Employees at Jacobson's Plants Inc. in Apopka, Fla., take pride in their customers getting extra life out of plants. For increasing shelflife through variety selection, creating optimum greenhouse environments, reducing insects and diseases and custom-blending media, Jacobson's Plants Inc. has been named a GMPROPRO Innovator.

Extended life and health of foliage plants is important for interiorscapers and retailers, said Bruce Jacobson, son of company founders Stanley and Lila Jacobson.

"We offer a better end product. We tell retailers that their customers will take our plants home and they're going to live," Jacobson said. "For interiorscapers it's the same advantage. Our plants are going to grow and thrive. When interiorscapers' plants have problems they have to replace those plants and their maintenance time doubles."

The first step to improving shelflife is growing and offering the plants with the best natural survivability traits. The company grows about 15 varieties and finishes plants in 6- to 12-inch containers. Before putting any new selections into production, Jacobson puts them through rigorous interior tests.

"I take them home and torture them," Jacobson said. "I give them the worst treatment imaginable and see how they do. There's a plant I'm trialing now that I've left bone dry for three weeks. The peat is pulled away from the side of the container, but the plant doesn't seem fazed. It's got some promise."

After Jacobson determines a plant will perform in interior environments, it's time to see if it can be produced commercially. Is it easily propagated? Can it be finished in a reasonable amount of time or does it grow too slowly? Will it have insect or disease problems?

Jacobson starts production of all new plants on a small scale. He experiments with growing media and container sizes to see how plants perform.

"We've found out some pretty quirky things in the past," Jacobson said. "We don't know why, but for us pothos does a lot better in 4 1/2-inch containers than 4-inch. It makes a tremendous difference in both growth rate and with leaf size.

"Another strange one is that philodendron likes one greenhouse and grows better there than in any of the others. Once again, we have no idea why. The environments are virtually the same."

Optimum environments

To decrease production time, some foliage growers produce plants in high light or full sun to hasten growth. Toward the end of the production cycle, plants are moved to a shaded area for acclimation to lower light levels. Jacobson believes this production method adversely affects shelflife.

"Any stress is likely to cause problems. We don't want to push our plants," Jacobson said. "It slows down our crops some, but the plants are better in the long run. Plus, not moving the plants around saves labor costs."

Greenhouses are covered with a tinted 6-mil double polyethylene that provides 65- to 70-percent shade. Jacobson can also increase shade by crop location.

"Algerian ivy is grown under two rows of pothos, which makes it an even darker environment. Down there it's right at the 900-footcandle range," Jacobson said.

A Priva computers system controls a 1,000-pound-per-square-inch fog cooling system, providing 100-percent humidity throughout the range.

"We try to create our own tropical rainforest. By mimicking the natural environment of these plants, we help them grow healthier. You don't make pothos stronger by growing it in full sun," Jacobson said.

Tracking insects, diseases

Through the years, the Jacobsons learned that maintaining their own stock plants leads to problems. The longer stock plants are kept, the greater the chances they will become infected with diseases.

Now cuttings are taken from production plants. Cuttings are taken once before plants are sold.

Employees taking and sticking cuttings disinfect propagation tools with alcohol frequently to prevent spreading diseases such as pythium. If disease problems do occur, Jacobson can check records to see which employees did the cutting.

"I can tell you exactly who did the cuttings in that area. If they make a mistake and neglect to disinfect their tools I tell them what they cost the company," Jacobson said. "If you tell somebody they killed some plants, it doesn't mean much. But if you tell that person they cost us $400 then it has some impact."

Cuttings are always stuck within four hours of being taken and are treated with a preventative fungicide drench within 24 hours.

"We try not to treat plants for treatment's sake," Jacobson said. "I talk to other growers who say, 'We just spray every so often and our plants are fine.' I try to tell them that they're stunting their plants and wasting a lot of money."

Jacobson has an aggressive program for scouting diseases and insects so problems are detected early and pesticide sprays can be limited.

Jacobson's four growers spend one to two hours every third day scouting. They inspect both sticky cards and plants and pay special attention to more susceptible varieties. But all employees are encouraged to watch for problems.

"We have a bug bounty," Jacobson said. "Any employee who finds an insect that shouldn't be there gets a $25 bonus. And do you want to tick off a grower? Find a bug in his area. They put a lot of work into making sure that doesn't happen."

Custom mixes

High-quality Canadian peat moss is shipped to Jacobson's Plants and is used as the base ingredient for the company's growing media. Other mix components include perlite, dolomite and micronutrients. Jacobson is also experimenting with incorporating slow-release fertilizers.

When new peat deliveries arrive, the material is tested for pH, fiber content and porosity. Crops are tested weekly for their soluble salts and pH.

Jacobson said he prefers mixing his own growing media to buying commercial mixes because he has more control over the media's aeration and water-holding properties. Media is mixed in a 15-year-old Bouldin & Lawson Inc. mixer that has been modified in-house to accommodate larger volumes.

The company's hanging basket design also keeps the medium from becoming waterlogged. Jacobson was unhappy with the basket design he was using, which had a lip on the connected saucer. It created a reservoir and collected medium that acted as a wick, moving water back into the container and creating a wet root zone. With Jacobson's advice, container manufacturer ITML created a new design that eliminates this problem. The design is now the standard for ITML's hanging baskets, Jacobson said.

Jacobson's Plants Inc. Location: Apopka, Fla. Founded: April 1, 1978, by Stanley and Lila Jacobson. Production area: 5 acres under cover. Employees: 25. Crops: 6- to 12-inch foliage. Customers: Primarily interiorscapers, but also independent retailers and some mass merchandisers. Primary service area: United States. For more: Bruce Jacobson, Jacobson's Plants Inc., 700 E. Keene Road, Apopka, FL 32703; (407) 889-2556; fax (407) 880-2666.

. © 1999 Branch-Smith Publishing