I n d u s t r y I n f o r m a t i o n T o H e l p Y o u G r o w

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Griffin Locations:Cheshire, CTBall Ground, GA Tewksbury, MAGray, MEBridgeton, NJEwing, NJ

Auburn, NY Brookhaven, NY Schenectady, NY Morgantown, PA Knoxville, TN Richmond, VA

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All articles and material featured in this Gazette cannot be duplicated without written permission. Copyright © 2010 by Griffin Greenhouse & Nursery Supplies

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Northeast Greenhouse Conference November 3-4, 2010 DCU Center | Worcester, MA

MANTSJanuary 5-7, 2011 Baltimore, MD

Mid States Hort Expo January 28-29, 2011 McMinville, TN

NE Grows Feb 2-4, 2011 Boston, MA

GGIA Winter Green Show January 26-28, 2011 Duluth, GA

NCNLA Green & Growin Show January 13 -14, 2011 Greensboro, NC

SE Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conf. January 6-9, 2011 Savannah, GA

Upcoming Industry Events:

Griffin Seminars:

Toll Free Order Line: 1-800-659-4346 Griffin General Inquires: 1-800-888-0054

www.ggspro.com • 1.888.GGSPRO.1 • ggspro@griffinmail.com

No better place to get grower technical information.

Griffin Grower Services

Each Section is designed to give subject identification with a pic-ture along with control recom-mendations. In addition, we have included our very popular Insect/Disease/Herb & brand new BCA reference charts right in the book. These charts have Mode of Action, Active Ingredient, REI, Application Rates and Measure-ment Conversion Tables.

Section 1 – Insects

Section 2 – Diseases

Section 3 – Weeds

Section 4 – BCA’s (Biological Control Agents)

Section 5 – PGR’s (Plant Growth Regulators)

The GGSPro Technical Reference GuideOver 70 pages and 5 sections of detailed technical information with photos

You cannot find all this information compiled together anywhere else. And you know you can trust the recommendations because they come

from GGSPro a product neutral source.

Order now and get the discounted price of $99.00 ( a savings of 20%) To order contact Griffin Customer Service at 1.800.659.4346

or speak with your Griffin Sales Representative

NEW

Upcoming GGSPro Grower Seminars

Learn how to tune up your Dosatron Injector.

Find out the best fertilizer for your water type.

Get your water tested.

November 9, 2010 Griffin Greenhouse Supplies 5612 Pride Road | Richmond, VA

November 10, 2010 Griffin Greenhouse Supplies 7141 Old Rutledge Pike | Knoxville, TN November 11, 2010 Griffin Greenhouse Supplies 5350 Ball Ground Hwy | Ball Ground, GA

Water, Injector, Fertilizer Seminar Series

Water, Injector & Fertilizer SeminarNovember 9, 2010 Griffin Greenhouse Supplies 5612 Pride Road Richmond, VA

Water, Injector & Fertilizer SeminarNovember 10, 2010 Griffin Greenhouse Supplies 7141 Old Rutledge Pike Knoxville, TN Water, Injector & Fertilizer SeminarNovember 11, 2010 Griffin Greenhouse Supplies 5350 Ball Ground Hwy Ball Ground, GA

Griffin Expos 2010Fall is in the air, and that can mean only one thing, you’ve just been to another exciting Griffin Grower Expo. With over 200 vendors interacting with the 1500 attendees that walked through the doors over the three days of shows, this year will be another one for the record books.

Our MA Expo at the Eastern States Exposition Center in West Springfield on August 18th, marked the beginning of our Expo season. It was followed by our first annual TN Expo at the Knoxville Expo Center in Knoxville on September 15th. Our Expos wrapped up with our PA Expo on September 29th at the Lancaster Host and Convention Center in Lancaster. Each day was jam packed with ven-dor specials on products, plant material options from an impressive list of plant producers, attendee only specials, great food and refresh-ment, and Griffin’s outstanding educational seminar program.

This year’s educational program included presentations on new plant varieties for 2011 by Griffin’s Tom Kirby and Dave Williams, Marketing Your Business by guest speaker Rick Segel (MA & PA), Developing Herbicide Strategies for Nursery Production by Jim Willmott (TN) and Hot Topics in Pest Control by Griffin’s GGSPro experts Rick Yates and Jim Willmott.

We were elated to have such a great turnout at all of our Expos, espe-cially in TN being our first time there. When the TN attendees were lined up at the doors early in the morning waiting to get in, we knew it was going to be another great Expo. The seminars were filled to capacity and busting at the seams. Everyone was happy with the new location which offered great speaker rooms, dining area, ample park-ing, and lots of room to expand the tradeshow area in the upcoming years. Knoxville’s great showing solidified the success of our Expos in the Northeast, Mid Atlantic and South.

