TECH ON DEMAND brought to you by GrowerTalks

Bill Calkins
  • 4.7 (12)
  • BUSINESS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

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

  1. SEP 4

    The Power of Seed ft. Josh Kirschenbaum

    Warning: You’re going to hear the word SEED a lot in the next half hour or so, because our guest this episode is Josh Kirschenbaum, the seed supply manager at Ball Seed Company. He’s a seed guy all the way. In previous roles, Josh was PanAmerican Seed’s business and portfolio manager for the company’s vegetable lineup and before that was product development director at Territorial Seed Company in Oregon.   Here’s what you can expect from host Bill Calkins and Josh this episode:   Their shared fascination with the new OPEX Perfect Pick machine Ball introduced earlier this year. Josh describes it as a climate-controlled vending machine for seed packets that can pull 20 orders at a time, resulting in speedy service and increased accuracy in order fulfillment. (Check out the video and article link in the resources below to see the machine in action.)   Bill challenged Josh to come up with three reasons why seed solves problems and why it’s still a preferred way to produce crops. Josh explains the economic benefits, why flexibility and efficiency are optimized when starting from seeds or plugs and finally the amazing innovation and quality of genetics available from seed.   Throughout the conversation, Bill and Josh touch on many more aspects of seed crops that have been at the core of Ball’s business for more than a century. Josh discusses the global nature of our industry, how innovative breeding drives our future, the importance of quality seed in large-scale plug production and the legacy seed has in horticulture.   Resources:   Ball Seed Company Website: https://ballseed.com/   Ball Seed Product Forms & Premier Line Seed List: https://ballseed.com/Products/Seed   OPEX Perfect Pick—From Grocery Store to Vending Machine (Article): https://www.growertalks.com/Article/?articleid=27411   OPEX Perfect Pick (Facebook Video): https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19SiAULR35/

    42 min

  2. SEP 1

    The ABCs of Foliar Disease in Greenhouse & Nursery Crops ft. Janna from Envu

    This episode includes critical information for both nursery and greenhouse producers!   To discuss this episode’s topic, host Bill Calkins was joined by a fantastic guest from Envu—Dr. Janna Beckerman—who’s an experienced plant pathologist at heart and wanted to discuss three key diseases commonly encountered in greenhouse and nursery crop production. Conveniently for the podcast title, these diseases begin with the letters A, B and C—anthracnose, Botrytis and cercospora.   In this episode, the conversation starts with a brief recap of some diseases Dr. Beckerman saw a lot of in the spring, like rusts and Pythium and then the conversation moved quickly to the topic at hand—foliar diseases. Bill and Janna took the three ABCs in order talking through the main crops impacted by each one, symptoms to watch for and control methods. Although Dr. Beckerman mentioned one of Envu’s flagship fungicides, Broadform (a unique chemical class with two modes of action to control more than 50 pathogens), her rotation recommendations and application best practices were extremely in-depth and user-friendly. She also went through strategies to mitigate the risk from these three diseases using good sanitation practices and greenhouse and nursery environmental management.   Bill and Janna closed out the conversation with the importance of resistance management—a topic that cannot be overstated. Keeping our toolboxes full and giving all growers the best chance for controlling diseases (and insect/mite pests) requires diligence and intelligent approaches to chemical rotation and application.   You’ll want to listen all the way to the end of this episode, because Dr. Beckerman is a true expert and offers countless tips and tricks to help you and your production team up the game season after season.   Resources:   Envu’s Ornamentals Segment Website: https://www.envu.com/segments/ornamentals   Envu’s Products for the US Market: https://www.us.envu.com/ornamentals   Envu’s Products for the Canadian Market: https://www.ca.envu.com/greenhouse-and-nursery   Broadform Fungicide Product Information: https://www.us.envu.com/ornamentals/po/products/broadform

    48 min

  3. AUG 24

    Pre-emergence Herbicide Tips & Tricks for Perennial Production

    Corteva’s technical guru, flower grower and greenhouse and nursery “coach” Broch Martindale is back on the podcast to share strategies for controlling weeds in perennial production using products like Gallery, Dimension and Snapshot. Bill and Broch recorded this episode live in The Gardens at Ball. Over the course of this episode, Broch and host Bill Calkins discuss selecting the best products to control specific weeds impacting crops each season. They dive deep into weeds that can take over when temps drop and why fall applications of pre-emergence herbicides can be critical. General “best practices” are shared that will not only keep weeds at bay but also reduce costs associated with labor and product purchase. RESOURCES: Learn more about Gallery® specialty herbicide. Learn more about Dimension® specialty herbicide. Learn more about Snapshot® specialty herbicide.

