That new venture is the interestingly named Alchemy Greenhouse Solutions, the brainchild of Bill Vietas, James Parris and Michael Kovalycsik, who have more than 100 years of combined greenhouse industry experience. The three greenhouse industry veterans have partnered to provide “innovative and cost-effective solutions for greenhouse construction, renovations, heating and cooling, maintenance and equipment.” They say they'll be working with top manufacturers in North America and Europe, allowing customers to choose from a wide range of greenhouse designs and equipment options.

“Our collective knowledge of greenhouse structures and systems gives us an enormous advantage in making efficient and economical decisions, and we have years of experience serving clients from all industry segments,” Bill Vietas said. Bill is CEO of the new venture. James is Director of Sales and Michael is Director of Business Development.

James Parris, Michael Kovalycsik and Bill Vietas, partners in the new venture Alchemy Greenhouse Solutions.

As for their status as industry veterans, Bill worked his way up to president of Rough Brothers in Cincinnati. James has long experience selling for both Rough Brothers and Stuppy. And Michael’s experience ranges from X.S. Smith and BFG Supply to Delta T Solutions and Stuppy. So they sound like they’ll combine for an experienced—and congenial—team.

And I do like the name—and not just because it comes early in the phone book. I asked them about it via email and James replied first:

“The name initially came from the idea of alchemy, based on the science of turning metals into gold. We expanded on this from a greenhouse-related point of view to 'Combining metals (structures, glazing materials and systems) to create gold (the crop for our customers).'”

Ah, clever!

Anyway, to learn more, the guys say to CLICK HERE.

The Oregon Association of Nurseries just concluded its 51st annual Farwest Show and they report it was a great success, with strong attendance and positive comments from exhibitors.

“This year’s Farwest Show floor had great energy with over 4,000 in attendance and more than 300 exhibiting companies representing many segments throughout our industry,” said Allan Niemi, director of events for OAN, which produces the show. “The show also experienced 8% more grower exhibit booths and over 15% more grower attendees.”

Allan added that he and his staff heard many positive comments from exhibitors excited about the leads, sales and connections they achieved during the show.

First-time exhibitor Samuel Hoefler of Etera of Forest Grove, Oregon, a sedum grower and supplier of pre-vegetated tiles for green roof plantings, said they decided to exhibit after attending the show previously.

“The show has been great; we’ve met with a lot of people and a lot of people are interested in our product,” Samuel said. “It’s a good audience and we do a lot of business with landscapers and nurseries as well, so it’s good to meet people and put names to faces and try to meet people locally and beyond.”

Said longtime exhibitor Chris Robinson, co-owner of wholesale grower Robinson Nursery of Amity, Oregon, “It’s a good opportunity to network with our neighbors and customers far and wide. This year we had a tree in the New Varieties Showcase and we were blessed that it won Best in Show and Retailers’ Choice awards. But what’s really the most important thing to me is that … we brought 55 people to the Farwest show so it gives an opportunity for all the people that are working hard on our farm year in and year out to come here and learn new things and network with like-minded individuals and come home and make the nursery even better.”

Fifty five staffers! That’s something! Shows are a great opportunity for learning and networking, but it’s often more valuable when you bring staff to do that rather than trying to do all the learning and networking yourself. Plus, they often appreciate the chance to get away from the nursery and have a day out with lunch, etc.

“And that’s what Farwest is all about,” said OAN Executive Director Jeff Stone. “It’s all about getting people connected in the industry, getting buyers to come see our products for themselves, see exhibitor booths filled with lush plant material and see our nurseries [on the OAN tours].”

Next year’s Farwest is August 20-22, 2025.

In vitro propagation—aka tissue culture or “TC” for short—is, as far as I know, our highest-tech method of propagation. It can create thousands of identical plants from one bit of parent tissue, all in a test tube (well, a sterilized flask or other container).

But, despite that, TC takes tons of careful hand work by trained specialists, who methodically work one container at a time. Nothing high-tech about that.

But a tissue culture specialist in Germany has developed what they call “the holy grail for in vitro plant propagation:” an autonomous, fully automatic machine called RoboCut.

