Getting the best out of peat-free composts, and breeding progress in primrose and polyanthus. These were the topics that brought an audience of around fifty to a growers’ evening event in Essex in early March. Earlier in the day nearly all of them had visited the twentieth annual viola and pansy trial. Two days later the plants were transferred from the nearby Grange Nurseries of W D Smith & Son to the retail scene at the Meadow Croft Garden Centre, which is under the same ownership. This was the venue for the growers’ conference, arranged by the BPOA.
Two key members of the Rudy Raes sales team spoke on recent additions to the Belgian breeder’s extensive offer to growers. Colibri, an innovative hardy polyanthus series, and the primrose series Rosebud, a claimed major improvement for its flower type, were the twin foci of their presentation. Rudy Raes’ UK sales agent Philip Oglesby and sales manager Wolter de Meester were the two speakers. See the Primrose & Polyanthus review on page 11 to learn about these two series.
Catalyst is a new growth stimulant product developed specifically for use on peat-free composts. Speaker Joe Barfoot, technical sales manager for OMEX Horticulture, explained that Catalyst is ‘a liquid houmous that mimics and replaces organic acids that were supplied for free in peat-based growing media. It increases rooting in peat-free by 20-30%’, he said, and this also prolonged shelf life. Catalyst can be used as an additive for incorporation in growing media, or in irrigation water.
Joe Barfoot said that he and his colleagues had recently been seeing differing results on nurseries throughout the country as they changed over to peat-free growing media. OMEX had been working over the past year to find how consistent results might be achieved. Internal and third-party trials had led to more successful outcomes using Catalyst. Its use had not only improved rooting, but also improved the efficiency of nutrient use.
OMEX Horticulture offers a range of concentrated liquid products, containing macro- and micro-nutrients, biostimulants and rhizobacteria. Its product Kelpak is a kelp concentrate used to enhance root growth and improve tolerance to environmental stress.
Speaker Sam Whitworth is the growing media and fertilizer specialist for Fargro. The company is a major provider of growing media to the industry, stocking most proprietary brands. He has been very active in advising customers going over from peat-based to peat-free growing media.
The use of DCM organic fertilizers (already extensively trialled by Fargro) was his main topic for the meeting. They are produced by a well-established Belgian company, and are a large advance on traditional organic fertilizers derived from fish, blood and bone. These lack consistency, tend to be slower acting and are non-uniform in nutrient release patterns.
DCM fertilizers can be used in conjunction with well-known controlled release fertilizers, incorporating both together in the chosen growing mediums. Alternatively the entire base fertilizer input can be provided by DCM products, later backing up plant nutrition with liquid feeding. Sam Whitworth said that DCM fertilizers create a good rooting environment in peat-free media, among other benefits reducing nutrient loss by leaching.
Read more news and features from the protected crop industry in our monthly publication The Commercial Greenhouse Grower.