Door prizes were also part of each Expo with all attendees being entered to win a Siebring Kruser Sprayer, HP Laptop and a Garmin GPS, just for attending. In addition, Sun Gro offered a chance to win a 32” HDTV and the Myers group offered a four day / three night trip to Disney World or Las Vegas!

We would like to sincerely thank all of our customers who were able to make it to our Expos. We hope that you had as great a time as we did. Hopefully you enjoyed a good meal, brought home some good-ies, got your product questions answered and even learned a little. We look forward to seeing at the 2011 Expos!

Here are some of our raffle prize winners from the shows. Check our website for a complete listing of 2010 Expo raffle winners.

Grand Prize Vacation from Myers Zema's Nursery Stephentown, NY

Kruser Sprayer TJ's House of Flowers Cullman, AL

HP Laptop Computer Al Stepanick Greenhouse Feeding Hills, MA

GPS Bluff Mountain Nursery Hot Springs, NC

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One of my two graduate advisors once said that our industry is guilty of focusing too much on production and not enough on mar-keting. Two experiences over my career have reinforced this statement. The first is as a conference organizer. Over the years seminar attendance at production talks has dwarfed that of business and marketing talks. The second is as a research committee member. When committees I participated on decided how to spend limited research dollars, when

push came to shove our vote almost always fell on the side of produc-tion research projects over marketing research. Oh, so I don’t forget. My advisor’s comment was made in 1980, thirty years ago.

After spending the past three decades living, eating, and breathing the life of a floriculturist I have come to a harsh realization. When it comes to business management and marketing in particular, we have dropped the ball and need to pick it up quickly in order to survive in challeng-ing times. That’s where this year’s Expo speaker, Mr. Rick Segel, has come to our aid. Rick is a marketing guru, has written several books on the subject, and is an internationally acclaimed speaker on the subject. He spoke at Griffin’s recent Expo programs in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, leaving audiences in both locations thinking, laughing, and more focused on marketing advice that immediately improves profitability.

Old Principles, New PracticesI’m going to dig into the area of marketing first by reviewing long established principles and second by incorporating tips that Rick presented. A text book treatment of this discipline that I was taught is called “The Four P’s of Marketing”. This occurred during my under-graduate work in the mid 70s. In the time that’s passed, The Four P’s haven’t changed.

Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. Doing what needs to be done to optimize each of these four areas still ensures that handsome profits will fill a business’s coffers each year. Product refers to the production of the actual goods and/or services. In our case, product refers to grow-ing quality crops. This aspect of marketing reinforces why we choose to attend production talks and fund production research as most of us got into this industry to grow plants. So my earlier comments calling us out as an industry for doing so are actually out of line. To a point, of course.

Continuing, Place refers to how we get the product to market. Think of Place as your distribution channel as well as location. If one is a grower retailer, his or her Place is the on site retail area or garden center. If one is a wholesale grower, his or her Place includes retail customers, shipping, handling, and so on. It is true that a wholesale grower’s Place is more complex than a retail grower’s. On the other hand, a wholesalers customer list is somewhat simpler than that of a retailers so things tend to balance out. Price is self explanatory. A large part of marketing revolves around Price. This is an area Rick spent time discussing during his Expo presentation. One thing I felt very good about with him being an outsider to our industry was his emphasis on raising price, or at least

leaving the concept of being the low price leader in the dust. His advice to think harder about pricing reinforces a point my professor made decades ago. Being the low price leader never results in market longevity because there will always be someone willing to enter the marketplace at a lower price than yours. Witness the commoditization of the poinsettia to reinforce how this practice has been all too com-mon in recent decades. A pricing mantra I try and live by was presented by another market-ing expert who deals solely with our industry. His definition of proper pricing went something like this. If, on a busy weekend day in May you don’t hear at least three customers complain that your prices are too high, it means your prices are too low! Think about this the next time you engage in a debate within your organization dealing with whether to raise prices or stand pat.

