​Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo will feature educational sessions on production of hydroponic leafy greens on November 4, 2021. These sessions will feature:

• Specialty Leafy Green Production: Managing the environment and Culture, Chris Currey, Iowa State University
• Tips for Producing High Quality, Non-flowering, and Flavorful Culinary Herbs by Manipulating Light, CO2 and Temperature, Roberto Lopez, Michigan State University
• Water and Nutrient Management for Leafy Greens, Neil Mattson, Cornell CCE
• Understanding Greenhouse Climate Control for High Yielding, Leafy Greens and Herbs, Neil Mattson, Cornell CCE
• Managing Diseases on Herbs, Mary Hausbeck, Michigan State University
• Practices to Have an Effective IPM and Biocontrol Program. Ron Valentin, Bioworks, Inc.

Meet the Presenters: 

• Christopher J. Currey is an Associate Professor of Horticulture in the Department of Horticulture at the Iowa State University, specializing in greenhouse and controlled-environment crop production. Dr. Currey received his B.S and M.S. degrees from the University of Minnesota. and then received his Ph.D. in from Purdue University. Chris' greenhouse crop and controlled-environment research is focused on providing research-based best-management practices to support commercial producers of ornamental and food crops to improve productivity, profitability, and sustainability using and managing light, temperature, mineral nutrition, and plant growth regulators.
• Dr. Roberto Lopez is an associate professor and controlled environment/floriculture extension specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University. His research focuses on propagation and production of young and finish plants (including bedding plants, specialty cut flowers, leafy greens, and culinary herb crops) in the field, high tunnels, and greenhouses. His cut flower research aims to increase yield, stem length and caliper, quality and reduce production time by manipulating the growing environment.
• Neil Mattson is a Professor and greenhouse extension specialist in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University. Neil joined Cornell in 2007 after completing his PhD from the University of California Davis and Master’s from the University of Minnesota. Neil is the director of Cornell’s Controlled Environment Agriculture group and his research is focused on optimizing crop performance and resource use efficiency of greenhouse flower and vegetable crops. Research interests include LED lighting and environmental control to reduce energy use and fertilization strategies to improve crop performance.
• Dr. Hausbeck’s research and extension programs reflect Michigan’s diversity and currently include asparagus, snap bean, broccoli, carrot, celery, cucurbits (cucumber, melon, pumpkin, squash), onion, pepper, tomato, greenhouse vegetable transplants, and ginseng. She has a long history of working in floriculture crops, with emphasis on poinsettia, geranium, cut flowers, bedding plants, and herbaceous potted plants. Although the Hausbeck laboratory is involved in a wide variety of research projects reflective of her broad commodity responsibility, her overall goal is to increase growers' profitability through novel and integrated disease management strategies.
• Ronald Valentin was born in the heart of the greenhouse industry in the Netherlands. His family owned a greenhouse operation and his father started using biological control in 1971. At a very young age Ronald developed an interest for the “bugs” and as a teenager he was managing and producing the biological control agents for the family greenhouse operation. After finishing his education in crop protection management, biochemistry, and vegetable production at State Secondary College of Agriculture in De Lier the Netherland, he embarked on a career in biological control in 1986. After traveling to Canada once every 6 to 7 weeks in 1996 and 1997 he immigrated to Canada in December 1997. Over the years Ronald has worked with many growers to set up sustainable and effective pest management programs with as a focus to use BCA’s as a first line of defense. He also has trained and managed technical support teams in Europe, Canada, and the USA. Ronald is currently Director of Technical Business, BCA at BioWorks, out of Victor, NY. Ronald is very passionate about making an IPM and biological control approach work for every grower as well as reducing the use of pesticides for the better of the environment and the future.

The biennial Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo is co-sponsored by New England Floriculture, Inc. - a group of grower representatives from the Northeast, augmented by University and Cooperative Extension staff in each state who specialize in greenhouse crops and management.

