Annual Grower Day a chance for commercial greenhouse growers to learn

Commercial greenhouse growers are invited to attend Grower Day in St. Catharines on June 16. ~ Greenhouse Canada photo

By Luke Edwards

An event planned for this month in St. Catharines aims to help commercial greenhouse growers sprout a few new ideas.

Grower Day returns to the Holiday Inn on Ontario Street in the Garden City on Tuesday, June 16. Now in its 31st year, the event was started in Delhi by local grower Mel Sawaya of Sawaya Gardens. Sawaya created the event as a way to share knowledge and raise the abilities of everyone.

“He always said we are better when we work together, the whole industry is better when we work together,” said Amy Kouniakis, editor for Greenhouse Canada, which now presents the event.

Kouniakis called it a selfless act to take the approach Sawaya did, but it was true then and remains true today.

“But he’s right, the industry does work better when everyone comes together.”

The main focus for the event remains the education aspect, with a full day of expert presenters, including researchers from universities, industry groups, along with growers themselves.

While there are plenty of presentations of interest, Kouniakis said a discussion on research conducted by members of the Grbic Lab at Western University on spider mites promises to be interesting. It’ll cover research into species identification, including some populations that have developed resistance to conventional pesticides. Kouniakis said the team has developed a new test that can help growers determine more quickly if a greenhouse has a spider mite species that’s resistant to sprays.

“This research is cutting edge,” she said.

Some familiar names for local growers will also be presenting, including Marco de Leonardis, from Freeman Herbs. He’ll discuss some trials into different potting media.

There will be a small trade show as well, and the day wraps up with a grower panel discussion and some awards for top four under 40 and grower of the year.

Overall, Kouniakis expects an enjoyable and productive day, giving growers a chance to learn and reconnect with each other.

“A lot of people have described it as kind of a reunion event,” she said.

This year they’ve also created a second Grower Day for Western Canada. It took place on June 2 in Langley, B.C.

The St. Catharines event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16. The Holiday Inn is located at 327 Ontario St. For more information, or to register, visit events.annexbusinessmedia.com