TECH ON DEMAND brought to you by GrowerTalks

Hosted by Bill Calkins

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100

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Aug 2026

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Grow your best crop ever! Cultural and technical information for greenhouse professionals.

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August 20, 2026Episode 26910 min

Audio Files: Reconnect Your Website & Connect Online Shopping to Your Store

ADAPT OR DIE: RECONNECT YOUR WEBSITE ADAPT OR DIE: CONNECT ONLINE SHOPPING TO YOUR STORE FROM THE JULY AND AUGUST 2026 ISSUES OF GREEN PROFIT MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY JOHN STANLEY, SID RAISCH & DRIES JANSEN NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPTS: Your website isn’t a brochure; it’s your store open 24 hours a day and now it’s also your application for AI recommendation. Most importantly, begin with connecting your email, text and every other marketing effort to the customer with the invitation to learn, be inspired and buy. If your customers are arriving at dead ends on your website right now, fix them and make it easy to click to send you money. Before you sell a single plant online, your shop is already talking. A site with stale photos from two springs ago, no way to buy anything and an “Under Construction” page tells customers loud and clear: “We are not ready for you.” A clean, current online shop with real products, real prices and a “Buy Online, Pick Up In Store” button tells them the opposite: “We’re open for business, we respect your time and we’re ready to serve you right now.” Read the Digital Editions: July— https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gp_26_07/index.aspx August— https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gp_26_08/index.aspx This episode is sponsored by Prospiant—leaders in greenhouse design, manufacture and build. Learn more and connect with the expert team at prospiant.com.

August 17, 2026Episode 2679 min

Audio Files: From Home Gardens To Market Insights

FROM HOME GARDENS TO MARKET INSIGHTS FROM THE AUGUST 2026 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY CELINA GOMEZ NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: One of the most exciting takeaways from our latest study is the ability to quantify the benefits of gardening on human wellbeing. We often say that plants make people feel better. Now we’re starting to build the data to support that claim. Our findings show measurable improvements in mood, confidence and engagement, all tied to a relatively simple gardening experience. This opens the door for growers and retailers to incorporate wellbeing-focused messaging into their marketing and outreach. Read the Digital Edition: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_26_08/index.aspx This episode is sponsored by Mycorrhizal Applications—master distributor of biological and botanical plant support solutions and the world’s leading supplier of mycorrhizal soil inoculants. Learn more and connect with the expert team at mycorrhizae.com.

August 11, 2026Episode 26822 min

Defend Your Crops ft. JC & Dennis from SePRO

GrowerTalks Senior Editor Bill Calkins sits down with JC Chong and Dennis Bunkley from SePRO Land to talk about two of the company’s newest crop protection products. BattleLine is a new fungicide effective on a wide range of pathogens and offers long residual activity and flexible application options. Barracuda is a new insecticide with fast knockdown and 21- to 28-day residual activity and is effective on mites at all life stages. In this recording from Cultivate ’26, JC and Dennis share all the details you need to know and talk through trial results and benefits growers should expect with these new products. Resources: SePRO Land BattleLine Fungicide Barracuda Insecticide/Miticide SePRO Technical Specialist Contact

August 7, 2026Episode 2649 min

Audio Files: A Resilient Industry Requires More Than Basic Inputs

A RESILIENT INDUSTRY REQUIRES MORE THAN BASIC INPUTS FROM THE JULY 2026 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY LAURA BARTH NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: Like any living system, floriculture requires continuous investment to remain healthy, productive and resilient. Research, workforce development, sustainability initiatives and industry collaboration all play important roles in supporting the long-term strength of floriculture, even if their impact isn’t always immediately visible from the greenhouse floor. For 65 years, the American Floral Endowment (AFE) has helped cultivate the floriculture industry through research funding, scholarships, internships and educational resources designed to strengthen the floriculture industry as it continues to grow and evolve—because healthy industries, like healthy crops, don’t happen by accident. Read the Digital Edition: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gt_26_07/index.aspx This episode is sponsored by Prospiant—leaders in greenhouse design, manufacture and build. Learn more and connect with the expert team at prospiant.com.

August 3, 2026Episode 26630 min

Don’t Trip Over Fall Production (Ball Seed Customer Days 2026)

This episode was recorded live during the Ball Seed Customer Days event in West Chicago, Illinois. Technical specialists Nathan Jahnke and Nick Flax shared best practices and tips for avoiding common pitfalls with key Fall crops—Mums, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Celosia, Cabbage, Kale, Pansy and Viola. Nathan and Nick concisely broke down some of the Fall crop problems they hear about most from growers, including: Garden Mums—rootzone and canopy diseases, mineral nutrition deficiencies and crown budding. Echinacea & Rudbeckia—Aster Yellows, foliage purpling and creating the right plan for each species. Celosia—minimizing stress, EC recommendations, avoiding phyto and knowing what varieties to pinch and which ones not to pinch. Cabbage & Kale—managing height, knowing vigor by variety, dealing with caterpillars/worms and managing color/color development. Pansy & Viola—Berkeleyomyces (Thielaviopsis), substrate pH management, nutrition, minimizing DIF and how to best use PGRs. Ball Seed Technical Services: https://www.ballseed.com/Services/TechnicalServices

