Booths are broken down, bags are packed and cars, airplanes and other means of transport have left Columbus. Cultivate '19 is a wrap. The ninetieth edition of the trade show was one of the biggest ones in the last years and expectations are this is not to change for the next edition.
With conditions being favorable for plant growers, the atmosphere at the show was good and that pleased the suppliers - even though some noticed a lesser amount of vegetable and cannabis growers made the trip to Columbus. Still, many suppliers, especially providing biological crop protection for these crops, made it to the show and weren't displeased: the demand for solutions and for knowledge is high and so was the interest.
Feeding your beneficials during the start-up of the population! That can be done with this new Biobee product.
The team with Bluelab showing their Pulse Meter, making it possible to measure the root zone.
Labour and automation
Like for other growers in the industry, labour, more specifically skilled labour, is an issue amongst potted plant growers and investing in solutions for this is of high relevance.
Also LED lights were all over the show - although not as many as earlier this year on GreenTech, where it seemed to be a disco party every now and then. Amongst technical suppliers, accessibility of data found in the greenhouses is an important topic and many more launched solutions to provide better insight and mobile applications for their platforms.
The BioSafe team launched an application making it possible to control your irrigation system remote and on mobile devices. More to follow...
Paul Jaeger and Daphne Brogdon with Micro Grow Systems, showing their MicroCool solutions and sharing insights on creating the best climate in various crops.
Water quality
Then there's water quality. If it's minuscule bubbles added to the irrigation water, solutions for fertilisation or biostimulants to be added to the water - it all could be found at the trade show this year.
Curious to see what solutions we're talking about more specifically? Keep an eye out for Friday's publication, when we'll release our photo report.
If you want to read more about the trends in potted plants, check out our floricultural publication FloralDaily today.