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  • Undercover Boss: Clues to Create a Team of Superheroes, Improve Culture and Decrease Attrition

    Room B113

    Speaker: Anne Obarski, Founder and CEO, Merchandise Concepts
    If you become a frontline employee in your business for a day, what might you discover? Do you think there are items that could be changed or improved? What could you do with that information to create happier employees and an improved culture? It takes a special leader to be willing to take risks to discover what will make each employee part of your team of superheroes.

    Registration Required

  • Practical Use of Plant Growth Regulators in the Plant Nursery

    Room B116

    Speaker: Dr. Jozsef Racsko, Technology Manager, Mycorrhizal Applications LLC.
    In this technical seminar, attendees will learn about the commercial applicability of plant growth regulator (PGR) products; when and how to apply them, what rates to use, what factors influence their efficacy (weather conditions, water pH, plant health status), and how these products can be integrated into the production practices. The presentation will review results from commercial trials and research experiments and provide guidance to the audience on how to interpret such research information. This will help growers find the right solution tailored to their turf or ornamental crop and growing conditions. The presenter will discuss how growing protocols can be adjusted to specific conditions to take full advantage of PGR products.

    Registration Required

  • Crop Adapted Spraying: Strategies for Use in Nursery

    Room B119

    Speaker: Brian Hill, Faculty Research Assistant, OSU NWREC Nackley Lab
    Crop adapted spraying (CAS) is a systematic approach to air-blast sprayer calibration. It was designed in fruit and nut orchards as a way to spray more efficiently when the target is a canopy that changes over the growing season. CAS is a good fit for nursery production because of the many crops of different sizes and shapes that are grown closely together. This seminar covers the core concepts of CAS while taking a deep look at the implementation strategy for nursery production systems.

    Registration Required

  • Extreme Weather: How it Affects Crop Production With Solutions Offered

    Room B116

    Speakers: Lloyd Nackley, Professor, Oregon State University and Dr. Drew Zwart, Plant Pathologist / Physiologist, Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories
    Extreme weather events are more common than ever. For example, in 2021 the north Willamette Valley had catastrophic ice storms in late winter. The winter melted into a warm spring and exceptionally hot summer that was exemplified by the 113 F “heat dome” in late June. While the average annual temperatures in our region will only increase by a few degrees each decade, these extreme (greater than 10 F above average) hot and low-temperature events have devastating and long-lasting effects on nursery producers. Learn about how climate change and extreme weather are affecting nursery production, and what growers can do about it.

    Registration Required

  • Gain the Upper Hand This Season on Root, Crown, and Foliar Diseases

    Room B119

    Speaker: George Grant, GGSPro Technical Specialist, Griffin Greenhouse Supplies
    This session will take a deep dive into the prevention and control of common root and crown diseases, including water molds, Fusarium, Botrytis, Rhizoctonia, Thielaviopsis, and more. Learn how you can also maximize your chemical control toolkits by implementing microbial-based fungicide options. This session will provide detailed fungicide rotation strategies, cultural best practices, and practical prevention tips that will benefit growers at every level.

    Registration Required

  • Cultivating Cultivars Seed to Tree: The 30-Year Timeline for Climate Resistant Urban Trees

    Room B116

    Speaker: Nancy Buley, Communications Director, J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co.
    It’s a long and complex journey from seed to city tree. Many hands and a decade or more are needed to grow a tree from start to finish. It takes even longer to develop, select, trial, and introduce new and improved cultivars. Bringing new and improved urban tree cultivars to market is a multi-generational effort that may take 15–30 years or more, via the collaborative efforts of plant breeders, growers, urban foresters, arboreta, and academia. Understanding the timeline and processes of new tree introduction and the how and why of cultivar development will help you plan ahead for choosing, growing, and planting the best trees for the future urban forest.

    Registration Required

  • H-2A: Tips and Tricks for Navigating Your Way Through

    Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

    Speaker: Cheyenne Protz, H-2A Coordinator, Labor Consultants International
    This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
    At LCI, there is over 20 years of guest worker visa experience. Every day we help our clients expertly navigate the guest worker programs utilizing experience, intuition, and industry involvement. We have seen every situation, roadblock, and victory in this industry and are directly involved with every political, legislative, and industry discussion and forum for these visa programs. Let us share our knowledge with you to produce the best season possible with skilled, reliable labor.

    FREE

  • Research Revealed: Updates on Disease Control Products for Nursery Crops

    Room B110

    Speaker: Dr. Ann Chase, Co-founder, Chase Agricultural Consulting
    Dr. Chase, a nationally recognized industry expert in her field, will discuss the most recent research results on industry standards, as well as newly available products for disease control on woody ornamentals. She will focus on what’s new, including Postiva, Avelyo and Seido and the benefits of products like KleenGrow and biocontrol products. She will also describe the best way to use all of these products in effective rotations.

