Biosolutions for Ornamental Propagation ft. Koppert’s Kristen Fowler

Check out the Tech On Demand podcast, featuring our very own Koppert technical consultant Kristen Fowler discussing biosolutions for ornamental propagation: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/biosolutions-for-ornamental-propagation-ft-kopperts/id1523055762?i=1000728027043

Episode Transcript:

(0:14)  Bill Calkins: Greetings, greenhouse people, and welcome to another installment of Tech On Demand, where our goal is always to bring you tips, tricks, and information to select and produce your best crops ever. I'm your host, Bill Calkins, and I'm happy to be joined this episode by a fantastic guest with a ton of experience in greenhouse ornamentals propagation, integrated pest management, and the ability to blend both in a comprehensive and holistic plan to get crops off the ground to the strongest start possible. My guest is Kristen Fowler, a specialist with Koppert here in North America.

Kristen grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and earned a biology degree from Salisbury University, did some work with IR-4 looking into pesticide residues, and then moved to PA and earned a second bachelor's from DelVal, majoring in ornamental horticulture and floriculture. After that, she started working in greenhouses, specializing in propagation of everything from wetland natives to ornamental annuals and perennials, and these roles included leading greenhouse operations like Peacetree Farm, Gro 'n Sell, and Longwood Gardens. In about a week, if you're listening in real time, Kristen will celebrate her five-year anniversary with Koppert.

In this episode, we dive deep into propagation, focusing on how biocontrols can help young plants take off and thrive in the earliest stages of production, from sanitation before the season and careful assessment of incoming cuttings, to root protection and disease mitigation. Keeping your eye on the endgame is what propagation is all about. Make sure you have a pen and paper handy because Kristen is about to take you on a journey through her propagation playbook. Kristen, welcome to the podcast.

Kristen Fowler: Thank you so much for having me.

Bill Calkins: I think this is going to be fun. It's a really good topic. It's something applicable to, I think, all of our listeners who are producing young plants.

But before we get started with the specific topic on the agenda, I'm interested in some of your general thoughts about propagation. As the listeners heard in your bio, you have a ton of experience. Really, you're no stranger to young plant production, and I'm sure that this question could go on for hours. But I'm interested in, when you're producing plugs or liners, what is the time period or when do things really start to go off the rails in relation to disease spread or insect pests? And maybe what are some of the strategies you've used in the past to head off some of these issues, if possible.

Kristen Fowler: That's a great question to start with. Considering all of your eggs are essentially in one basket, it can spread within hours, days, especially weeks. My biggest, I would say the best advice I can always give to a grower, especially a propagator, is if you see something, do something about it as soon as possible. Do not wait. Whether you have a flagging process or some way to demarcate an issue or a problem area, it's really important to address whatever issues, whether it's, you know, you find a spot that has botrytis that can spread very quickly through irrigation and, you know, wind movement. Same with insect pests, they can lay eggs very quickly. It's a warm, humid environment. They can spread very rapidly. So it's really important to start as strong as possible.

And I always encourage, because we have to make our numbers at the end, where a lot of growers are often forced to stick all of the cuttings that they get, or as many of the quote-unquote good ones as they might get in a bag, and things happen in transit. But I try to encourage folks to not stick the bad trays because you are going to be riding that struggle bus from the beginning. And it's hard on the growers, and it's really hard to get a truly healthy, substantial crop that you really want to be proud of if you're starting with wilted, diseased, insect-pest-ridden cuttings, all of that. So it's good to get rid of the problem before it starts.

Bill Calkins: And I would think that's something that you want to empower your whole team as well. If you see something, mark it, flag it, call a manager over, have another set of eyeballs look at it just to be safe.

Kristen Fowler: I am a huge proponent of educating as many members of the team, whether those are folks who are just doing plant maintenance, whether they're the folks doing the sticking, your watering crew, like however your labor is divvied up. The more people know, the better. They are your eyes and hands in the crop, and they see it. And if they notice something's just not right, it's like, hey, just come tell us, put a flag, mark it, let's do something about it. So really educating everyone possible to what to look for is really key.

Bill Calkins: Now, that makes sense. And I've always heard scouting is a team effort and seems apropos. Well, that's good. I think now that we've broken the ice on propagation a little bit, why don't we dig into the topic of biosolutions at the earliest stages of production? And I'd like to hear, I guess, some of your tips and tricks. You talked about starting clean. What are some of the tips and tricks that you share with growers related to sanitation, both before and after propagation? I mean, starting clean is so critical. It's got to be one of the things you're working with folks on all the time.