    23 min

  4. AUG 6

    Horticulture 2.0 (Part Two): Rethinking Our Industry with Jaime Kedrowski

    Host Bill Calkins asked Jaime Kedrowski (Marketing Manager at Ball Seed Company) to join him for a discussion about the short-term future of our industry. This conversation was recorded live at the 2025 Ball Seed Customer Days open house event in West Chicago, IL. For this episode, Bill had three “big ideas” that he introduced to Jaime one at a time to find out what she had to say about them (and if she had any even bigger ideas or approaches). There are no right answers and neither Jaime or Bill own a functional crystal ball. But the goal of this discussion was to share ideas to ponder and potential directions to steer as our industry enters a new era. Topics discussed: Horticulture vs. culture New plants vs. new solutions Lifestyle vs. hobby

    24 min

  5. AUG 4

    Horticulture 2.0 (Part One): Rethinking Our Industry with Seth Reed

    Host Bill Calkins asked Seth Reed (Global Sustainability Manager at Ball Horticultural Company) to join him for a discussion about the short-term future of our industry. This conversation was recorded live at the 2025 Ball Seed Customer Days open house event in West Chicago, IL. For this episode, Bill had three “big ideas” that he introduced to Seth one at a time to find out what he had to say about them (and if he had any even bigger ideas or approaches). There are no right answers and neither Seth or Bill own a functional crystal ball. But the goal of this discussion was to share ideas to ponder and potential directions to steer as our industry enters a new era. Topics discussed: Post-pandemic growth vs. new realities Labor vs. labor retention Production vs. automation

    31 min

  6. JUL 31

    Plant Growth Regulators ft. SePRO’s JC Chong

    In this episode of the Tech On Demand podcast, brought to you by GrowerTalks, host Bill Calkins sat down with SePRO’s Technical Development Manager (and PestTalks e-newsletter editor) JC Chong to discuss plant growth regulators. PGRs are critical for greenhouse professionals but really haven’t been covered much on the podcast. Now’s the time! JC and Bill start off with a conversation about what PGRs are and what they do before jumping into a few specific products, including SePRO’s Topflor and A-Rest. Topflor is a gibberellic acid biosynthesis inhibitor (Class B)—active ingredient Flurprimidol. It offers some unique benefits in production, which JC covers in an informational way. JC outlines crops that respond particularly well (and some that don’t) and what you can expect from crops treated with the product. JC also explains some of the more common rates and application methods and a handy tool from SePRO to take a lot of the guesswork out of PGR application. JC is a researcher and has worked with the SePRO team and growers across North America to better use PGRs to achieve a variety of goals and has a lot of practical information to share. You’ll want to listen all the way to the end of this episode because when Bill and JC chat, you never know what to expect! WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION! Subscribe to JC’s PestTalks e-newsletter Resources: Topflor Product Overview A-Rest Product Overview SePRO PGR Selection Guide SePRO Horticultural Resources & Technical Contact

    28 min

  7. JUL 9

    Audio Files: Paying For That Efficiency Upgrade

    PAYING FOR THAT EFFICIENCY UPGRADE FROM THE SUMMER 2025 ISSUE OF INSIDE GROWER MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY DAVID KUACK NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS   EXCERPT: When it comes to lowering operating costs for controlled environment growers, energy and labor are top of mind. The cost of labor is expected to continue to increase as the availability, hiring and retention of reliable workers becomes more challenging. The cost of energy—regardless of whether it’s electricity, natural gas, fuel oil or propane—will also likely continue to increase. Growers, regardless of where they’re located, are expected to have to deal with increasing weather unpredictability. For these reasons, more growers are looking for ways to improve the energy efficiency of their facilities. Read the Digital Edition: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/ig_25_05/index.aspx

    9 min

  8. JUL 7

    Audio Files: Getting The Most Out Of Trials

    GETTING THE MOST OUT OF TRIALS FROM THE JUNE 2025 ISSUE OF GREEN PROFIT MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY DYLAN SEDMAK NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS   EXCERPT: Modern day variety trials—side-by-side comparisons of primarily annuals (along with some perennials, vegetables and even woodies)—take place across an array of institutions in North America. Beyond universities, companies have begun opening the doors to their own personal trial grounds. Many organize annual events centered around visiting the trials, such as the Michigan Garden Tour or Southern Garden Tour (scan QR codes for links). Read the Digital Edition: https://www.ballpublishing.com/magazine/gp_25_07/index.aspx

    8 min
See All (100)

Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

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

Information

You Might Also Like