The Final PPromotion is the fourth and final P and is the one that most of us think of when the word marketing is mentioned. Promotion involves everything that’s done to promote one’s Product, Place, and Price. Promotion is the activity that has been defined by my opening com-ments; namely, the area we have failed to put enough effort into over the years. This is the area Rick focused on. One of the points he spent time discussing revolved around the sig-nage in our retail selling areas. We’ve all heard this before, signage is a silent sales person. But Rick dug into this deeper with some humorous pictures of how signage should and should not be used. His take home message…we’re not doing nearly as well as we should be using signage to increase profit. I’ve heard other experts present another version of the “Three times in one day” rule. This version refers to customer questions and states that if one hears the same question three times in one day it means a sign is sorely needed. “Where are your vegetables located? How much does this hanging basket cost? How do I fertilize this mixed container?” Each of us has heard our own versions of these and other questions. If you subscribe to the philosophy that these shallow questions create opportunities to interact with customers, well, there are many other things that could be discussed that would cement one’s standing as an expert rather than pointing to crop locations. Rick’s message on signage was pretty clear. Spend money to make money. Have signs that look professional and answer the common questions. Work hard to develop the different signage categories around the retail operation. Area signs need to be clear and in the right places. Product identification signs and care information need to be adequate and appropriate to answer most of the commonly asked ques-tions. Pricing signage needs to be everywhere and easy to understand. Marketing is part of all of our businesses as defined by the four P’s – Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. Let’s all continue to produce quality crops, deliver them to market, and price them appropriately to maximize profitability. And remember, we could all benefit from spending more time and expending more energy on that last P…promotion.

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Marketing: Respecting Old Rules and Learning New TwistsBy Peter Konjoian

Grower to Grower

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Frequently Asked

Questions Timely Tips

What causes the buds to fall off a Christmas cactus prematurely and other troubleshooting questions?

By Virginia Brubaker, Technical Support Specialist

Tis the season and it’s time to start planning for the upcoming holiday seasons. Poinsettias are still ranking as the number one most popular holiday potted plant. Next in popularity would be a beauti-fully blooming Christmas cactus often referred to as a Zygocactus. This potted plant has gained this popularity by capturing the consumer’s eye. Many growers look for other crops to supplement poinsettia sales and Christmas cactus does a good job filling this niche. They are easy to care for and have year round interest from the consumers. But how do we answer that perennial question as to why premature bud drop occurs on Christmas cactus?

The biggest instigator of this problem is the transition that occurs when moving the plant from a florist or greenhouse envi-ronment to a home environment. Bud drop can be caused by exposing the plant to winter weather during transportation, over watering, expo-sure to cold drafts and positioning the plant too close to heater vents. Instruct your customers to keep the plants in a bright cool area away from drafts.

Christmas cactus are grown in the greenhouse at optimum night tem-peratures of 62-64° F, except around 55° F during bud initiation. Ideal day temperatures are 70-80° F, but they will tolerate hotter summer tempera-tures. Be aware that yellowing foliage can be an indication that light levels are too high, so shading is required during these hot summer months. After buds are set and enlarging, you can run night temperatures at 50-55° F for a time to hold back flowering. This is quite the contrast to the home environment. The customer’s daily average house temperature at this time of year is around 70° and the humidity changes from 60 percent or higher in the greenhouse to one where the humidity in the home is 10 percent or less. This will also cause the flower buds to drop. Since the final customers location will be much warmer and less humid than a greenhouse gradually raise night temperatures to 60- 62° F before shipping to reduce the environmental shock on the cactus.

Christmas cactus are transplanted from liners into their finished container size during June. Typically multi-cutting cell pack liners are planted 1 plant per 4" - 4-1/2" pot, 2-3 plants per 6" - 6-1/2" pot and 3 plants per 8" HB. They should be planted into a soil-less mix that drains well. Composted pine bark in the mix provides some disease suppression. Maintain a soil pH of between 5.7 and 6.2. Coir improves root growth as well as helping to maintain good

air space, which is especially important with this long-term crop. A water analysis is needed to make an accurate fertilizer recom-mendation, but most growers will find a 150 ppm constant feed with 20-10-20 is adequate. Supplement this occasionally with 150 ppm 15-0-15. Reduce feeding by 50% during bud initiation, and resume normal levels after buds appear. Zygocactus have high iron and magnesium requirements. Iron can be supplemented with a soil drench of iron chelate (Sprint), @ 3-4 oz per 100 gallons. Epsom salt is a good way to add magnesium. Constant injection of Epsom salts along with a balanced feed at 2 ozs per 100 gallons is ideal, but as a corrective measure you can apply a one time soil drench of 8 oz per 100 gallons. Although Christmas cactus are succulents, even soil

moisture is required, but allow the plants to run a little drier during bud initiation. Oedema can occur if

kept too moist.

