M I C H A E L S N U R S E R Y

Michaels Nursery in Boynton Beach, Fla., recently erected A-frame Cravo houses with retractable roofs.

On the home front

Michaels Nursery in Boynton Beach, Fla., got the chance to build a new facility when housing developers offered its owners what they felt was an offer they couldn't refuse. The nursery was a division of Leider Horticulture in Chicago, but company partner Jim Leider formed a new business, Michaels LLC. General manager Bill Churchill and the company's production manager Marc Battaglini are also co-owners.

Michaels bought land about 10 miles from its old location and began operating out of its new facility on Oct. 1, 2001, Churchill said. The new operation is located in an agricultural reserve, which was created by Palm Beach County. The county purchased a large piece of land and is selling or leasing the property exclusively for agricultural use. Michaels purchased 26 acres and leases another 15. The company operates 16 acres under cover and 15 acres outdoors for foliage production.

The new operation consists of 12 acres of Cravo retractable roof houses -- 1 acre for propagation, 3 acres for cold- and water-sensitive crops and 8 acres of cold-protection houses, Churchill said. The houses are equipped with Otte pneumatic rolling benches that can move in any direction and are connected to the potting area.

The potting area is equipped with a custom-made on-demand soil delivery system from Industrial Conveyors in Miami, with conveyors connected to soil trucks -- a major improvement from the bucket loaders at the old facility, Churchill said. Michaels has also installed a new Javo transplanter and a Super Javo pot filler.

"The whole key to our new facility is it's much more advanced. With the retractable roof we have better control of light and temperature. Before we had a typical shade house with a manually installed cover," Churchill said. "Now all the stations are hooked up to a computer and the temperature stays a lot more constant. Before, if it was cold, we had two or three people checking heaters. Now the grower can check it from home on his PC."

The houses are equipped with a Micro Grow environmental control system and Lennox LP gas heaters. The new facility also includes a 37,000-square-foot head house. The general contractor was Greenhouse Specialties in Ellenton, Fla.

"We haven't had a full turn yet, but we can already tell a 25-30 percent faster turn in propagation, plus better water and light control," Churchill said. "We eliminated some crops too, such as hibiscus, because we have less space and we're 4F cooler than our previous location. We went from 50 to 35 employees and will probably be down to 28 or 29 by the beginning of summer."

Growing foliage at Michaels Nursery is easier with Micro Grow environmental controls rather than its old manual shade system.

Otte pneumatic rolling benches are connected to Michaels' potting area.

For more: Michaels Nursery, 8325 State Road 7, Boynton Beach, FL 33437; (800) 327-3335; fax (561) 738-5623; michnsy@bellsouth.net.

. © 2002 Branch-Smith Publishing