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  Shade-produced Chamaedorea seifrizii has become Bernecker's Nursery Inc.'s specialty. | |||||
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Another specialty crop More pictures | |||||
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By Todd Davis Dade County, Fla., is one of the leading foliage production areas in the world. Interior plant growers abound in the areas surrounding Miami, Homestead and Goulds because of the tropical climate. Production facilities are located one after another and the shade houses seem to go on for miles. Delivery trucks ramble nonstop down the two-lane roads, filled with palms and other tropical plants destined for homes and offices nationwide. To be successful in the competitive foliage market, South Florida foliage growers have to find things that make their operations stand out. Without a niche, customers could easily choose to do business with another grower just down the road. For the past 25 years, Bernecker's Nursery Inc. in Goulds has focused its production on one plant -- Chamaedorea seifrizii. The company has become a leader in the production of this palm, which is very popular with interiorscapers. Because Bernecker's strives to keep its stock genetically clean of hybrids and continually improves its production techniques, customers know they can depend on this grower for quality true-to-type material. For these efforts, Bernecker's Nursery Inc. has been named GMPRO Innovator. Palm foundation "Down here you have to be known for something," said president Robert Bernecker, grandson of founder Leo Bernecker. "We've come to be known for our seifriziis. It's the foundation for the rest of our operation. We're looked at as a leader for that plant." The company also produces other foliage plants including ficus, spathiphyllum, Chamaedorea elegans, rhapis and majesty palms and dracaenas. But most customers go to Bernecker's first for C. seifrizii and then buy the other species to fill out their orders. Bernecker's produces seifrizii palms in containers ranging from 10-inch, plants reach 3 1/2 feet tall, to 20-inch, plants exceed 8 feet. One key to Bernecker's success with these hard-to-grow palms, as with other specialty crops, is the company's continuous attention to detail. "There's a long list of people who have thought they could grow this plant and get rich. But most of them give up after a year," Bernecker said. The difficulty with C. seifrizii production begins with propagation. Germination can take an entire year, then the plant can spend another year in the seedling stage. "It's a long, slow process but we always try to keep enough new seedlings started so that we never run out of inventory. It's like a garden hose. We keep putting them in one end and they keep coming out the other," Bernecker said. Eliminating hybridization Seifrizii palms are highly sought after by interiorscapers because the plants can withstand less than ideal indoor conditions and have good insect resistance. One of the major production problems is plants hybridize easily with another Chamaedorea species, which results in plants that do not have the same qualities as seifrizii. "They cross easily with C. erumpens and there are a lot of these out there. They've become known as the Florida hybrid," Bernecker said. "The true [C. seifrizii] species is slower growing but has better mite resistance, tolerates cold weather better and does better indoors." The hybrid palm cannot be differentiated from the true species by appearance. It could take a year for interiorscapers to discover they haven't been sold true C. seifrizii. It's Bernecker's reputation for providing genetically clean stock that keeps customers coming back. To ensure that it continues to produce true C. seifrizii, Bernecker's produces its own seed. The company doesn't purchase any C. seifrizii seed from outside sources. "Once you get the hybrid strain into your population it's nearly impossible to eliminate it," Bernecker said. "We put a lot of work in to make sure that those genes never make it into our stock." Extending plant shelflife Over the years, the company has made changes to its seifrizii crops to improve quality of the palms. The latest adjustment is a reduction in plant fullness to increase plant shelflife. In the 1970s, about five seifrizii liners were planted per 10-inch pot. Over time, the number of liners per pot increased to provide a fuller plant. By the early '90s, the number of liners had increased to as many as 40 to 50. "The plants were incredibly full and had this butterball appearance. But they wouldn't hold up as well as they used to," Bernecker said. "They would shade themselves out and the plants would die out in the center over time. They were also more difficult to spray because they were so dense."
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