Perennial passion

Images courtesy of Paul Pilon

Paul Pilon’s passion for plants started young. He grew up helping his dad in the garden around age 3 and began growing his own flowers and vegetables by age 8.

“I was always fascinated with germination, and how a seed could become a living organism,” he says. “I ended up taking over the garden, expanding it to over a quarter acre, and selling produce to local farmers markets and grocery stores. I was a little entrepreneur.”

In ninth grade, Pilon took a career placement survey at school that confirmed his career path. “That’s when I learned the word horticulture, and from that day forward, I said, ‘This is what I want to do,’” Pilon says. “I wanted a profession that I would thoroughly enjoy, as opposed to one that would be just a job.”

Pilon’s entrepreneurial spirit led him through the green industry as a head grower, consultant, researcher, speaker and author. Here’s how he’s applying his vast horticultural knowledge now in his new role as director of growing at Opel Growers Inc.

Gaining expertise

By the time he graduated in 1993, Pilon had a job lined up at Neal Mast Greenhouses, where he worked for seven years before taking the head grower role at Sawyer Nursery. “That’s where I started growing perennials and taking what I learned from annuals — as far as turning the production space and utilizing plant growth regulators — and bringing that mentality to the perennial side,” Pilon says.

To share his production knowledge, Pilon launched his own consulting business in 2005 called Perennial Solutions Consulting. He wrote a book, also called “Perennial Solutions,” the following year. For 15 years, Pilon helped growers design production plans, pest management programs, PGR schedules and other solutions as an independent consultant. He gained national recognition as a speaker and author, contributing hundreds of columns and articles to various trade publications.

But after a year, he says, “I was missing my passion for plants.” That’s when he learned of the opportunity at Opel Growers, a previous consulting client and one of the greenhouses where he conducted research for OHP. Pilon officially joined Opel Growers last December as the director of growing.

Making changes

Pilon manages 10 acres of production at Opel’s main facility in Hudsonville, Michigan, which focuses on container production of perennials, along with potted annuals and hanging baskets. The company also leases another 2.5 acres from the head grower and another local grower.

In his role, Pilon oversees all aspects of growing — such as developing production schedules, determining inputs, creating soil mixes and establishing fertility programs. His main objective “is to increase plant quality and decrease crop losses,” he says. “I’m constantly looking at anything I can do to grow a better plant and turn a crop faster, because you earn on the turn.”

To keep plants progressing on schedule, one of the first changes Pilon made at Opel was increasing the use of PGRs. “That’s helping with crop uniformity and helping us hold or decrease plant maintenance activities like trimming or spacing,” he says. “It’ll help with shelf life and overall quality, as well.”

Early on, Pilon also noticed the non-uniformity of Opel’s overhead irrigation systems. “There’s basically three times difference from the center of the house to what the edge of the house is receiving,” he says. “We can’t grow plants that are uniform if we’re delivering different amounts of water.”

Now, Pilon’s team is hand-watering the corners to make up the difference, while looking into upgrades like traveling irrigation booms — which will not only improve watering uniformity but streamline the entire process. “With that, we’ll start doing more direct-stick scenarios where we won’t have to transplant,” he says. “That’ll save some labor, and we’ll be able to fill our space quicker because we can use the boom to help manage the age difference between an old crop and a young crop.”

Driving growth

Since Pilon worked with Opel Growers previously as a consultant, his transition onto the team was seamless. “The water/spray technicians and the growers worked with me before,” Pilon says. “They were integrating a lot of my production ideas already.”

Now, Pilon walks the crops daily with the team, prioritizing tasks for them to execute. Instead of just giving them to-do lists, Pilon uses these walk-throughs as an opportunity to mentor growers one-on-one.

“When I invite them to walk the crops with me, I’m showing them what I’m looking for,” he says. “It’s hard to teach instincts, but I’m trying to make them more aware that it’s not just the plants in the pot that you’re looking at; you’ve got to look at the environment around you. Are the airflow fans running? Are the vents open? Are the heaters working? Ideally, I want them to be capable of scouting and identifying problems so that I can focus on other tasks — and then they can have other opportunities to gain responsibility because of what they know, too.”

By passing his knowledge on to Opel’s team of five application techs and two growers, Pilon is helping the company prepare for continued expansion. Less than six months since joining, Pilon can already see his impact at the company through more uniform crops, reduced losses and developing growers.

“It’s rewarding, feeling like you’re contributing to something meaningful, knowing you’re contributing to their success,” Pilon says, “putting what you know into the crops, and knowing that you’re developing a team of people, too.”