Kristen Fowler: A lot of times starting clean means starting before you have plants in the building, in the house, on those benches. Every greenhouse is different, so this can apply to you and take what works for your setting. But cleaning your floors, if you've got concrete floors, make sure there's no algae buildup, no dirt collecting. If you've got gravel floors, be sure to apply treatments to those floors, whether they're nematodes or something like Impede. Treat the floors because those gravel floors can harbor insect pests. Your thrips screen, clean your thrips screen seasonally, making sure that you're cleaning off the walls. It's a very cohesive thing.

It also includes your equipment because propagation uses a lot of moisture, injectors, sprayers. We want to make sure we're not having any algae buildup, any film in those tubes. We want to make sure we're doing proper cleaning and flushing them out as frequently as possible. So that way, you know, if your booms or your mist system is running, you're not putting problems out onto your plants.

Bill Calkins: Now, that's good. A lot of times we talk about breaking the green bridge, really getting that greenhouse cleared out. I know it's not always practical, but it's really good practice between seasons. And then pet plants, I'm sure you've seen plenty of those causing problems.

Kristen Fowler: Pet plants are job security for biocontrol consultants.

Bill Calkins: That's good.

Kristen Fowler: And I always recommend, too, you know, if you have a house that's been cold for a few weeks or a few months and as you start to warm it up, put out some sticky traps, whether it's under the benches, around the vents, just to see what could be stirring in the air before you even put anything down. And that way you kind of have an idea of kind of what you're already kind of feeling from within before the cuttings even come in themselves.

Bill Calkins: I think that's really good advice. And I'm guessing that's not done too often and probably kind of an easy tip and trick to start this spring. I mean, quick.

Kristen Fowler: Absolutely. As soon as people start to heat up, even if it's in February in a seasonal greenhouse, you know, going from maybe either frozen or cold temperatures, 30, 40, bumping it up to the 50s and 60s, that's enough to wake up some eggs and get things flying around again.

Bill Calkins: I love that. That's a great tip. So hopefully at this point, your young plants are moved into a clean greenhouse for propagation, and we're going to assume that they are. What is the incoming risk? You talked about not wanting to stick bad trays. How should growers assess the, we'll say, unrooted cuttings coming into their facility? And I think about this step as something that's absolutely repeatable. So there are protocols, but there's also your team, the people involved. And I guess while we're at it, maybe some thoughts on cutting dips, because people are talking about that. I see all sorts of recommendations, pros and cons from all sorts of people, but I'm thinking you might have some thoughts on cutting dips as well.

Kristen Fowler: I think, you know, kind of going in reverse of that question, dips. A lot of times it's if it can work in your system and how you have it set up, then I highly recommend them. I think they do have a place, knowing the right products to use, following the label, ensuring that if there is an REI, you want to make sure that you are not exposing your sticking line to, you know, any residues that they shouldn't be touching without gloves at least.

I think if you have yearly records or you know that there are problem crops that generally tend to have certain issues season after season, most growers kind of know the ones to kind of look out for. If you can perhaps, you know, dip the ones that you know are bad because maybe it doesn't fit into your system as a whole because it's too integrated or, you know, it may slow things down. Time is money. So we want to make sure that we're not stalling the system any or causing excess cost. But I think that there is a place for dipping your cuttings and really rinsing off that foliage.

There's lots of products on the market. A lot of mycoinsecticides can be used. I know a lot of growers, there's one from BioWorks, Aphix, Shield's another really good one, that dipping's on the label. I've even, this was a trick from my boss, Jeremy Weber, back when I was a grower too, I've actually, for edible herbs where we had stock plants, I've even used Dawn dish soap and some water. It's soft, it doesn't burn the foliage, and it will knock the aphids off some lemon verbena if you only have a few minutes to stick five or ten trays. You know, there are things that you can do to at least, you know, try to get a step up, rinse them off. And getting a thorough dip is important. There's different styles and methods, and I think sometimes people can go a little fast with it and they don't get thorough coverage. So again, there's those takeaways where if it can apply to your situation, go for it. Otherwise, you know, we have other methods that we can do post-sticking that will hopefully have a similar effect.