July 28, 2026Episode 26525 min

The End of Rotation Anxiety ft. Koppert’s Jeremy Webber

For this episode, host Bill Calkins is joined by Jeremy Webber, an ornamentals crop team member at Koppert. Jeremy has experience in propagation and finished plant production, as well as more than a decade of leading a team that works with growers across North America to develop holistic IPM approaches customized for each greenhouse and growing situation. At his core, Jeremy is a plant guy through and through and wrote an excellent article for the 2026 GrowerTalks Biosolutions Guide. For the guide, Bill challenged him to put a unique spin on how bio-IPM strategies lead to plant health, which in turn means fewer crop losses and a reduced need for rescue missions to save plants from pest and disease. Jeremy titled his article “The End of Rotation Anxiety (Stop Playing the MOA Game with EPF)” and explored an angle he’s truly passionate about—that although rotating crop protection products is definitely a key part of IPM and resistance management, it’s sort of an old school way of thinking. If this sounds bold and raises questions in your mind, we’re with you. Which is why Bill sat down with Jeremy at the July 2026 Cultivate event in Columbus, Ohio … to dig deeper into the article to better understand what Jeremy is advocating for. Resources 2026 Biosolutions Guide Reach out to the Koppert Team Isarid Nematodes

July 23, 2026Episode 2638 min

Nick's Newsletter Tip (Week 30): Pythium vs. Fusarium in Garden Mums

This week, let’s talk about two of the most common and costly disease issues we encounter in garden mum production: Pythium and Fusarium. Both can cause stunting, chlorosis, wilting and lead to major crop losses, but they are not the same organism. Knowing which one you’re dealing with makes a big difference—particularly when selecting proper tools to prevent disease and respond to symptoms when they appear. If there’s one takeaway from today’s tech tip, it’s this: rootzone disease outbreaks in mums don’t begin when symptoms appear—they begin days or weeks prior when plants become stressed or protection lapses. Whether you’re dealing with Pythium or Fusarium, the growers who consistently prevail against these pathogens are the ones who focus on sanitation, prevention, root health and stress management. This episode is sponsored by Prospiant—leaders in greenhouse design, manufacture and build. Learn more and connect with the expert team at prospiant.com. Subscribe to the weekly Tech On Demand e-newsletter: https://www.growertalks.com/Newsletters/Signup/?newsletter=techondemand

July 21, 2026Episode 26252 min

There’s A Good Story To Tell! (ft. Plantpeddler’s Mike Gooder)

Host Bill Calkins caught up with Mike Gooder to discuss the evolution of vegetative crops from breeding and supply to production and demand. Then the conversation turned to the amazing story our industry has to tell and why this is critical for our future. When Bill planned the episode, he had a goal in mind—to learn about how the vegetative side of our industry evolved through the eyes of someone who was in the game early and in a big way. His guest for this episode is Mike Gooder, the owner of Plantpeddler in Cresco, Iowa and the business was a rooting station before such a thing was cool. Bill was hoping to learn how and why the Gooders took such a big risk early on—building greenhouses and infrastructure to support production of vegetative young plants before the market was as proven as it is today. They definitely got into that story but then the conversation veered off the young plant path and down a different road. About half the episode was Mike and Bill talking about how amazing floriculture is and how we need to develop messaging and tell this story far and wide to attract fresh, new talent to the industry. They discussed the importance of connection, networking, partnerships, relationships and how Mike’s industry involvement and leadership over more than 40 years opened doors for his business that he never imagined when he and Rachel bought the greenhouse back in 1980. You have to listen all the way to the end of this episode because there’s so much good information shared. It’s really an inspiring conversation. As mentioned in the episode, mark your calendar for the Plantpeddler new variety open house in August or make plans to attend in the future. Here’s a link for more information: https://www.plantpeddler.com/trials/gardens-variety-day Learn more about Plantpeddler: https://www.plantpeddler.com/ Read “Solid Strategies for Expanding” by Jennifer Zurko—GrowerTalks March 2026— https://www.growertalks.com/Article/?srch=1&articleID=27906

July 13, 2026Episode 26141 min

4 Questions for Kate, a Garden Center Owner

Throughout 2026, host Bill Calkins has been catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by his friend Kate Terrell, owner/president/GM of Wallace’s Garden Center in Bettendorf, Iowa. Kate is pretty much an industry icon at this point. She heads up her family’s business growing and selling plants and a whole lot more than that. She’s active in tons of industry leadership roles, writes articles for industry magazines, serves on committees and boards and is also a leader in her local community. It’s amazing she finds enough hours in her days to do everything. Plus, she’s a mom, Cubs and Cyclones fan and top-notch businesswoman. She has a lot to share this episode so be sure to stick around all the way to the end! Here are the four questions Kate selected: Q: What’s something about professional horticulture that annoys you and how would you change it? Q: What are your top 3 favorite annuals? And perennials? Q: What advice would you give to a young person considering pursuit of a career in horticulture? Q: What advice would you give to an industry veteran currently dealing with “burnout”? This episode is sponsored by Mycorrhizal Applications—master distributor of biological and botanical plant support solutions and the world’s leading supplier of mycorrhizal soil inoculants. Learn more and connect with the expert team at mycorrhizae.com.

July 7, 2026Episode 25933 min

4 Questions for Jeremy, a Cannabis & Ornamental Crop Team Manager

Throughout 2026, host Bill Calkins has been catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by his friend Jeremy Webber, the Crop Team Manager at Koppert and an IPM expert with plenty of greenhouse and nursery experience and a true passion for plants and how to produce them efficiently and effectively. Jeremy is a great storyteller and that skill shines over the course of this episode. It’s funny, informational and a fantastic look into the mind of someone who thinks deeply about our industry every day. Here are the four questions Jeremy chose to answer: Q: What was your first exposure to “horticulture” and how did you feel, react, respond? Q: If you had a free hour, what would we find you doing? Q: What are your top 3 favorite annuals? And perennials? Q: What do you love most about your job? This episode is sponsored by Prospiant—leaders in greenhouse design, manufacture and build. Learn more and connect with the expert team at prospiant.com.