    Registration Required

  • SPANISH ONLY – Scouting for Boxwood Diseases

    Room B119

    Speaker: Dr. Luisa Santamaria, Associate Professor - Extension Plant Pathologist, Oregon State University
    Boxwood plants are commonly seen decorating parks, public gardens, and even lawns. However, there are multiple plant pathogens of nationwide concern that can cause disease in boxwood. People who work around these plants must have a basic understanding of the pathogens, their biology, and the key signs and symptoms. This session will cover all that and more! Boxwood blight and Volutella blight will be highlighted. Additionally, participants will be trained in how to properly scout for disease, so that they may keep their plants healthy and green!

    Registration Required

  • Reducing Plastic Pots: Adopt Air Pruning Strategies

    Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

    Speaker: Michael Taylor, Senior Nursery Specialist, Blackmore Company
    This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
    Learn about the Ellepot system and discover the benefits of air pruning roots. Air pruning reduces production costs, creates more root mass, uses less media, and reduces the number of plastic pots ending up in landfills. Plus, it helps the consumer have a better gardening experience!

    FREE

  • Promising Plants for Native Plant Gardens in Western Oregon

    Room B116

    Speaker: Gail Langellotto, Ph.D., Professor of Horticulture, Oregon State University
    Native plant landscaping and gardening are repeatedly listed as a hot trend for gardeners and landscapers. However, native plants represent a relatively small segment of retail plant sales, with many promising plants difficult to find in the retail marketplace. Based on OSU research, this presentation will highlight some promising plants for the native plant gardener and landscaper.

    Registration Required

  • A Baker’s Dozen of Pollinator Trees

    Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

    A Season-long Menu for Attracting Pollinator Guests to the Garden
    Speaker: Nancy Buley, Communications Director, J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co.
    This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
    Most pollinator research for determining the best nectar and pollen sources is focused on perennials and annuals. Garden centers can increase their tree sales throughout the year by offering a sequence of trees that bloom from early spring until fall.

    FREE

  • (PANEL) Simple Improvement Projects Every Business Should Take On This Year

    Room B116

    Moderator: Elizabeth Peters, Vice President, The Peters Company
    Panelists:
    Mark Bigej, Al’s Garden & Home
    John Lewis, JLPN
    Chris Robinson, Robinson Nursery
    Ben Verhoeven, Peoria Gardens

    Lean is a set of business principles and practices that has transformed green industry companies here in the Pacific Northwest. This panel brings together a group of Oregon’s most effective nursery, greenhouse and garden center leaders who have applied Lean thinking to their businesses. They will share simple improvement projects, based on Lean principles, that you can take to your organization. Come and glean wisdom from these outstanding leaders, and bring your questions for the Q&A session afterward.

    Registration Required

  • Soil Moisture: Top Factor for the Survival of Newly Installed Plants

    Room B110

    Speaker: Wei Zhang, Vice President of Research and Development, TreeDiaper
    Urban trees tend to struggle because it is not an ideal growing condition between pavements and buildings. Underwatering and overwatering are the most common causes. Water prescriptions are developed to address this problem, but too much of the water is wasted. The most important factor for tree survival is the soil moisture, not how much water is dumped onto the root ball. New methods of increasing plant available water and stabilizing soil moisture will be discussed.

    Registration Required

  • Integrating Biological Control Agents with Chemical Spray Programs: Innovative Ways to Manage Pesticide Resistance

    Room B119

    Speaker: George Grant, GGSPro Technical Specialist, Griffin Greenhouse Supplies
    Over the past decade, using “beneficials” or biological control agents (BCAs) to help growers deal with pest issues has grown dramatically. BCAs can play a critical role in preventing and managing pesticide resistance when used effectively. However, growers require a comprehensive knowledge of their life cycles, target pests, and compatibility with organic and conventional pesticides. This course will cover these topics for some of the industry’s most commonly used beneficial insects, mites, and nematodes along with how growers can begin integrating BCAs into their current crop protection programs.

    Registration Required

  • Measuring for Change—the Lean Way

    Room B116

    Speakers: Rick Peters, President, The Peters Company | Elizabeth Peters, Vice President, The Peters Company
    “In God we trust. All others must bring data.” This quote by W. Edwards Deming refers to the significance of data measurement in doing business. Why? Because measurements drive behavior; what you measure is what you get. How do we choose what to measure? Which metrics give us the best prospect of achieving our goals? How can we use data to manage and motivate labor effectively — and how do we use all this information to improve our business? This seminar looks at measures for different levels of a company. It also offers an approach to implementing metrics and common pitfalls to avoid.