Flower bud initiation is influenced by night time temperature and photope-

riod control. Buds initiate with shorter days and cooler night temperatures. Night temperatures between 50 and 55° F hasten bud initiation. The plant should receive 13 or more hours of continuous darkness starting around the end of September or the begin-ning of October. Allow six weeks for

completion. The lack of short days is often the reason why our customers

aren’t able to get their cactus to re-bloom the following year. If your cactus usually

blooms too early, you can delay initiation by maintaining a night temperature of 62-64° F, and

use mum lighting starting September 1st, through October 15th. (Mum lights are 100-watt light bulbs, 4 feet

apart, 4 feet over the crop.) Light for 4 hours per night.

Christmas cactus are susceptible to root rots, especially Pythium and Phytophthora. These pathogens can encourage stem and root rot causing the affected plant foliage to turn gray-green in color. Preventive fungicide soil drench applications should be done at monthly intervals. Erwinia, also known as soft rot can be an issue. Foliar applications of Phyton-27® at 1-1/4 tsp. /gal can help to control this. Another problem effecting Christmas cactus can be the Thrips virus, INSV. Throwing out infected plants and control-ling thrips is the only remedy for this disease. Consult the Griffin “Insecticide and Fungicide Options” and the “Thrips” bulletins for a comprehensive list of treatment options including rates and use patterns.

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When you use Griffin Plant Services you are guaranteed healthy, viable plant material upon receipt, which is true to name. But when things go wrong, we’re here to help you recover your plants, or your costs, and minimize your losses. There are steps you can take to streamline the process of filing a plant claim to ensure a timely replacement or credit to your account. Here are a few of the most frequently encountered plant problems, along with resolutions and the actions we take when you file a claim. • Review plant acknowledgements as they are received, verifying ship dates, quantities, varieties and sizes. Prior to sending your acknowledgement, your orders are transferred between Griffins and your plant vendor several times. If the information changes at any point during this process and you don’t review your paper-work, the confirmation will carry through with the same error, and that is what will be grown for you.

• Check your shipments immediately upon receipt for proper box and tray count as noted on the packing slip. Trays generally have a scan number on them to ensure proper pulling of your order. But if there is a shortage, we can place a claim as soon as you notify us. Usually your products can be replaced the fol-lowing week.

• If you have received the wrong product you can call customer service or your sales rep, and we will investigate how the error occurred. It’s important that you don’t accidently plant these with the rest of your order, because we won’t have any opportu-nity to correct your order. We usually arrange to have the plants picked up shortly, and they will be returned to the supplier, or sold to other customers in need.

• If your plants come in damaged, frozen or inferior, most of our suppliers require notification within 48 hours along with pictures. We ask that you let us know within 24 hours so we can assemble your claim and photos, and get them off to the vendor. Be pre-pared to take some digital pictures, or even cell phone pictures can be sent in to verify the claim. In these cases, we ask for a count in how many plants you can salvage, and the rest will be submitted for a credit or replacement. You can usually discard the plants right after calling us and sending in your photos. If some of the plants are questionable, but you’re still going to try to salvage them, please give us a count so we can send it to the vendor. This is the only way we can submit a claim later if they don’t grow.

• Dormant and vernalized perennials are a different animal and more stringent rules apply to get credit for lost plants. It is important to have a qualified person inspect dormant roots at the time of planting to assure they are white, firm and free from mold. There are a few plants such as Astilbe and Anemone that have brown to black roots, but you should still be able to scrape lightly to reveal a white interior. Bad roots upon receipt can easily be submitted for a claim. Pictures don’t help much in this case, so oftentimes the vendor requires that the bad product be picked up. Again – it’s important to not throw any plants out until we assure you that your claim has been processed.

Plant Corner

Griffin's Quality Plant Assurance Plant Claims & CreditsBy Nanette Marks

Early Ordering AdvantagesBy Nanette Marks

This past summer we’ve been busy with rebooking 2011 spring orders, but the fall is even busier with grow-ers who traditionally wait longer to place their spring orders. Generally, your orders are custom grown for you when you order early. For fast crops, we may only need 6 weeks lead time to have your order grown. But slower crops may need 9 weeks or more of production time to be ready to ship. So your order has to be placed a mini-mum of 2 months prior to your re-quired ship date. Without this time allowance, your order has to come off of availability. In most cases there is material available to fill the majority of these orders. But the later we take your order, the risk of unavailability increases. Part of our service as your broker is to get you the material you need when you need it. There is an additional benefit in that early orders can be grown by your choice of sup-pliers based on the quality you prefer and how the plants will be shipped. Late orders don’t leave many choices. Your order goes to the source that has any bench space to grow it, or any-body who has it on availability.

