment, using a tough container that is easier to handle is going to make your workers happier, with less chance of injuries and workers’ comp.

If you go all-out and automate everything possible – those machines don’t need breaks, bathroom breaks or sleep and, apart from a bit of maintenance here and there, will work 24/7. This means much more time-efficient operations.

Saving 10 – Saving the Planet

It’s not a personal saving – but it’s an important one. We all share God’s green Earth and we need to keep it as beautiful as He intended. Choosing a tough injection molded container means much less waste is produced. Piles and piles of Styrofoam and broken weak thermoformed trays end up in the trash every week and that really needs to stop.

Conclusion

There’s a real problem in the horticultural industry right now – one that isn’t going away any time soon. Instead of worrying where the next pair of hands is coming from, small changes can be made to your nursery as a whole - and those changes start with the propagation tray or container.

Choosing a tough, injection molded container that creates exceptional roots and is built to be as efficient as possible will help you get your nursery running smoothly, efficiently and – most importantly of all – cost effectively too.