Think of it as a fully automatic, self-contained tissue culture lab in a few square meters. Internally, it has a sterile, quarantined environment; 3D image recognition controlled by AI; a laser (instead of a scalpel) for hygienically cutting apart the individual TC plant; precise and repeatable robotic arms; and a conveyor system that feeds sterile containers into and out of the machine. It’s tremendously complicated and would be impossible without today’s software (80% of the development cost, I'm told) and hardware breakthroughs.

The developer is Bock Bio Science, a nearly 100-year-old plant breeder and propagator. They started in tissue culture in 1984, and have long dreamed of a way to streamline and automate the process. They began developing RoboCut in 2015, founding a separate division, RoBoTEC, for the task. Nine years and much testing and many iterations later, RoboCut is ready for market, said Stephan von Rundstedt, co-managing owner with his wife, Friederike, an ag engineer.

Stephan, right, with RoBoTEC Technical Director Dr. Mathias Fuss.

“The world needs more plants. There’s going to be up to 10 billion people that have to be fed by 2050. We can only do that by finding new technologies,” said Stephan.

And RoboCut certainly is new and one-of-a-kind: In fact, it’s protected by more than 50 patents in automation, controlled laser cutting, image recognition, plant media and software.

Friederike and Stephan von Rundstedt, the dynamic duo behind the RoboCut.

After running many thousands of tissue culture plants through RoboCut, they’ve seen that plants recover faster and grow better when cut apart by a laser instead of manually by a scalpel, they say. Plus, the laser automatically sterilizes the cut surface, reducing the failure rate from 10% to 5%. Average cost per plant is just one-third that of manual tissue culture! Other benefits include the ability to run it 24 hours per day; repeatability and accuracy; control and security, since it’s onshore; and reduction of the overall production time.

This image of their controls shows just how much is going on inside the machine.

When Stephan described the machine to me, I was picturing orchids, foliage and other ornamentals grown by TC. That’s the market I know. But that’s just 20% of the overall TC market. Much bigger are agriculture and forestry (40%) and fruit and vegetable crops (35%). Cosmetic and medicinal plants make up the remaining 5%. Together, that’s a lot of potential users of this machine! The potential benefits to food crops alone is worth the development investment. Stephan told me India alone plants 1.7 billion banana plants each year.

But if you’re a greenhouse grower or retailer, you won’t be buying one. So why should you care? Because RoboCut has the potential to make it financially feasible to bring more plants to market in high-quality, disease-free tissue culture form. AND to do it at lower cost and to do it closer to the market. That’s a win-win-win for growers, retailers and the end consumer. Stay tuned!

You can learn more and see a video of the machine in action on YouTube HERE.

More news out of Europe: The Euro Plant Tray, a multi-country effort to reduce the amount of single-use plastic generated by the European greenhouse industry, has hit the European market this month after several years of development and 1.5 million trays are already on order. They expect that just that initial order will prevent 250 tons of single-use plastic from going into the waste stream. These first trays will be the EPT 775, a shuttle tray designed to carry pots from 10.5 to 13 cm (4 to 5 in.). They're being manufactured by Bekuplast in Ringe, Germany. Three other sizes are soon to come from various manufacturers.

I first wrote about the Euro Plant Tray in this newsletter in January, after learning about it at IPM Essen. In a nutshell, it’s a reusable shuttle tray designed to solve the problem of single-use plastic, which governments across Europe are cracking down on or downright outlawing.

These reusable trays have been developed by a consortium of tray users/stakeholders called Euro Plant Tray eG, whose goal was to come up with a standard tray design, in standard sizes applicable to pretty much every grower, that would replace the one-way, single-use, disposable shuttle trays long used in our industry. And they wanted to do it on their terms, rather than wait for some European government to force them to do it.

The first Euro Plant Trays being put to work at a calluna (heather) nursery. Its unique shape lets it hold multiple pot sizes.

EPT eG has developed rental models to help growers afford the switch to the new reusable trays. And they're doing a crowdfunding campaign to help support production of more trays and speed the transition away from single-use plastic trays.