(10:02) Bill Calkins: I like the idea of keeping records. I mean, we constantly remind growers, you know, we have all the tools these days to keep digital records, keep Google Sheets, however you want to do it. But make sure you're keeping records and then that prioritization. Look at the crops you've had issues on in the past. Maybe if you don't want to dip everything coming in, pick the hot spots.

Kristen Fowler: Yes. Like we know that we've had issues on this salvia every year, so we're going to make sure any salvias that come in, they get dipped. Like it doesn't have to be, you know, the whole roster of all the genera that are coming in if you're sticking multiple things. But you can, you know, if you can isolate the ones that you know have been consistently a problem, then go for it.

Bill Calkins: Cool. How about assessing cuttings coming in?

Kristen Fowler: That again comes back to educating as many people, especially on the sticking line, as possible. Whether you have folks who work for the greenhouse all year, you have temporary labor that comes in, teach those folks what to, and most of them will call it out anyway. They'll be like, look at this. This isn't good. It's mushy. They know. They're way more in tune than I think some folks think they are.

But training them to at least raise the flag on the sticking line of, do you want me to stick this? There's a problem. Then you can also go from that first tray and then go, okay, look at the roster of what's coming on the sticking line and then look at those bags. And then that's where quality control comes in. And then you should raise the flag or raise the alarm as soon as possible before it even goes onto the line. Let quality control and the folks that, you know, that's their job. That is what they're supposed to be doing. And that's a conversation that's, you know, in a different office, but it should be brought up as soon as possible so that way adjustments can be made. Whether new cuttings need to be sent, you know, order deliveries can be delayed, pushed, the customers can be informed about it. But right from the bat, just letting those folks, you know, tell you when it's time to not stick that tray.And if you open a bag and something's flying out, that's not good. That's not what we want to see at all.

Bill Calkins: Sometimes you can smell it. I've heard that, as you open a bag and you're like, yeah, no, this is not good. And suppliers can turn around within a week usually and get you replacement cuttings. And they'd much rather hear early as well.

Kristen Fowler; Much like with our shipping of our bios, things happen in transit. We're all human. Like they do their best that they can. And it's of no fault of their own. Sometimes if something gets overheated or too cold, frozen, those things happen. But again, it's early communication as soon as possible can help change the path of what's going forward. You know, you want to be able to get better quality cuttings in if you can. You want to, you know, not put out problematic crops that are going to then spread their issues to everything around.

I know some propagators will have what they call kind of like the hospital, where the bad trays come out and they kind of stay in their own section to have an eye kept on them. But not everyone has that luxury of that space. So if you can't do that, then yeah, pass on it.

Bill Calkins: No, I think that's great advice. We're 10 minutes in and you've dropped like five tips that can be implemented right away before next season. I absolutely love it.

Let's step back real quick, kind of zoom out a little bit, because I want to talk about your role as a specialist with Koppert, which I know you've got a history in propagation and greenhouses, but in this role, you've walked into tons of different types of greenhouses. They're all unique, which is the beauty of our industry, and nurseries. And so when you work with a propagator for the first time, how do those first few consultations go? Because I assume you don't walk in and say, here's our whole product portfolio, let's go. I can't imagine that's the best approach often.

Kristen Fowler: It's actually quite the opposite. Our first visits, especially to a new grower that we've not worked with, it's really just figuring out who they are, how they grow, what their pains are. It's really truly a genuine conversation. We don't, you know, first of all, like I am a consultant. I'm terrible at sales. I'm not a good salesperson. I didn't go to school for business. That's not what I'm in for. I am a talker. I'm from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We can talk to paint dry.

But it's really getting a feel for what their process is, how we can work our IPM program into what they're already doing. A lot of times if, you know, if I had a quarter for every time I heard, you know, oh, biocontrols, I tried it once and it didn't work, I'd have a pretty good retirement plan set up. So it's trying to show them that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You know, we want to, you know, sometimes they will come to us and they've got a litany of issues. I've got this, I've got thrips, whiteflies, spider mites, and fungus gnats, and okay, we can fix all of those, but I want to break it down into either the most simple place to start or the smallest place to start.

We don't want to overwhelm someone with a whole new IPM program. That's kind of setting yourself up for failure. We want to find one good spot that we can start with, which is where I generally go with propagation because, first of all, it's close to home. I know it the best. But if you can get ahold of that crop in the beginning, you have a better chance at the end of starting clean, ending clean, you know, or having a better chance of finishing a crop without as many issues.