Availability is derived from 2 sources. The first is speculation – a supply of plants that were grown forecasting from historical sales what growers will need at the last minute. This is generally the most popular varieties in the most common tray sizes. This is fine if you sell only the most common varieties in the most common packs and pot sizes. But this certainly isn’t going to give you the cutting edge over your completion. These days, most of the big “box” stores are right on top selling specialty plants, includ-ing branded names and containers. The second way that inventory is shifted to availability is the supplier must always add a built in buffer to over-sow in order that they can guar-antee their tray counts. If the seed has

good germination, or the cuttings root without problems, these buffer trays end up on future availability lists. As part of Griffin’s Plant Services, we al-locate a large portion of our time in the spring matching up late orders to the availability from all of our ven-dors. We encourage you to continue submitting your last minute needs to us, which we will research thoroughly to locate the products for you. But of course, we would rather receive your requests early enough to give you that firm guarantee and freedom of choice. There are other plants that you order that can’t be grown to order because they are grown a year in advance. This would be the case in bareroot pe-rennials, vernalized perennials, bulbs and long term crops. In these cases, the supplier speculates what he will sell the following year and begins to build the inventory. As orders are placed, the inventory is reduced until sold out. These crops are often sold out prior to the first ship date, be-cause all the material is reserved in advance. Late orders for long term crops can result in backorders for 6 months or longer because you are waiting for the next production cycle once current inventory is all sold.

With so many unpredictable factors that can affect your production and crop quality, why not eliminate the things that you can control. Secure your orders in advance. It will make everything more predictable from planning bench space, lining up labor for production, and matching your hardgoods to your plant orders for good inventory management on soil, pots and tags. As an added benefit, you may find that there is a discount for placing your order early. Call you sales rep or customer service at 800-732-3509 for more information and cutoff dates.

Plant Corner

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Commercial greenhouses continue to discover new and better ways to utilize biological control organ-isms (BCA’s) for insect and mite control. One ongoing challenge has been developing methods of releasing the various insects, mites and nematodes in such a fash-ion that they are in optimum condition and properly dispersed throughout the crops. For highly

mobile BCA’s such as the aphid predator Aphidius cole-mani the task of placement is simple because they cover so much ground. Once released, these tiny wasps seek out their prey and fly to the job site. On the other hand you may find yourself standing in the middle of a greenhouse with a canister that says 250,000 predatory mites are inside. They don’t fly and although they have eight legs they can only cover about 3 feet on a full tank of gas! Innovation to the rescue.

Griffin has partnered with Syngenta Bioline, a world leader in BCA’s. In addition to a full line of BCA’s, Syngenta Bioline has developed innovative packaging for delivering these organisms. Some of the benefits realized include labor savings, increased viability and faster predator establishment. The following list highlights some of the packaging and delivery breakthroughs.

• Gemini Sachets were developed as an effective way to provide a controlled release of predator mites while protecting the colony from being damaged by overhead irrigations. Bran mites are used as a food source for certain predatory mites to ensure they have adequate food even if their pest of choice is in short supply. This makes it possible to develop a stable reproductive colony for 3-6 weeks depending on the type of mite and environmental conditions. Breeder piles, hand applied piles of bran, bran mites and the predator mites, are placed on the soil

surface. Overhead irrigations can disrupt the pile leading to a low yield of mites. The Gemini Sachet’s unique “A frame” design sheds water while providing a controlled environment for the mites that is fast and easy to deploy in the crop. Fig 1. Illustrates the “A frame” design and Fig 2. Indicates the internal location of the release holes, fully protected from overhead irrigations.

• Mini-sachets utilize the same controlled release breeding colony approach of the Gemini sachets but are small and economical enough to be applied at a rate of one per hang-ing basket or larger container to insure a steady supply of predator mites once the crop is spaced out. Fig 3

• Blister Packs are currently utilized for the whitefly preda-tor wasp Eretmocerus eremicus and the voracious midge larvae Aphidoletes aphidimyza that is used to treat aphid hot spots. Fig 4 In the case of the Eretmocerus the blister packs avoids the problems of providing the parasitized pupae glued to cards. If the wrong side of the pupae is glued to the card the wasp will fail to emerge. This problem is overcome by the blister pack since the pupae are mixed in loose with a carrier that also helps to maintain ideal humid-ity levels for wasp emergence. The improved humidity control is also a benefit for the Aphidoletes, in addition to making it easier to locate them in close proximity to aphid hot spots. Lunch is served!