The full program is on the NEGC website. Register online at https://cvent.me/L43loN

Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo will feature educational sessions on Perennial Production on November 4, 2021. This session will feature:

• Best Perennial Performers at the Penn State Flower Trials, Sinclair Adams, Penn State
• Plant Growth Regulators in Herbaceous Perennial Production, Joyce Latimer, Virginia Tech
• Tune in to Green Infrastructure through the Power of Plants, Steve Castorani, North Creek Nurseries
• Improving Irrigation Applications, Amanda Bayer, University of Massachusetts
• Diseases of Perennials and their Management, Sinclair Adams, Penn State

Meet the Presenters:

• ​Sinclair Adams has received a BS from the Univ. of Wyoming in Plant and Soil Science 1983, and a MS from the Univ. of Vermont in Plant and Soil Science 1988. He is an Extension Educator in Floriculture with Penn State Extension, based in Lebanon County PA, and Flower Trial Director since 2013. Sinclair has over 30 years industry experience. Sinclair has been published in research on The Penn State Flower Trials, as well as on plant propagation, nitrogen nutrition of perennial plants, stock plant management, germplasm releases from 1990-2013 in ASHS proceedings, Journal of Environ Hort, HortScience, Perennial Plant Assn. Journal, Daylily journal, IPPS proceedings, and American Nurseryman. Holder of 15 plant patents, Sinclair has developed Tiarella, Chrysanthemum, and Phlox selections for industry, and is a member of ASHS, PPA, Pi Alpha Xi, & the Hardy Plant Society.
• Dr. Joyce Latimer is the Extension Specialist for Greenhouse Crops for Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE). She assists local VCE agents in solving grower problems, provides direct support to commercial greenhouse operators, and develops educational programming for VCE agents and greenhouse operators. She also serves as an educational advisor to the Virginia Greenhouse Growers Association. Joyce conducts research on plant growth and development with over 30 years of experience with growth regulation of herbaceous perennials.
• Steve Castorani is President, CFO and co-Founder of North Creek Nurseries of Landenberg, Pennsylvania, a progressive nursery specializing in perennial, fern, vine, and ornamental grass plug production with an emphasis on Eastern regional native plants. In 2004, Steve co-created the American Beauties Native Plant® brand, which distributes plants to independent garden centers throughout regions of the United States. Steve is past president of the International Plant Propagator’s Society and became a Society Fellow in 2005. In 2012 Mr. Castorani had the honor of receiving the society’s most prestigious Award of Merit. Steve is very involved in his state’s green industry and served two years as President of the Delaware Nursery and Landscape Association, and has served on the Delaware Invasive Species Council, developing guidelines for the implementation of an invasive species policy for the state. Most recently, Steve became the 2020 recipient of the Paul Ecke Jr. Commercial award given by The American Horticultural Society in recognition of his contributions to commercial horticulture.
• Dr. Mandy Bayer is an Extension Assistant Professor of Sustainable Landscape Horticulture at UMass Amherst. She has a BS in Landscape Contracting from Penn State, a MS in Crop Sciences from the University of Illinois, and a PhD in Horticulture from the University of Georgia. Her research and extension outreach focuses on increasing the sustainability of built landscapes through improved landscape establishment and maintenance and improving ornamental plant production practices. She is particularly interested in improving irrigation and fertilizer use.

The biennial Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo is co-sponsored by New England Floriculture, Inc. - a group of grower representatives from the Northeast, augmented by University and Cooperative Extension staff in each state who specialize in greenhouse crops and management.

The full program is on the NEGC website. Register online.

