Ready to grow

My very first plant was an unkillable spider plant I received as a gift from my fifth-grade teacher. I say unkillable because it’s still alive and well, resting on my mother’s kitchen windowsill.

I was terrified I would over-water it or re-pot it wrong and kill it somehow. But plants are resilient and it survived, thanks mostly to its own hardy nature. It was a big accomplishment in my 9-year-old life and I was incredibly proud of it.

There’s something inherently satisfying about nurturing something and watching it grow. You put in the work to find out what it needs, provide the right ingredients and a little patience, and see all of that hard work pay off in the end.

The same can be said of any endeavor. You determine the right ingredients for success, work hard to cultivate its growth and then reap the rewards. That’s what we hope to help you do here at Greenhouse Management magazine. Our goal with each issue is to help you find the right resources to make your growing operations the best they can be.

But to make that happen, we need some help from you. We want to know about your successes and failures. We want to find out where your pressure points and areas of growth have been. Basically, we want to hear from you about how you’re doing and how we can help.

And that's one of the best things about the green industry — the openness. Any time I’ve asked around for help with blossom end rot or aphids on my basil plants, I’ve gotten more advice than I can handle. Everyone wants to see the industry succeed and they’re not shy about helping when they can.

Over the past four years, I've been working on Lawn & Landscape magazine, delving into a different side of the green industry, learning what makes companies thrive and what makes them fail. And whenever I’ve gone looking for ways to help landscapers improve their operations, almost anyone I called was willing to give some tips and tricks.

I can’t wait to get started doing the same here in the greenhouse industry. I look forward to seeing what makes your operations unique and learning where our garden plants, cut flowers and more are coming from.

So to that end, please don’t ever hesitate to reach out and tell us how we’re doing. Pick up the phone; shoot me a line or find us on social media. I can’t wait to continue the conversation.

Kate Spirgen, Editor
kspirgen@gie.net
216-393-0277