Bill Calkins: That makes sense. When you talk about understanding the process in the greenhouse, what are some of the questions you ask? What are some of those processes that you run into that you can either make work or need to...?

Kristen Fowler: Sure. First it starts with what does your production look like? Are you, you know, are you just starting with pansies in January, spring annuals, and then you're done by Mother's Day and then you're not doing much for the summertime? What does your yearly plan kind of look like? Then we know kind of where we can step in.

And then it's okay, once you've stuck your cuttings as well as sowing your seeds, because sometimes, you know, they both come together, but it's like once you've stuck it, what's your general process? What are you already doing? Like what does it look like? How do they come out? Where do they go? What is your, how are you misting? Is it through booms? Is it in-bench mist? There's different mechanisms to do that. So kind of taking in the system as a whole to be like, okay, we can integrate our products in this fashion, in this fashion, because there's not really a blanket fix for everything. We can kind of work into different methodologies to make it more seamless. We're not trying to add extra work. We want to fit into what they're already doing.

Bill Calkins: Who would you ideally meet with? Like what would be your dream team that you'd like to meet with?

Kristen Fowler: Personally, I love talking to growers, my people. But it's really important to have a decision-maker in the room. Whether, you know, depending on the level of management that's there, we really need to have someone in the room who can actually say yes to this. I can talk to a grower or an IPM manager, you know, all day long, and like, oh, these are great ideas. But if the upper management and the folks who make that final decision aren't present to fully understand the value that we're adding to them and trying to contribute, and that we're not just, you know, trying to make as much money as possible, which is not the case, like we want them to understand the authenticity that we're coming in with. And, you know, if they say yes or no early, like much like propagation, if they give us the no early, understood, you know, we'll come back in a few more months and we'll talk to you later maybe. But if not, if they're interested, then that can help move that conversation along without having to duplicate it multiple times.

Bill Calkins: And that makes sense. And I would think as the relationship progresses, then you're meeting with IPM managers, growers, and just follow-up visits.

Kristen Fowler: You know, any, all assistant growers, anyone wants to show me something cool, like we'll have a good team meeting at that point. But to really get started, we need to have, you know, upper management, whoever is that final decision-maker is really important, and they can come to our follow-up meetings too. It's always great to show them that it's working because that's where they build that trust because it really is about building trust. These, you know, our growers are, this is their lifeline. This is what they've done for a living, and we understand how important it is. And to make any changes, especially in propagation when all your plants are right there, it's kind of terrifying at first. And we have to build that trust to get them to trust in us that we're telling them what is the correct thing to do.

(20:01) Bill Calkins: Yeah. No, I think that's great. And it's one of the things I really like when I talk to your team, I hear that repeated a lot.

Kristen Fowler: Trust, for sure.

Bill Calkins: That's great. That's great. I think that culture is awesome. And I do, I like the listeners to hear the process and understand who should be there. What are some of those early questions that they should be prepared to answer?

Let's get a little bit more specific combating issues in propagation, because I know the greenhouse environment plays a major role in what a grower can use, what they can't use with relation to biocontrols. In the first few weeks of propagation, so let's think about those early stages when mist is running, what are some of the solutions you turn to, and I guess maybe preface it with the problems you're trying to solve, and then the solutions you turn to? And then a few weeks later, when those young plants begin that wet-dry cycle and start rooting and that moisture isn't constant, how do the regimes change? I know that's like a huge question, but I'm interested how you break it down.

Kristen Fowler: I love huge questions because I get to talk a lot. Okay. So in the beginning, so I guess you could call it a week zero stick week up to week one where there's heavy mist. We're trying to keep the plants turgid, you know, they've got no roots. So we're in the midst of a foggy mist land. It's really important to focus, we're focusing pretty heavily on fungal and bacterial issues. That's where they thrive.

That's where we would move for products. Again, Triannum, our Trichoderma product, to protect the roots, especially at root initiation, growth promoters. We have, and we also have a biofungicide, Bacillarid. We have Microflora, which is a growth promoter. It's two species of Bacillus, as well as our mycoinsecticide, Isarid. We're kind of focusing more on application products in those first two weeks. Much like with the predatory insects, there aren't too many crawling insects in that heavy mist phase. You're not seeing them anyway. The main ones we do see: fungus gnats, shore flies, potentially some thrips because they're diabolical, they're everywhere, and potentially whitefly. If whitefly comes in on the cuttings, you know, they're pretty tolerant and they can handle that.