• Bugline is a continuous line of controlled release sachets connected end to end for releasing predator mites into crops that are pot to pot or are spaced and have overlap-ping leaves. The mite breeding system is only in every 6th sachet, the others are left empty to serve as space holders to achieve the ideal spacing. Bugline utilizes release holes fac-ing down to protect the colony from overhead irrigations. Fig 5. Substantial labor savings result when compared to individual sachets or breeder piles. Working the Bugline down into the crop canopy a little bit shades the sachets keeping the breeder colonies cooler.

Biological Control Agents Getting Them to Job SiteBy Rick Yates, GGSPro Technical Services Manager

Picture Captions: (Shown Left to Right)Fig 1-“A frame” design sheds water from overhead irrigations.Fig 2- Gemini Sachet internal release holes

Fig 3- Hooks make the mini-sachets fast and easy to attach Fig 4- Blister packs provide a favorable environment for the predatorsFig 5- Bugline offers labor savings.

Technical Tips

Technical Tips Weed Control Now to Start Clean in SpringBy Jim Willmott, Technical Services Specialist, GGSPro

Moving into fall it is easy to forget about weed control, but don’t! Weeds are relent-less so we must plan and act aggressively to prevent unwelcome problems. Now is the time to prevent problems next spring: Spring weed control begins now – not in spring when costly hand-pulling remains as the only effec-tive control option.

Let’s consider what you can do about weeds now to save time, money and frustration

next spring. Judging from hundreds of grower calls each year, bit-tercress jumps out as the most widespread offender. Unfortunately most growers contact us in late spring when the weed has sur-passed the point of economical control. Recommendations men-tioned here to control bittercress will control most other weeds that are occasionally troublesome, but not to the extent of bittercress. Bittercress, like most highly successful weeds, is remarkably well equipped to cause grief. It’s a well armed and dangerous weed with explosive seed capsules that blast infestations as far as 10 feet from ground zero! Its assault begins with germination in late summer and doesn’t let up until late spring - early summer. During warmer winter conditions, it remains active under cover in overwin-tering structures. It’s not uncommon to find unwelcome infestation after uncovering crops even when relatively clean in fall. Once bittercress and other winter annuals are up, there is nothing you can do except pull them by hand.

As with all pests, the key to successful management is prevention. Even if you don’t see the pest, consider your history and take action now. Herbicides are not the only solution, but when used along with sanita-tion and proper culture, they are the most economical – especially con-sidering the high cost of hand pulling during the busy spring season. Preemergence herbicides should be selected based on safety to crops grown and efficacy on your most troublesome weeds. Applications must be made prior to weed germination and herbicides must be incorporated into the top surface of media either through irrigation or precipitation. Under most conditions control will last about 8 weeks so one application should be made now and another prior to covering. At this time, spray over the top with one or two preemergence herbi-cides. For broad spectrum control of bittercress and most other weeds in herbaceous crops, tank mix Gallery with either Barricade or Pendulum AquaCap. Barricade and Pendulum AquaCap are pretty good alone, on most weeds, but somewhat weak on bittercress. SnapShot or Jewel are good options if you prefer granular applications. For woody crops consider spraying with SureGuard. It’s not only an excellent herbi-cide, it’s the most economical. Another good spray option is a tank mix of Tower and Pendulum AquaCap. If you rather apply granular products, BroadStar is the granular formulation of SureGuard and FreeHand is the granular formulation of Tower plus Pendulum.

Prior to overwintering, it is critical to start with weed free sites. If weeds are emerged and crops have not been moved into the site, spray Roundup or another glyphosate product first. After this, apply preemergence herbicides as described above.

Remember to follow label restrictions for crop safety. This includes the interval of time between application and covering.

Bittercress is the most troublesome spring weed for many growers

1 All Products denoted with G are granular formulations that are spread on dry. All others are mixed with water and applied as sprays.

Preemergence Herbicides Labeled for Application to Outdoor Grown Containerized Ornamentals and Sites Where They are Grown

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I wonder how many of you remember when there were not that many plant types or varieties that you grew for spring sales? Remember how you were asking "What‘s new for next spring?, What can I offer my customers that may be new and exciting? We need new plant types! We need new varieties! We need more!" Bring it on, man!

Well now, how many of you can fit all the plant types and varieties you grow on one sheet of paper? I bet you need a book! Let‘s not even talk about tags… Can‘t we simplify this?

Well, Sun Gro is in the same position. We have added professional products over the years and it‘s time to simplify. We set out to use our brands to organize our professional products in a manner to sim-plify what we have and by virtue of that, help others understand the products Sun Gro offers.

So we came up with a way to use our two common brands to organize our professional products in a way that our customers can understand.