• Working Efficiently and Effectively, Trabajando de Manera Eficiente y Efectiva Gerson Coates, Flow Vision 
• Principals of IPM in Ornamental Crops, Principios de Manejo Integrado de Plagas (MIP) en Cultivos Ornamentales, Vanessa Campoverde, University of Florida 
• Tips to Ensure Consumer Success with Compact Fruiting Vegetables, Consejos para garantizar el éxito del consumidor con vegetales compactos para jardinería de interior y en patios, Celena Gomez, University of Florida 
• Pest Scouting in Nursery Production, Monitoreo de plagas en la producción de viveros,  Vanessa Compoverde, University of Florida 

Meet the presenters: 

• Gerson Coates 36 years of Lean Flow Manufacturing experience includes actual implementations in factories where he worked at as well as guiding Lean Flow implementations in companies around the world. In 1998 Gary, with three other partners founded FlowVision, LLC, - The Lean Business & Supply Chain Consulting Group. He has implemented in companies that produce as few as 1 product a day in the semiconductor capital equipment industry to as many as 20 billion coins a year at the US Mint. His experience ranges from high tech, high volume to machine intensive, low volume, make to order industries. Some of the products that he implemented Lean Flow on include: Ultrasound and cat-scan medical equipment, sanitary ware, semiconductor capital equipment, networking equipment, SMT lines, leather, and electromechanical equipment.
• E. Vanessa Campoverde is a bilingual University of Florida/ (IFAS) Educator. She has provided training to growers and green industry professionals in south Florida since 2011. Ms. Campoverde began her career in agriculture in 2001 working at The International Potato Center in Peru.  After graduating with her Master’s in Plant Pathology from the University of Florida, she worked as a plant research scientist for the Plant Diagnostic Clinic at the Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, FL.   Campoverde has gained invaluable experience in leadership and agricultural projects involving research, teaching and Extension appointments in collaboration with research institutions, society organizations, academia, and private industry. Interacting with local, national, and international audiences in Latin America and USA. Vanessa was recipient of the UF/IFAS Award for Excellence in Internationalizing Extension, and Florida Association of County Agricultural Agents Young Professional Award among other awards. 
• Dr. Celina Gómez has a BS from Zamorano University in Honduras, a MS from the University of Arkansas, and a PhD from Purdue University. She joined the Environmental Horticulture Department at the University of Florida in late 2016, where she has research (60%) and teaching (40%) responsibilities. She leads a cross-commodity research program that supports specialty crop production in Controlled Environments. Her area of expertise is plant lighting and hydroponics. Celina teaches ‘Greenhouse and Nursery Crop Culture’ and co-teaches ‘Hydroponic Systems’ and ‘Advanced Controlled Environment Plant Production’. Dr. Gómez is the University representative for the NCERA-101 (Committee on Controlled Environment Technology and Use) and the NE-1835 (Resource Optimization in Controlled Environment Agriculture). She also serves as faculty advisor to the Zamorano Alumni Association at UF, comprised of international graduate students and staff.

The biennial Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo is co-sponsored by New England Floriculture, Inc. - a group of grower representatives from the Northeast, augmented by University and Cooperative Extension staff in each state who specialize in greenhouse crops and management. 

The full program is on the NEGC website.    Register online by Sept 18th for early registration rates.

​Meet the presenters   

John Sanderson has been a professor in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University for over 30 years.  He has research/extension responsibilities for arthropod pest management on greenhouse crops, with an emphasis on biological and integrated control.  He has done research on every serious greenhouse pest and most of the predators, parasitoids, and pathogens used against them.  John has given numerous talks at many of the major national and regional greenhouse grower conferences, and published articles in major trade magazines.  His primary goal is to help growers accomplish cost-effective, sustainable management of the pests that plague greenhouse crops.

Ronald Valentin was born in the heart of the greenhouse industry in the Netherlands. His family owned a greenhouse operation and his father started using biological control in 1971. At a very young age Ronald developed an interest for the “bugs” and as a teenager he was managing and producing the biological control agents for the family greenhouse operation. After finishing his education in crop protection management, biochemistry, and vegetable production at State Secondary College of Agriculture in De Lier the Netherland, he embarked on a career in biological control in 1986. After working in biological control technical support in the Netherlands and several other European countries, he came to Canada for his first visit in 1996. After traveling to Canada once every 6 to 7 weeks in 1996 and 1997 he immigrated to Canada in December 1997. In March 2004 he became a Canadian Citizen. Over the years Ronald has worked with many growers to set up sustainable and effective pest management programs with as a focus to use BCA’s as a first line of defense. He also has trained and managed technical support teams in Europe, Canada, and the USA. Ronald is currently Director of Technical Business, BCA at BioWorks, out of Victor, NY. Ronald is very passionate about making an IPM and biological control approach work for every grower as well as reducing the use of pesticides for the better of the environment and the future.