    Registration Required

  • Nowadays Tulipmania: Flower Bulb Extravaganza

    Room B110

    Speaker: Philipp Laagland, Country Manager USA, ADR Bulbs Inc.
    Join internationally recognized flower bulb expert Philipp Laagland as he shares his knowledge about setting trends and current struggles within the industry. This session will examine the working flower bulb life circle from farmer to the homeowner in The United States and new landscape designs and retail concepts using flower bulbs.

    Registration Required

  • Redheaded Flea Beetle: A Major Insect Pest of Nursery Production Systems

    Room B119

    Speaker: Raymond Cloyd, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Specialist, Kansas State University
    Raymond will discuss the biology, ecology, and damage associated with redheaded flea beetle adults. He will then address the management strategies that must be implemented to mitigate damage to nursery-grown crops by redheaded flea beetle adults, and provide results from his research program.

    Registration Required

  • Pruning / Topiary Demo

    Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

    Presented by: Bountiful Farms
    This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
    Join the Bountiful Farms team as they perform a LIVE demo of pruning and topiary techniques. Get some fun new ideas, tips, tricks, and best practices.

    FREE

  • Soil Oxygen: Tips for Ensuring Plant Roots are Healthy and Thriving

    Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

    Speaker: Wei Zhang, PhD, VP of R&D, TreeDiaper
    This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
    Inspired by Professor Linda Chalker-Scott and Mr. Jim Uraban, two well-known professionals in the green industry, this presentation will be interactive with a live demo! We will explore why we must water our plants so often, what makes Plant Available Water different from irrigation water, and why we can’t supply plants with 1 month of water at a time. Wei will explain why roots don’t grow deep in the soil, why compacted soil is bad for your plants, and why volcano mulching is bad for your trees while piles of leaf litter in natural forests is not, and so much more!

    FREE

  • Regenerative Landscaping: Small Changes, Large Impact – Protecting and Supporting Local Ecology

    Room B110

    Speaker: Nutmeg Minneboo, Lead Ecological Designer, SymbiOp Garden Shop and Landscaping
    The way that we install and manage spaces in the landscaping industry has a large impact on the health and well-being of local ecology. Managing pests, plant diseases, water infiltration, and choosing plants for landscapes all directly affects local birds, pollinators, beneficial insects, and our local watershed. In this presentation, we will dive into ways we can learn to read the landscape. We will learn what to do when landscapes are out of balance and pests and diseases arise. Learning tips and tools for improving balance in a landscape naturally can help us protect local ecology.

    Registration Required

  • SPANISH ONLY – Case Study: Applying Lean Principles to Pulling Orders at JLPN

    Room B119

    Speaker: Carlos Vergara, Lean Manager, JLPN
    In February 2022, JLPN hosted a rapid improvement event (Kaizen™) focused on its process of pulling customer orders. Prior to the event, the process varied for different crew members: communication was inconsistent and crew members had to search the farm for the needed products. Learn how the team applied Lean principles to reduce motion and defects and increase productivity while improving communication and teamwork in their order pulling process.

    Registration Required

  • Pruning / Topiary Demo

    Solution Center (end of Aisle 10,000)

    Presented by: Serendipity Nursery
    This FREE mini-session is included with your trade show pass!
    The Serendipity Farms team will perform a LIVE demo of pruning and topiary techniques. Get some fun new ideas, tips, tricks, and best practices.

    FREE

  • Solving Plant Problems Virtually

    Room B110

    Speaker: George Grant, GGSPro Technical Specialist, Griffin Greenhouse Supplies
    Whether a grower is working internally with their cultivation team or externally with cooperative extension personnel, product vendor representatives or technical specialists often rely on some form of virtual communication (e.g., cellphones, emails, or video conferences). We are all familiar with the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but knowing what picture to take and what information to gather before reaching out for consultation is important in diagnosing an issue correctly and efficiently. The objective of this presentation will be to build a checklist growers can use for gathering valuable information once they have identified an issue in their production setting.

    Registration Required

  • Healthy Soil: All the Key Elements for Maintaining the Healthiest Soil

    Room B116

    Speakers: Alicia Leytem, President, Oregon Society of Soil Scientists, Instructor at OSU
    Vance Almquist, Vice President of Oregon Society of Soil Scientists, Instructor at OSU
    Join soil scientists Alicia Leytem and Vance Almquist as they discuss the principles of soil health and their relevance in Oregon. Learn common misperceptions regarding regenerative agriculture and how to spot misleading information when it comes to implementing soil health management and regenerative practices. Attendees will learn why soil health is important for your farm and the environment.

    Registration Required

  • How to Deal With Mite Pests in Landscapes and Nurseries

    Room B119

    Speaker: Raymond Cloyd, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Specialist, Kansas State University Raymond will discuss the different types of mite pests, and the biology, ecology, and

    Registration Required