It’s a good thing, too, because many countries tax single-use plastics. And as of January 1, 2030, the use of single-use plastic packaging in B2B transport will be banned in the EU by the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.

We talk a lot in North America about how to reduce our use of plastics—perhaps EPT has done the groundwork towards a solution we can adopt?

What are your thoughts on that? Let me know HERE.

I was in West Chicago at Ball Publishing World HQ for some meetings and in one we got on the topics of Gen-Z and a trend called “underconsumption.”

“Wait a second, which ones are Gen-Z again?” I interrupted. “How old are they?”

Being one of those rare, exclusive members of Generation Jones (AKA the second half of the Baby Boom, born 1954-1965), I find these more recent generations are beginning to blur. I know Gen-X because most of my co-workers are Gen-X: indifferent, latch-key kids, overlooked, ignored ... and they like it that way. “Meh—whatever” sums up their view.

But I digress.

Wanting to remind the staff in the room of just who the generations are, I put this on the whiteboard with their help (and Google’s). I figured it might do you some good, too:

You’ll note I took the liberty of extrapolating out to the next, as-of-yet unnamed generation that will start arriving in 2028 (based on the 15-year separation of most of the other generations). Probably something clever, like Gen-B (beta). Or maybe there will be some world-changing event that names them. Although why the Millennials got that name makes no sense based on their start and end dates.

A few things to think about:

Gen-Z (ages 12 to 27) may be older than you imagined; they're entering the kids and houses and white picket fences stage of life. Heck, even Alpha will be driving in a few years!

And a correction to my white board: Silent and Greatest are NOT the same generation. The Greatest Generation was born before 1928. The Silent Generation was born 1928 to 1945.

Why is the Silent Generation called that? According to the web, “… because of a 1951 Time magazine article that highlighted their collective cautiousness and passivity compared to previous generations. The article described the generation as ‘a still, small flame’ in comparison to their more rebellious and outspoken parents.” One story and an entire generation is pidgeonholed.

According to the Internet, these are the populations of the generations:

Silent                           23 million (as of 2023)
Baby Boomers            76.4 (as of 2020)
Gen-X                         65.2 million
Millennials                  72.7 million
Gen-Z                          69.3 million
Gen-Alpha                  45.6 million (so far)

We’ve been waiting for the bump in retail sales to come since going through the Gen-X dip and we should be there now with plenty of Millennials in the 28 to 43 age bracket. That sounds like new home landscapers, gardeners and decorators to me! And there will be more than 69 million Gen-Z following on their heels.

What I wonder is, how big will Generation Alpha be? Globally, the experts say it will be the largest population in history. But in the developed West, where more and more couples seem to be opting for just one kid or none? We'll have to wait and see. Based on the current number, folks had better get busy!

But back to Gen-Z. As I said, this whole topic came up because Jen P (editor Jennifer Polanz) found THIS ARTICLE online about how Gen-Z may be caught up in some sort of trend called “underconsumption”—as in “Look how much I didn’t spend.” It’s getting its start (like many fads/trends) online in TikTok videos in which members of Gen-Z (mostly women, says the artcicle) are dealing with today’s financial challenges by being frugal—using a cracked mirror, squeezing the last bit of toothpaste from the tube, washing an old pair of sneakers so they look new again.

Some observers say it’s a backlash against the online influencers who brag about living the good life and owning everything. Others say it’s more about using up what you have and only buying what you need.

Gosh, what a concept! My dear departed dad, a Greatest (1919), whose mother died in the Spanish Flu epidemic, who endured the Great Depression and who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II flying “over the hump” would be proud of them. He lived by the motto, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

WEIGH IN HERE if you want to help us understand more about the various generations, especially in regard to how they impact horticulture.

While I was at the mothership, I took the opportunity to sneak a peek at Ball’s new automated Seed Processing Center, which they started construction on last year. This place is going to be amazing; sort of an Amazon warehouse for seed, complete with robotic automated seed picking.