Suzanne Wainwright-Evans is a horticultural entomologist specializing in integrated pest management. Suzanne has been involved in the Green Industry for more than 25 years with a primary focus on biological control and using pesticides properly. She is a graduate of the University of Florida with degrees in both Entomology and Environmental Horticulture. Suzanne is the owner of Buglady Consulting, now in business for over 20 years providing expert horticultural entomological consulting and seminars to commercial growers.  All client recommendations are made to promote the health of plants while being ecologically minded. The full use of natural and reduced risk pesticides, organic and cultural control practices and methods are used while focusing on biological control.

The biennial Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo is co-sponsored by New England Floriculture, Inc. - a group of grower representatives from the Northeast, augmented by University and Cooperative Extension staff in each state who specialize in greenhouse crops and management. 

Exhibit space and sponsorship opportunities are available. Learn more or reserve your space here.  Contact Karen Forbes at karen@delaneymeetingevent.com.  The full program is posted on the NEGC website.  Attendee registration is open in August.

Meet the presenters: 

Amanda Thomsen is a horticulturist, garden designer, keynote speaker, freelance writer, backyard consultant, and author living in suburban Chicago.  Amanda wants to help the world live more sustainably (but without a load of effort and twice the fun!). Amanda has been working in gardens, garden centers and landscaping for the last 20 years. Her focus is bringing rule-breaking fun, a little kitsch, and a lot of humor into an industry that is often thought of as stodgy and full of rules.  Amanda speaks and gives classes at all-sized events throughout the United States.

Gerson “Gary” Cortes has 36 years of Lean Flow Manufacturing experience includes actual implementations in factories where he worked at as well as guiding Lean Flow implementations in companies around the world. In 1998 Gary, with three other partners founded FlowVision, LLC, - The Lean Business & Supply Chain Consulting Group. He has implemented in companies that produce as few as 1 product a day in the semiconductor capital equipment industry to as many as 20 billion coins a year at the US Mint. Gary’s experience ranges from high tech, high volume to machine intensive, low volume, make to order industries. 

Sue Adams is vice-president of Adams Greenhouses, a five-acre operation in Poughkeepsie, NY. Their largest account is the family's four garden centers which they supply with over four million garden plants. Sue works closely with Adams' marketing department, creating special promotions, brochures, and website information. She is an award-winning container designer, graduate of Cornell University, serves on the New England Floriculture Board and is president of New York State Flower Industries. She is speaking for her company's merchandises who love talking to customers but are too shy to speak in front of a group. 

Dan Snyder is the Recruiting and Training Coordinator for a family-owned business of over 1300 employees, Adams Fairacre Farms. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from SUNY Oneonta while working at Adams throughout his college education.  When Dan graduated, he accepted an IT position with Adams to begin his professional career. After a year of working in IT, Dan transferred to HR as the Training Coordinator, eventually taking on Recruitment and has been doing so for the past six years.

John Kennedy presents to the green industry at a local, state, national and international level on all aspects of business—Customer Experience, Strategic & Succession Planning, Team Alignment, Productivity & Profitability, and Creating a Culture of Measurement & Metrics.  His consulting work has him in high demand among progressive companies and associations in North America, Australia, and the Caribbean… along with dozens of associations, garden centers, growers, and landscapers in the green industry.  Visit John on-line at www.johnkennedyconsulting.com to get a closer look at his topics, videos, and clients. 

The biennial Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo is co-sponsored by New England Floriculture, Inc. - a group of grower representatives from the Northeast, augmented by University and Cooperative Extension staff in each state who specialize in greenhouse crops and management. 

