11/6/2012 - By Harrell's

The question of the month or the decade really is…” What makes a good grower?” As opposed to an average or lousy grower? Hmmm. Over the last 20 years or more I have been fortunate to have visited many huge commercial nursery operations down to the small back yard growers of the southeast US, the Caribbean and Central America with the quality of plant material ranging from Grade A to below B grade, or worse yet. There seemed to be some trends or common denominators amongst those who excel at growing plants versus the rest of them. And I am here today to share those observations with you. So read closely.

1. PASSION- this is kind of a no brainer really. To excel at anything, you have to have a passion for it. Same with plant growers. The passionate ones have more questions than answers and are always trying to figure how to do things better. They want to be the best. They usually do not cut corners and may even be guilty of some over kill regarding costs of materials such as chemicals. These are not the 9 to 5 ers. As they look forward to getting up and going to work. And know their plants are growing 24/7.
2. CLEAN NURSERY= CLEAN PLANTS- almost always when I walk into a weed infested nursery with old pots lying around, I know to expect problems. On the contrary, the nursery that is spotless and in order always seems to have nicer plants. This goes beyond sanitation, which is extremely critical. It exemplifies an eye for detail that sees the job through from prop house to field crop. Production often gets in the way of maintenance. There needs to be a balance between the two. With competition and the overall expense to grow plants, throwing out 10-15% of your plants to disease or nutritional issues is throwing away your profits. So keep things orderly and above all, “clean”.
3. THE OFFICE GEEK VERSUS THE FIELD STRAW BOSS- who grows the better plant of the two? Well invariably it is the grower out in the field working hands-on with his people. Workers respect the boss willing to get their hands dirty. Plus there is no training like hands-on training. But delegating is key. Staying too focused in one area may mean you are missing something elsewhere. Roaming the nursery from crew to crew keeps the overall performance optimal and helps in scouting.  We all know the office geek so to speak, the grower who manages their domain behind the computer screen. Everything is organized and mapped out. Production dates, irrigation schedule, plant inventory, chemical inventory, pathology newsletters, bar graphs and casserole recipes. They rarely seem to leave the AC.
4. SCOUTING- what a segue! The better grower not only uses his crew to scout for any problems out there but they too are out there checking problems before they get out of hand. I like to zig zag through blocks of plants looking for distortion from thrip, flecking from mites, leaf spots or fading of color. Hit one area one day and the other the following. Making good notes of what they see on top but also looking at ROOTS. Basically if you can grow a good root system, you can grow a good plant. Pulling pots off roots will show you the earliest of decline and help with irrigation scheduling by looking at soil profiles. Sorry tree growers, you are not exempt from this. Get the burlap and tree strap and send the New Holland around.
5. IT IS A PACKAGE DEAL!- usually when there is a problem, the tendency is to find a single easy solution to it. A good grower understands that it is usually an all of the above situation however. Salts, irrigation frequency and amount, grade of land, potting soil integrity, spray/drench program, light levels, liner quality, lack of mojo…all of the above. When trying to figure out a plant problem they think outside of the box! Remember when you are pointing your finger at someone else, you are pointing three back at yourself.
6. IRRIGATION- is the most misunderstood aspect of growing. The better grower is not kicking on the pumps because it is 12 noon and Wednesday. They are tuned in as to what areas need it. The infrastructure of the irrigation system may be tying their hands behind their back. But placing crops with similar irrigation needs together helps greatly as does zoning off areas with valves. There should not be any set structure of irrigation timing with the variables of climate, pot sizes, plant type, planting date, etc… It is a constant juggling act from day to day. The better juggler, seems to invariably grow the better plant.
7. THE SIXTH SENSE- I am not talking about the sixth sense that your and my spouse have but the “grower’s sixth sense”. At the risk of being labeled “crazy”, let me explain. Through experience and repetition over the years, some growers (including myself) get a vibe that something is about to go wrong. Some might call it an instinct.  Too many are caught up into the widget assembly line and shoe factory mentality, especially the bean counters and they forget plants are living organisms that respond negatively or positively to their surrounding climate, environment and heavy metal music. Sounds bizarre, but I stake my bad reputation on it. The best of the best get that “vibe” and react in time to extinguish a problem before it ever becomes one. Or something like that…