We chose our SUNSHINE and METRO-MIX brand names to achieve this plan.

Sunshine brand professional products will be products not contain-ing any composted bark or other composts. These are products that contain peat moss and/or coconut coir pith. Our coir products will also show the brand SunCoir.

Metro-Mix brand professional products will be products containing composted bark or other composted materials. Composted materials other than bark may include materials like com-posted peanut hulls or rice hulls.

Those who know about our product line already can see that some current products will be re-branded. Take for example our Sunshine bark mixes, like our popular SB300. That product will be re-branded as Metro-Mix.

Or what about the Metro Mixes that do not contain any bark or composted materials? Take our Metro Mix 200 for example. That will be re-branded as Sunshine.

In fact, some products will be consolidated with others, where for-mulas are similar or even exactly the same.

Take for example, Metro Mix 700 and Sunshine SB300. They will be consolidated. Or what about Metro Mix 702 and Sunshine SB100? Those two will also be consolidated. The resulting product names will be Metro Mix 900 and 902 respectively. Some products will be eliminated as standard products because of their low popularity. Some final tweaks are yet to be made to this scheme.

The realignment of brands took place on July 1, 2010. This seemed to be a logical segue point since most growers / customers are in-between seasons spring / bedding plants and fall / mums, poinsettias, etc. And typically customers start their purchases of growing media products in the late summer/ early fall that coincide with horticul-tural/distributor shows. So, it was advised that this timing would be more convenient for our distributor partners as well.

One of the things we have attempted to do is to put formulas in categories, particularly for the Metro-Mix products. This was done knowing that many of the product names are somewhat entrenched in the marketplace. We felt compelled to use the ingredients and their relative amounts to segment the lines.

We have grouped the Metro Mix products, so we now we have the following categories:

Sunshine Series: No bark or compost

SunCoir: Designation for a product containing coconut coir pith. Metro Mix 300 Series: Products with bark, high amounts of ver-miculite and bark ash. Exception is MM380 and MM380 SunCoir

Metro Mix 500 Series: Products with high amounts of bark, high amounts of vermiculite and bark ash.

Metro Mix 800 Series: Products with bark or compost, low or no vermiculite and no bark ash.

Metro Mix 900 Series: Products with bark or compost, high amounts of vermiculite and no bark ash.

Metro Mix PX Series: Products, many of which, contain composted peanut hulls.

Labeling Changes Together with Brand Realignment, Sun Gro is also implementing the use of stick-on labels together with more generic packaging. This should streamline our pack-aging purchases and look but also be more precise and at the same time more flexible in our labeling.

Our distributors are becom-ing more organized via com-puterization. They expect their suppliers to provide them with what they need to be more efficient. Things like item numbers, lot codes, ingredients and even SKU bar codes need to be on our

packaging. So we are responding. The move for stick-on labeling should satisfy what our distributors are needing to be more efficient, and at the same time provide information that is easier to see. All Sun Gro plants should be fully operational with stick-on labeling by mid 2010.

Product Descriptions When you look our stick on labels you will see the use of short-hand in naming our products. We need to do that in order to make the font of the names as large as possible. This is geared to assure that the product names are easier to see. For example, instead of seeing Sunshine, you may see SS or instead of seeing Metro-Mix or Metro, you will see MM. On more of the common products you may not see the brand on the stick on label. For example, our Sunshine LC1 will simply be labeled LC1.

To be sure, our sales force, CRC and technical services will be fully trained on what the plan is moving forward. Our intention is to make sure that our distributors and end-use customers are fully apprised of these improvements in how we market our SunGro professional products.

Sun Gro Brand Re-alignment

SunGro is implementing

the use of stick-on labels in order to assure

that various information is easier to see for the distributor and the

end-use customer

If you have any questions about what the new name and number is for the current mix you are using, contact your Griffin Sales Rep or call the Griffin customer service department.

Retail ProductsItems for Your Store or Stand

Product Feature Super Saver

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ITEM # DESCRIPTION DIMENSIONS QTY/CS COLORS PRICE/CS 83D4231 DCN Mini Duo 10" & 12" 16 TC-CA-CM * $106.05 83D4232 DCN Large Duo 12" & 18" 8 DS-TC-CA * 102.17 83D4237 DCN 3 Tier Planter ** 10", 12", 18" 8 CA-CM * 139.66 83D8013 DCN Round Planter 12.75" x 11.31" 6 AB-AW-RU * 84.57

83D8016 DCN Round Planter 15.75" x 14" 6 AB-AW-RU * 124.44 83D8020 DCN Round Planter 19.75" x 17.5" 6 AB-AW-RU * 177.88

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* Colors: TC -Terracotta, CA-Cappuccino, CM-Champagne, DS-Dune Sand, AB- Antique Black, AW-Antique White, RU-Rust . Refer to our online catalog for images of all of the colors. ** Image shown (Image B) is the Duo Planter. The 3 Tier Planter has one additional tier. Refer to our online catalog for a detailed photo.