Exhibit space and sponsorship opportunities are available. Learn more or reserve your space here.  Contact Karen Forbes at karen@delaneymeetingevent.com.  The full program will be posted on the NEGC website in August.    Attendee registration will also open in August.  

Meet the presenters: 

Allison Justice graduated Clemson University with a Ph.D. in Plant and Environmental Science. After graduation, Dr. Justice joined the cannabis industry, teaming up with OutCo LLC., a vertically integrated cannabis producer in San Diego, CA. She pioneered industry research focused on controlled agricultural lighting and post-harvest production.

Dr. Zheng is a professor at the University of Guelph, Canada, and the president of the Canadian Society for Horticultural Science. He has extensive research experience in controlled environment plant production and has published more than 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers. Dr. Zheng has been actively involved in indoor cannabis production research in the past few years, and his group has published North America’s first peer-reviewed scientific papers on indoor cannabis production. He has developed and is currently teaching the world’s first university-level Cannabis Production course. Dr. Zheng has been frequently invited to speak about his research results nationally and internationally.

Suzanne Wainwright-Evans is a horticultural entomologist specializing in integrated pest management. Suzanne has been involved in the Green Industry for more than 25 years with a primary focus on biological control and using pesticides properly. She is a graduate of the University of Florida with degrees in both Entomology and Environmental Horticulture. Suzanne is the owner of Buglady Consulting, now in business for over 20 years providing expert horticultural entomological consulting and seminars to commercial growers.  All client recommendations are made to promote the health of plants while being ecologically minded. The full use of natural and reduced risk pesticides, organic and cultural control practices and methods, are used while focusing on biological control.

The 2021-2022 New England Greenhouse Floriculture Guide is now available via a Print-on-Demand service!

The New England Greenhouse Floriculture Guide (also referred to as the "Pest Management Guide") is a 250+ page publication that has been the reference-of-choice for hundreds of greenhouse growers throughout the Northeast since its inception. The manual presents biological, cultural and chemical management information for insects, diseases, weeds and plant growth regulation. The Guide is updated every two years by floriculture faculty and staff from the six New England State Universities, and is published by New England Floriculture, Inc.

The 2021-2022 New England Greenhouse Floriculture Guide is now available online, for free (http://negfg.uconn.edu) as well as via a Print-on-Demand service! The printed guide costs $35 (plus tax & shipping).  Purchase a guide. 

​Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo is pleased to announce that we will offer a webinar series this fall, sponsored by New England Floriculture Inc., in order to deliver content relevant to Pesticide Applicator Certification continuing education credits. Although we regret having to postpone the Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo to 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we hope that these webinars will provide important education (and CE credit) for the greenhouse community in 2020. We are currently applying for CE credit from each New England State and New York. 

Registration for the webinars will open early in September and you will have the option of paying only $100 for all 6 webinars (per attendee) or $25 each to select just a few. The webinars will be offered weekly from November 4 – December 16 at noon, Eastern Time. Please note that in order to get CE credit, an attendee must have an email address and log in to the webinar as an individual. More information about credits and logistics will be provided as it becomes available, at the Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo website: https://www.negreenhouse.org/credits.html

We continue to hope that you and your families remain safe and healthy! 

The Northeast Greenhouse is please to announce John Kennedy as the 2021 Keynote Speaker.  John Kennedy is a professional speaker, strategist and author who, over the last two decades, has been building and delivering business sales, service and success strategies to over 500,000 audience members world-wide.... one innovative idea at a time.  
About the presentation: “The Attraction and Retention of Top Talent” 
One of the biggest challenges our industry faces is the ability to attract and retain top talent.  Join John Kennedy as he delivers this dynamic and timely topic that addresses how to build a culture of attraction through leadership, teamwork, values and volition.
The biggest question anyone can ask in this economy—Why would anyone want to come work with you?  Another tough question—Would you work with you?  John Kennedy will help you answer these questions with the right answers of opportunity to build a successful culture of attraction and retention.  Click here to learn more.