November December 2024 - 16

STRUCTURES
MINIMIZE WASTED SPACE
Both said most growers typically
know how much space they want to
assign each plant, and plants may be
moved around once or twice during a
production cycle.
" The drawback to increasing
the number of re-spacings is that
it requires more labor to move the
plants, which can be an issue if there
aren't enough workers. If growers
have an automated system to do the
respacing, that simplifies the process.
Increasing the number of re-spacings
allows growers to really squeeze
plants into the production space and
generate more profit, " Both said.
CONSOLIDATE
Once plants have been removed
from a production area there is open
space available.
" If this occurs often, especially
in the spring with bedding plants,
there will be small clusters of plants
sitting on benches or the floor with
empty space around them, " Both said.
" Growers can consolidate the plants,
putting them together in a smaller
area which opens up a larger empty
area where the next crop can be
started. They don't need to wait until
all the plants are sold and shipped out
before starting a new crop. "
Just like respacing the plants
during the production cycle, this
consolidation requires more labor to
relocate the plants.
Both said growers will need to keep
track of where plants are repositioned
in the greenhouse so they are not
lost and can easily be found for the
next order. If growers have the labor
available, create more empty space that
can be prepared for the next crop cycle.
REDUCE THE SHRINK
Plants not grown properly, due to
lack of adequate water or nutrition,
or are unsalable because of pests or
disease infestation, can also impact
production numbers and profitability.
" Growers should constantly be
trying to improve the quality of their
production systems so that the number
of plants that have to be culled and
can't be sold is as small as possible, "
Both said. " Production space has been
reserved for the plants, the labor,
energy, and materials are invested
in a crop and the plants occupy the
production space during the entire
production cycle. "
Money is wasted with each unsold
plant. Limiting the number of plants
that can't be sold because of quality
issues is a good way of trying to
increase profitability without needing
more production space.
PROFITABLE OR NOT?
Both said he learned to meticulously
keep track of how much it costs to
produce a plant from Bill Swanekamp
at Kube-Pak, a grower in Allentown,
New Jersey.
" Bill carefully calculated for every
crop and every single variety the
company was producing how much it
cost to produce it, " Both said. " They
knew the cost and sale price of each
plant so they were able to calculate
its profitability. They were thus
able to determine the profitability
of each crop produced.
" These calculations would
impact the company's
production numbers for the
next year. They would reduce
the number of crops with
lower profitability so that
they could increase their
profit. Good growers know
what it costs to produce a
crop in order to maximize
space utilization and
profitability. "
Some growers take advantage of all the greenhouse space available, including overhead and aisles.
David Kuack is a freelance
technical writer in Fort
Worth, Texas, and can
be reached at dkuack@
gmail.com.
16 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024 GPNMAG.COM

http://www.GPNMAG.COM

November December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November December 2024