Passion grows progress

Regina Coronado, senior grower at Panoramic Farm in Marshville, North Carolina, shares the same mission and goals as the nursery — strive for excellence and instill trust in her work.

In her role, Regina is responsible for the propagation of woody ornamentals, some perennials and some tissue culture material, as well as scouting the nursery and managing chemical applications. Panoramic Farm grows a large selection of woodies and grasses, and the company is ramping up its perennial production. They grow varying sizes including quarts and 1-, 3-, 7- and 15-gallon containers.

As a leading supplier of plant material to landscape contractors, garden centers and re-wholesellers, plant health is paramount.

“When we supply our customers with healthy plants, they also receive a plant with good vigor, great color and ones that are ready to be planted in the landscape,” Regina explains. “If our customers are successful, then we are successful.”

Her career path to the green industry was not straightforward, but those forks and curves certainly shaped her dedication to horticulture.

Regina’s interest in horticulture was first nurtured by her grandmother and the 200 pots of African violets she tended in her home country of Guatemala. Regina says she always found the plants very interesting, but when she graduated high school, she chose to study computer science. Two years into those studies, Regina says she realized “it was the wrong choice for me.” After attending some plant-related classes, Regina eventually enrolled in agronomy school. That seed her grandmother planted had sprouted and Regina felt like she was on the right path.

While in agronomy school, a friend taught her how to graft roses. It was the only ornamental horticulture lesson she’d had since her grandmother introduced her to African violets, and a lesson that would later help mold her future. Regina’s agronomy career included growing cotton, coffee, soybeans and sugarcane. While working for a coffee grower, she was approached by a friend about the idea of coming to the United States to learn how to run a greenhouse business.

Regina came to the U.S. on February 24, 1991, expecting to stay for three or four months then return to Guatemala to open a greenhouse.

“I flew into Miami with a little duffle bag. I didn’t have any other luggage,” she recalls. “I had $500 in my pocket and the will to start a new life.”

Three months became six months, and 33 years later, Regina continues to enjoy her horticulture career. Regina credits her first greenhouse mentor, Roger Vasquez, for helping her become passionate about horticulture production processes.

When she first came to the U.S., part of her job was to pick up plug trays at Speedling. During one of her weekly stops, she met Roger, who was Speedling’s head grower.

“We became friends and one day he offered me a job as an assistant grower. That was a wonderful opportunity for me, and he was one of the best mentors I ever had,” she says. “He taught me how to grow plugs, from A to Z. He taught me how to be extremely detail oriented. He said to me on the very first day that I had to take advantage of this opportunity … and I am very glad that I listened to him, because that changed my life and my career completely.”

Those attention-to-detail lessons from her mentor have never waned and they’re an important part of her role at Panoramic Farm. To ensure the success of the propagative material produced in-house, Regina continuously monitors the health of the stock plants and the availability of cuttings.

“We harvest, prepare the cuttings and stick them. While sticking, we set up the mist and after the last cycle of mist has been completed, we apply a combination of Pageant with Advocate (IBA) and Brandt 719,” she explains. “Pageant helps with stress; Advocate is a rooting hormone and Brandt 719 helps avoid extreme wilting and spreads the solution evenly on the leaves.”

Panoramic Farm also uses a plant health protocol for the liners they bring in.

“Every liner we receive from our vendors gets inspected for size, color, uniformity, root development, disease and insects,” Regina says. “I use Pageant [Intrinsic brand fungicide] when I stick cuttings. Then every liner we transplant gets drenched with a tank mix of Empress [Intrinsic brand fungicide] and Segway.”

Panoramic Farm has created pest and disease management strategies that combine fungicides and insecticides to prevent disease and reduce insect pressure. Intrinsic® brand fungicides from BASF are an important part of that strategy. Regina was introduced to Intrinsic brand products several years ago when she was the head grower at a large greenhouse operation. A BASF representative visited the greenhouse and presented Pageant® Intrinsic brand fungicide as an alternate tank mix component to treat calla lilies. Regina conducted a large trial in which she treated about 25,000 units with a tank mix of Pageant Intrinsic brand fungicide and then treated the rest of the plants with their standard tank mix.

“We monitored them right up to the time they were going to be shipped. We noticed better rooting and less waste. The price savings was also very noticeable.”

Satisfied with the results that she saw, she continued to use Pageant Intrinsic brand fungicide, even when she moved to other operations.

“I implemented the same treatments on callas, and after changing some growing conditions and faithfully treating the crops, the percentage of waste was reduced from 29% to 6%. This happened after two growing seasons.”

Today, at Panoramic Farm, Regina uses Pageant Intrinsic brand fungicide as a primary part of their fungicide strategies. She also uses it in rotation for Botrytis control in the winter.

“As a bonus, Pageant Intrinsic brand fungicide also provides other benefits including protection from certain plant stress,” she adds.

“I found out that Pageant, besides being a broad-spectrum fungicide, also works great in propagation. When I mix it with a rooting hormone, it helps the crop get a more even rooting,” she says. “It also helps with plant stress. We have seen it protect plants from cold stress. And I’ve seen a great amount of improvement in propagation.”

Regina also uses Avelyo® fungicide from BASF on Camellias to control anthracnose.

“Anthracnose is one of the main pathogens camellias get,” she explains. “But Avelyo fungicide cures the problem very quickly and provides long-lasting protection. It’s safe on open flowers and it doesn’t burn the flowers. It also doesn’t have any PGR-type effects, like wrinkled or leathery leaves. [When I first started using Avelyo], I had my doubts, because of the active ingredient. But it doesn’t actually have that PGR effect on plants. It also doesn’t leave any visual residue on the plants.”

Regina makes integrated pest management (IPM) a priority throughout the growing operation. Besides spray applications, she also scouts, uses sticky cards and traps and uses growing degree days as tools for better plant health.

The effectiveness of Panoramic Farm’s IPM strategies is apparent throughout the life of the plant material, from propagation through finishing.

“Our goal is to always produce top-quality plants so the customers can find a partner they can trust in Panoramic Farm,” Regina adds.