But we're really going after fungus gnats, shore flies, fungal and bacterial issues in those first two weeks. And that's where just consistent applications, just keeping them present to kind of combat any presence of any pathogens, is important.

As the mist starts to dial back, we start to get root initiation, mist levels start to decrease, that's when we can start to look at deploying some of the predatory mites and soil mites as well. Also rove beetles. Rove beetles are very durable, I will say. They could probably survive in heavy mist, but I don't recommend them until we start dialing that back. But once the mist starts to pull back, then that's when we can start to apply benefits like the macro-beneficials, the predatory insects, because we don't want to wash them off. We don't want to drown them. So we kind of wait until we get more of that dry cycle started to go, okay, let's do our introductions of beneficials.

Bill Calkins: And I guess maybe this is my own ignorance, but are those applied weekly or how often are you, I mean, maybe it's different. You named like six or eight different things.

Kristen Fowler: So for Isarid, our mycoinsecticide, we recommend weekly applications of that. Most mycoinsecticides, I believe most of them, I'm fairly certain that Botanigard is also a cordyceps, but you just need to have the spores present in the environment. With temperature fluctuations, air fluctuations, your inoculation in that climate can fluctuate. So we want to make sure we're just consistently keeping them present. So if it lands on the pest, it's taking care of it.

As far as the macro-beneficials, you know, predatory mites, things like that, nature, we do recommend weekly to biweekly introductions, depending on the threshold that you're dealing with. If you've got a heavy population, weekly. We often say think of your bio introductions as kind of a weekly spray application. There can be, if all the stars align, you get the temperature, enough food source, and, you know, potentially extra pollen on some pet plants that might be in the background or bankers, if you so choose, there is some reproduction and there is some, you know, rollover that following week in the crop. But that's something that we don't necessarily want to guesstimate. We want to just say, hey, like if you're spraying, you know, five ounces per 10 gallons, here's 50,000 Swirskii mites for 3,000 square feet. Like we want to make sure that you're applying an adequate rate of bugs to approach the pest levels that you have. Because, you know, if you need 300 per meter or 100 per meter, and you maybe have 50 with some residues or some leftovers, that's not going to give you, it's a numbers game. You want to have more predators in that. We want them to starve, which is kind of a weird concept, but we want to have more predators in the crop than there are pests so they can outnumber them.

Bill Calkins: Yeah, no, it took me a while to understand that we want them to starve. I've heard your team say that before, and now it makes total sense to me.

Kristen Fowler: It makes total sense. Like, you know, if you've got a Gerbera crop, you're going to have thrips. If you have certain, it's like, well, then just keep hammering it with those beneficials that we've worked with to figure out what works for you and just keep them present. And then they just, even if something were to fly in, they're there to battle it and take it out before it even gets a chance to get a foothold.

Bill Calkins: Yep. And then one of the things I love talking to you and the Koppert team about is the hybrid approach because, you know, I know there's no, you know, we would like, you would like, I would like personally, people to move much more toward a biological approach to IPM, but the reality is the greenhouse world that we live in might not always go down that path, and sometimes you might need chemistry. So let's talk a little bit about traditional chemistry a bit because this holistic approach, while ideal, sometimes, you know, sometimes it's a tough nut to crack, I suppose.

So when you might inherit plants that have been treated with traditional chemistries during propagation, during production, when insects or diseases get out of control, it's kind of the reality. But how do you and the team help growers navigate this road? And that's kind of a convoluted question, I suppose, but I think you understand what I mean because you're probably dealing with it all the time.

Kristen Fowler: They're always there. They're always present. You know, residue is essentially the silent killer that people don't always think about right up front. You can inherit cuttings or plants in general, you know, whether you're buying in liners or finished product, you know, that has been treated with some of the longer-lasting residues that are on the market.

And, you know, I highly recommend this as kind of a side quest, but I used to write my spray rotations based on the GrowerTalks PMF guide that you put out yearly and the Koppert Side Effects Guide, where I could put in the active ingredient, the beneficials that I have in the crop, and then you can see there what the effects are on that bio, whether you have a residue because some are residues for two weeks, four weeks. You've got the big one, bifenthrin, which is 12 weeks. So that plays a, you know, anytime you put a bio in a crop that has a residue that's that strong within that timeframe, you're really not going to get the results that you want because they're essentially going to die.

