TECH ON DEMAND brought to you by GrowerTalks

Throughout 2026, host Bill Calkins has been catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by his friend Jeremy Webber, the Crop Team Manager at...

In this episode, the goal is to explore and unpack the upcoming AmericanHort Plug and Cutting Conference, a must-attend event focused on young plant production. Host Bill Calkins is joined by AmericanHort’s Education Program Manager Rachel Rawls to discuss some of this year’s conference components, tour experiences, educational insights and and networking opportunities designed to help level up yo...

THE GEAR GUIDE FROM THE JUNE 2026 ISSUE OF GROWERTALKS MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY CHRISTOPHER J. CURREY NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS   EXCERPT: Investing in the relatively modest selection of tools and equipment won’t just help you identify and conquer problems in the greenhouse—it should help you avoid them. A systematic regular approach to monitoring plant growth, the growing environment, pests and disease...

This episode of the Tech On Demand podcast, brought to you by GrowerTalks is a special presentation from the 2026 Darwin Perennials Day event in The Gardens at Ball in West Chicago, Illinois. Darwin Perennials Day is an annual event held each summer to showcase perennial plants, breeding innovations, a huge range of suppliers and of course the growers who produce and sell perennial crops. For many...

As temperatures rise and the heat of summer starts to set in, it’s important to periodically take a moment to pause… cool down… and think ahead.  Right now it’s time to do this for poinsettias.  I’ve already started to get proactive questions on poinsettias—not just about propagation, but about finished production. And while there are great resources available that cover poinsettias from start to...

In this episode, we celebrate 10 years of Suntory's popular Catharanthus series, Soiree Kawaii with the company’s North American sales and product manager Lorentina Fielding. Lorentina is the perfect person to discuss this crop because she can cover crop production based on her work with growers across the continent (and her own production experience), as well as explaining how the product fits in...

Throughout 2026, host Bill Calkins has been catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by his friend Jose Sanchez, a Sales and Business Manag...

Sakata Seed America's product and technical services manager Michael Wiebe joins host Bill Calkins to help growers produce high quality SuperCal vegetative petchoa crops in Summer for Fall sales. This can open up new seasonal opportunities for one of our industry's leading series. Resources: Sakata’s SuperCal Info  SuperCal Fall Production Guide SuperCal Quart Production Guidelines SuperCal Variet...

Dr. Janna Beckerman from Envu joins host Bill Calkins for this episode of the Tech On Demand podcast, brought to you by GrowerTalks magazine. Janna is here to discuss a topic that she’s very passionate about and for good reason—resistance management could be the most critical component to greenhouse production IF we want to grow healthy crops in the future and maintain a toolbox of effective chemi...

Hey everyone—Nick Flax with the Ball Seed Tech Team here! Every mum season, I tend to get the same core questions from growers—especially as material starts arriving and hitting the transplant line and moving into production—so today I want to try to head some of those questions off before they turn into headaches. This week, I’ll walk through a few topics that I get questions on most often: propa...

Throughout 2026 (and possibly beyond), host Bill Calkins is catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by his friend Dr. James Gibson, a tech...

Host Bill Calkins is catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by Samuel Di Rito, a grower and social media manager at Collier’s Greenhouse...

Throughout 2026 (and possibly beyond), host Bill Calkins is catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by his friend Susie Raker, vice-presid...

Throughout 2026, host Bill Calkins has been catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. Well, almost everyone … This episode, Bill is joined by his friend Leslie Halleck,...

Throughout 2026 (and possibly beyond), host Bill Calkins is catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by his friend Kelly Nicholas, Dümmen O...

Host Bill Calkins welcomes GrowerTalks’ editor in chief Chris Beytes and editor Jennifer Zurko to the podcast to share thoughts on California Spring Trials—the plants, the trends, the overall vibe—and the impact spring trials STILL has on the professional horticulture industry. When Chris, Jen and Bill return from spring trials each year, folks in the industry always ask for overall thoughts, hot...

Host Bill Calkins is catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by Mason Day, the Vice President of Business Development at JR Peters Company...

Throughout 2026 (and possibly beyond), host Bill Calkins is catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by Lorentina McKoy, the North American...

This episode is sponsored by Prospiant—leaders in greenhouse design, manufacture and build. Learn more and connect with the expert team at prospiant.com. Throughout 2026 (and possibly beyond), host Bill Calkins is going to catch up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He...

In this episode, host Bill Calkins and BioTherm president Jim Rearden talk about a new partnership for BioTherm that brings some cutting-edge product lines into the company’s portfolio—including low-mass boilers and new, modern unit heaters. But that’s not all you can expect this episode! Bill also asked Jim about the evolution of greenhouse environmental management, how grower needs continue to c...

Throughout 2026 (and possibly beyond), host Bill Calkins will catch up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. Bill sent each guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, he’s joined by Diane Blazek, Executive Director at All-America...

WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION! https://youtu.be/qrcLV3tyCLo   For this video podcast, host Bill Calkins is joined by three representatives from PanAmerican Seed who each bring specific expertise to the table, having worked with new crops for years to help bring them to market with solid foundations and supported by all the information you, as growers, need to be successful. Lisa Lacy is Director of Prod...

Throughout 2026 (and possibly beyond), host Bill Calkins will catch up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. Bill sent each guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, he’s joined by Broch Martindale, National Nursery and Greenhou...

Throughout 2026 (and possibly beyond), host Bill Calkins will catch up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. Bill sent each guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, he’s joined by Shannon Carmody, director of plant pathology at...

LESSONS NOT YET LEARNED FROM THE FEBRUARY 2026 ISSUE OF GREEN PROFIT MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY BILL McCURRY NARRATED BY BILL CALKINS EXCERPT: When selling or attempting to retire, owners without a strong leadership team find they don’t have a business to sell. They have inventory that’s worth half what the owner thinks it is. The fixtures and equipment are usually worth a quarter or less of the owner’s...