Registration Now Open for the Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo - Morning Ag Clips

PUBLISHED ON November 4, 2024

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Registration is now open! The 2024 Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo, in association with the Great Lakes Expo, will take place Dec. 10-12 at the DeVos Place Conference Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Michigan State University Extension floriculture team has been working hard to develop an informative lineup of educational sessions that cover perennially popular subjects, current issues and contemporary topics. With careful advisement from the Metro Detroit Flower Growers Association and the Western Michigan Greenhouse Association, we have selected a schedule that includes marketing and business management, greenhouse technology, specialty cut flowers, and a strong set of plant production and integrated pest management topics. These programs feature presentations by a range of Extension and industry experts and are designed for target audiences across the organizational spectrum from entry-level employees to operations managers.

This year’s offering of plant production education features an outstanding array of topics led by several of the industry’s leading academic and private sector horticulturalists. New employees will benefit from two beginner-level seminars on greenhouse growing fundamentals taught by Brian Krug from Syngenta Flowers and Erik Runkle from Michigan State University. Nathan Jahnke from the Ball Horticultural Company lays out best management practices for handing vegetative cuttings in plug and liner production.

Looking for insight into the ever-evolving world of plant growth regulators (PGRs)? Roberto Lopez from Michigan State University will show you how to get consistent results with your PGR applications, review new expanded use labels, introduce you to new greenhouse PGR products, and examine tank mixes that reduce labor costs and improve results. Caitlin Splawski from Michigan State University Extension shows us how to create season-long appeal with herbaceous perennials through careful scheduling, environmental management and judicious applications of PGRs. Wrapping up this category, Brian Krug covers some fundamental substrate chemistry concepts that can help growers hone their plant nutrition programs. Sessions include:

Pest management education sessions consistently draw high interest from attendees. This year, Mary Hausbeck from Michigan State University will provide essential updates on disease management strategies. For insect management, Erich Schoeller from the University of Georgia will delve into strategies for controlling thrips parvispinus and discuss how banker plants and supplemental nutrition can enhance biological control efforts in greenhouses. Additionally, JJ Klimp from Hidden Leaf Greenhouse in Kalamazoo, Michigan, will guide participants on effectively integrating biopesticides into greenhouse biological control programs. Don’t miss these sessions:

Our annual specialty cut flower track contains a strong lineup of plant production topics. Plant diseases are a constant menace that can easily reduce the quality and marketability of floriculture crops. Join Hausbeck as she discusses several common pathogens as well as management practices that can help keep losses to a minimum. Lopez will discuss which specialty cut flower crops are day-length sensitive, how to improve cut flower quality and reduce time to harvest. He’ll also share the latest Michigan State University research on how crops such as dahlia and ranunculus can be induced to flower earlier in the field, high tunnel or greenhouse. Thinking about adding a U-pick flower field to your operation? Don’t miss this session from U-pick phenom Michelle Brosius from Green Things Farm as she shares her experience with setting up and maintaining a highly successful U-pick flower field. Jahnke from Ball Horticultural Company will cover some basic and advanced techniques to prolonging vase life, including factors such as harvest time, cooler temperature, dehydration and post-harvest handling preservatives. Be sure to catch these sessions:

Completing our program are sessions on marketing and innovation tailored for garden retailers. Megan Burritt from Michigan State University will discuss finding the right balance between social media and traditional marketing. Aren Philips from Walters Gardens will showcase his team’s use of technology, including live labor tracking, environmental controls and enterprise resource planning, to streamline greenhouse operations. The Expo will also feature “lightning sessions,” offering quick overviews of top-performing plants from the Michigan Garden Plant Tour and highlights from the annual Michigan State University Floriculture Research Update. This research update will cover grower-supported projects with presentations from Michigan State University experts Erik Runkle, Mary Hausbeck, Tom Fernandez, Roberto Lopez, Marianna Szucs, Debalina Saha, Al Go and Joshua Vander Weide. Additionally, growers and greenhouse managers can gain valuable insights from Simone Valle de Souza, who will discuss trends, growth patterns and future outlooks for the horticulture industry from a cost-of-production perspective. For the complete session schedule, visit the Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo website.

For added value, there’s education for lavender growers, a specialty crops drone spraying symposium, agricultural labor sessions, and a whole lot more offered by our partners at the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable, and Farm Market Expo.

New for 2024: Michigan State University Extension expands their farm safety offerings to include pesticide applicator core review sessions (English and Spanish), On-Farm Produce Safety Education, and Worker Protection Standard training for workers and handlers. Core review session attendees will have the opportunity to take the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development restricted use pesticide (RUP) applicator exam in the afternoon. Note that these Pesticide Safety and Worker Protection Training opportunities require a separate registration.

Registration is now open! Early birds can save $20 by registering before Nov. 15, 2024. Attendees and exhibitors can find registration, lodging and trade show information at the Great Lakes Expo website.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension.

— Jeremy Jubenville and Heidi Lindberg, Michigan State University Extension

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