Ryan Hall

Photo courtesy of Ryan Hall

Editor’s note: A version of this article originally ran in the January 2023 issue of sister publication Nursery Management.

Greenhouse Management: How did you get started in horticulture?

Ryan Hall: I started in high school, working for a retail nursery in the city I grew up in, Fremont, California. I started as a carry out, loading potting soil and whatnot in customers’ cars. From there, I really learned to appreciate horticulture and learned it was a proper career track. It was actually my math teacher that told me there was a degree in horticulture, and that’s when I learned about the path I wanted to take. The rest is history. I applied to Cal Poly to get a degree in horticulture and fortunately got in. Once I graduated, I worked for a grower here in California.

GM: What’s your favorite part of your job?

RH: If I had to pick one thing, I love getting out in the greenhouse and looking at our breeding pipeline. That’s probably the most exciting because you get to see what the future holds and how our products stack up against others. Product development is still my key passion at heart. I’ll go to an event and the first thing I’ll do is walk over to the plants and do a quick cruise through the trials just to see what pops out that’s interesting (laughs).

GM: When you’re not working, what are some of your hobbies?

RH: I have a young family with kids that are 11, nine and seven. They keep us quite busy outside of work hours with just their schedules. We do a lot of hiking. When we can take vacations, we are very much on the national park kick right now. If I do have down time, I’m usually in my garage messing around with all sorts of things. I’m a tinkerer (laughs). I like woodworking, metalworking and forging. All that type of stuff I really enjoy.

I started making kitchen knives, and that’s been a fun journey. I’ve made furniture in the past, but nothing to really lay claim to. I always tell everybody I don’t guarantee my work (laughs). Also gardening is a sense of pride for me. I like my garden to be in a great place, so I’m constantly ripping things out and planting new things. It’s a small yard, but it’s amazing how many times I can fill that green compost bin.