How you can save on labor with plant growth regulators

"It's no secret that not only have labor costs increased significantly, but labor is also more difficult to obtain," says Mark Brotherton, Senior Marketing Manager at OHP. "Now, more than ever, growers need to rely on other tools to continue to grow efficiently. Considering what PGRs provide, it is relatively inexpensive to utilize them. In general, it is a fraction of a penny per square foot."

A sound plant growth regulator program can make you money, Brotherton adds, because growing more compact plants allows you to space them tighter and produce more plants per square foot. And the more plants you grow, the more money you make.

PGRs can be used to improve the shape of the plant, increase branching, and control excessive stretch, according to Dr. Aaron Palmateer, Technical Development Manager for SePro, who adds that they also slow the growth of terminal shoots or enhance the growth of lateral buds, which will increase the development of lateral branches. Often PGRs are used to replace labor-intensive mechanical pinching in crops like vinca, verbena, lantana, and ivy.

"PGRs are most effective when applied at the appropriate times to regulate plant growth or development," Palmateer says. "They will not shrink an overgrown plant, so they must be applied preventatively."

PGRs have other labor- and cost-saving benefits such as decreasing irrigation frequency, improving plant shelf life, reducing transplant shock, and hastening rooting. One common adage among growers is that every time you touch a plant during production, it costs you money. Managing plant growth using PGRs helps to limit the number of times a plant needs handling, thus freeing up labor for other tasks. Growers are finding a secondary benefit here in terms of sanitation. From a disease standpoint, PGRs can help, according to Dudley Dabbs, Eastern Regional Manager for Fine Americas, because handling plants less means reduced chances for spreading infection throughout the greenhouse.

PGR Mixes at Young's Plant Farm Reduce Inputs and Crop Timing

Tom Costamagna, Director of Horticulture for Young's Plant Farm in Auburn, AL, is one grower using what he terms "unconventional PGR cocktails" to multi-task, for lack of a better term. Among the many benefits Costamagna sees in using plant growth regulator mixes, he cites the difficulties in training workers to properly trim cuttings and the downsides of open plant wounds that can lead to disease impacting production as two reasons using PGRs makes sense for his operation. But it goes beyond that for Costamagna. Take seed petunias, for example.

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Source: Greenhouse Grower