ITEM# DESCRIPTION VOLuME COLOR PRICE 94-2000 Myers Junior Hanging Stackapot * 14 qt. Clay $26.17 94-2001 Myers Medium Stackapot 30 qt. Clay 31.31 94-2002 Myers Jumbo Stackapot * 55 qt. Clay 57.06C

* Image shown (Image C) is the Medium Stackapot. Junior and Jumbo stackapots are a slightly different shape. Refer to our online catalog for a detailed photo.

Save 10%on Retail Planters listed

on this page. (Discount taken off of original

prices shown below.)Offer valid on orders

through 11/30/10

ITEM # DESCRIPTION OuTSIDE INSIDE HEIGHT CARTON 1-9 10-19 20-uP DIMENSION DIMENSION PACK 93-6362 Myers 16" Classic Pot * 17" 153/4" 131/4" 12 $126.57 $107.52 $99.84 93-6370 Myers 20" Classic Pot * 20" 173/4" 161/4" 6 81.87 69.55 64.58 93-6378 Myers 24" Classic Pot * 24" 211/2" 191/4" 6 123.90 105.25 97.73

DDD* Stocking color is Clay. Also available in Chocolate & Sandstone. (Allow 4 weeks for non-stocked colors.)

To order any of

the products shown here call your Sales Rep,

or call Customer Service at

800.659.4346

Griffin carries the complete line of

Myers & DCN products. Call your Sales Rep. for

more information.

11w w w . g r I F F I n s . c o m

P.O. Box 36, Tewksbury, MA 01876-0036

ITEM# DESCRIPTION QTY 1-9 10-19 20-uP

91-1978 Espoma 3n1 Disease Ctl. (24 oz.) 12/cs $66.38 $63.07 $59.7491-1980 Espoma Insect Control (24 oz.) 12/cs $66.38 $63.06 $59.74

91-1982 Espoma 4n1 Weed Ctl. (24 oz.) 12/cs $71.86 $68.27 $64.67

Retail ProductsItems for Your Store or Stand

ITEM # DESCRIPTION SIzE QTY/CS 1-9 10-19 20-uP

91-1800 Espoma Holly-Tone Bale 4 lb. 12 $56.90 $54.05 $51.2191-1802 Espoma Holly-Tone Bale 8 lb. 6 47.41 45.05 42.6791-1804 Espoma Holly-Tone Bag 20 lb. 1 13.06 12.41 11.7591-1806 Espoma Holly-Tone Bag 40 lb. 1 21.07 20.02 18.9691-1808 Espoma Plant-Tone Bale 4 lb. 12 56.90 54.05 51.2191-1810 Espoma Plant-Tone Bale 8 lb. 6 47.41 45.04 42.6791-1812 Espoma Plant-Tone Bag 20 lb. 1 13.06 12.41 11.7591-1814 Espoma Plant-Tone Bag 40 lb. 1 21.07 20.02 18.9691-1820 Espoma Garden-Tone Bale 4 lb. 12 56.90 54.05 51.2191-1822 Espoma Garden-Tone Bale 8 lb. 6 47.41 45.04 42.6791-1824 Espoma Garden-Tone Bag 20 lb. 1 13.06 12.41 11.7591-1826 Espoma Garden-Tone Bag 40 lb. 1 21.07 20.02 18.96

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C ITEM # DESCRIPTION VENDOR ID QTY/CS PRICE

R810 Gardman 18" Gothic Square Patio Planter R810 5 $74.95 R811 Gardman 22" Gothic Trough Patio Planter R811 5 74.95 R812 Gardman 36" Gothic Wall Trough R812 5 74.95 R498 Gardman Rustic Ratan Horn Basket R498 10 77.90 R487 Gardman 16" Lattice Wall Basket R487 10 77.90

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Griffin carries the complete line of Gardman & Espoma products.

Call your Sales Rep. for more information.

To order any of the products shown here call your Sales Rep, or call Customer

Service at 800.659.4346

Purchase 300 units of Espoma products and you will be eligible for terms and drop ship pricing. Free Freight on an order of $750.00 or more of any Gardman products.