Right now (and since George J. Ball’s day, I imagine) seed has been arranged in bins on shelves, library style, floor to ceiling, row after row, in a climate-controlled room. Workers, pushing carts, walk up and down the aisles with pick sheets, looking for and selecting the varieties they need. It’s actually state-of-the-art for our industry, complete with barcode scanning for speed and accuracy. However, Ball, always wanting to serve its customers even better, has designed a system that’s faster, more accurate and easier on staff, too. Enter SPC 2.0.

Manager Dave Hanebuth, who filled me in on the details and statistics, said the existing facility has served the company well for almost 40 years; SPC 2.0 is designed for the next 40 and beyond, with a flexible design that allows them to adapt to changing requirements or bring in new technologies over time.

First, note the height of the room. That’s 36 ft. to the ceiling. It'll house a robotic “goods-to-person” system called OPEX Perfect Pick HD. Perfect Pick is a system of tall racks, totes to hold seed and computer-controlled robotic vehicles that navigate through the racks to find, retrieve and deliver the totes to waiting workers at pick stations. Dave said the system will hold 50% more seed inventory than they currently do, with the ability to expand beyond that.

What are a few of the main benefits of the new system? Said Dave, “Delivery speed and quality to our customers. Significant reduction on the dependence of hard-to-find seasonal staffing during peak months. Vertical, random storage in the new system that is the most energy- and space-efficient way to store packaged seed under ideal conditions.”

Dave said they'll begin picking and shipping seed out of the Perfect Pick in Spring 2025.

Until then (and after, of course), Ball Seed wanted me to remind you that they have plenty of high-quality seed, in the varieties of your choice, ready to ship. Ball’s motto is “In by 5, out by 7,” meaning if you get them your order by 5:00 p.m., Ball will ship it the same day by 7:00 p.m.

I just read about a vertical farming company called Infarm, based in Berlin, Germany, that at one time claimed to have 1,400 farms and 1,000 employees in 10 countries and a value of $1 billion. (That’s according to THIS ARTICLE in Sifted.eu.)

Impressive, if true!

But then reality hit in the form of operational inefficiencies, rising energy prices and competition from regular growers. Next thing you know they were declared insolvent.

Well, Infarm is back, having been bought by the three original founders (for pennies on the dollar, it looks like) and it's being reinvented as a producer of … kosher greens? They’re doing this out of Toronto, Canada, aiming the new product line at the markets in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

According to the Sifted article, kosher greens are a thing, with the vertical farm company Bowery already selling them through Kayco, a specialty distributor to kosher retail and food service companies.

I'd never heard of salad greens being kosher, so I forwarded the item to our expert on this topic, hortistician Dr. Marvin Miller, for some insights. He replied thusly:

“In theory, all fruits and vegetables are always kosher 100% of the time. However, insects are typically not kosher (there are some grasshoppers and locusts that are kosher, but almost no one eats these). So there is some concern among some Jews that some fruits and some vegetables may harbor some insects. Some kosher certification organizations are getting requests from some Orthodox Jewish organizations to certify some things we don’t normally think as needing certification, so we will see certification showing up on bottled water, on certain packaged produce, etc. And I am sure some Jews use this as an excuse not to eat their vegetables,” he concluded with a smiley face.

Thanks, Marvin! It’s an interesting topic and an interesting market opportunity! Certainly, I don’t know anyone who wants to find a bug in their lettuce. Maybe even for gentiles, buying kosher greens would be an extra assurance that you won’t get any surprises.

Last time, Jen Z (not to be confused with Gen-Z … also, she’s Gen-X) recapped her visit to PlantPeddler’s annual Variety Day. Well, they’ve just released a video of the event if you want even more of a picture of what went down up in Cresco. Check it out HERE (or click on the image above).

“Locally grown” is often a thing highlighted at grocery stores. What’s extra fun is when a locally grown promotion highlights one of our own! I was shopping my local Publix grocery store when I spotted this banner bragging about our friends the Bartha family from Silver Vase Orchids in Homestead, which has provided orchids to Publix for 19 years. Well done, Silver Vase!