So anytime, like bringing in those crops, you can often reach out to the stock farms, ask them what their spray rotations are. A lot of folks will provide that. Same with your liner production or your liner providers. You know, you can ask them what they're using to better, you know, better your program down the line. Because we work with a lot of propagators, for example, for poinsettias, we are able to talk to several of them and get them to, you know, remove that last Safari application that's coming out. So that way our growers can then grow out their poinsettia crops throughout the summer and fall using a more comprehensive bio program. Because if there is a Safari drench on there, then that eliminates our use of, you know, the wasps and certain... we have to adjust accordingly.

So again, there's no absolute, you know, sometimes you do have to do a heavy spray. You know, if we come into a crop and there's an active infestation that's pretty rampant, we'll give a spray rotation to run for a few weeks and we'll be like, hey, we'll talk to you at the end of the month. Knock them down in an affordable way. Then we can come in and talk about how to, you know, reassess with a bio approach.

Bill Calkins: Okay, that makes sense. And I think, yeah, that's one of the things I always appreciate when talking to you guys is the reality check of what you want.

Kristen Fowler: Absolutely. You know, sometimes we have to take those measures, and you have to be realistic. Our main goal is to get those crops, you know, to the end user, whoever that is, whether it's another greenhouse or to a garden center. And we're here to help them get that, make the sale. You know, we've got to do what we can.

Bill Calkins: Cool. Well, thinking about a grower who's moving into spring 2026 production, you're going to receive your cuttings, you know, early in the year, you know, what would be like a step-by-step approach that you would recommend to them, you know, just to get everything set up through propagation? Are there, you know, you've listed off a lot of products and the active, you know, the biologicals involved. But I guess if a grower listening wanted to write down, you know, here are the first five steps I should take or something like that, how would you scribble that on a napkin for them?

Kristen Fowler: Absolutely. I would say obviously at the end of the first week, you know, there's, you know, this is kind of speaking from my own personal experience, but at the end of the week when the greenhouse is full, there's a watering-in drench of fungicide, maybe a fertilizer. And this is also where something like Isarid can also be tank-mixed in as well.

I really like the idea of doing, you know, the Bacillarid, Microflora, or Isarid combo. Bacillus and Isarid work really well together, so you're essentially getting a mycoinsecticide and a biofungicide in one application. So watering in your plants at the end of the first week, you know, sealing that sticking hole around the stem, making sure there's no air gaps, and so that, you know, flagging is the other issue, which is not IPM-related, but it can crash your whole crop.

And then I would follow up the following week with, you know, again another Isarid application and then another beneficial Bacillus. You know, again, I used to do a Cease-MilStop spray usually like that following Monday, Tuesday, especially for anything that was starting to turn white with a little bit of botrytis, maybe just kind of zap it, go through, and you know, [unclear] those trays out. That would be kind of my first week or two.

And then again, once you have the root initiation started and roots are starting to expand into the cell, that's where we want to get the Trichoderma added. It's, you know, it acts as a protectant. So as you get that new tissue pushing through, the Trichoderma colonizes that root tissue, keeps any of the bad diseases from entering. So we want to make sure we're getting it on that at the root expansion times. So at the first, you know, the first radicals, I guess—well, not for vegetative, it's not a radical - but that first root initiation, and then again, you know, two to three weeks later trying to get like that pullable plug, or again, pull plug, you want to make sure that that tissue is also inoculated. So before it goes out the door, you know, when they go to transplant, you know, when it's got that in the tissue, it's in the plug.

Bill Calkins: I like that. This is so proactive versus reactive.

Kristen Fowler: Absolutely. And a lot of times it can be a hard sell because it's not like you're not mainly necessarily seeing a lot of results, like you may see a much more healthier plug. Oh, it looks good, we've got good roots. But you don't quite see on the molecular level that you've added protection in there. And if you have healthy roots, healthy foliage, you have less of a chance of insects coming in because they come in on the ones that are distressed and that are weaker. So we're just trying to build a burly, buff little plug.

Bill Calkins: And I've heard it said plenty of times, like the best way to, you know, avoid insect and disease in production is by having a healthy plant.

Kristen Fowler: Absolutely. Like we should all think that way about ourselves as well.

Bill Calkins: Very true.

Kristen Fowler: Like we're seeing a lot of work too with, you know, with silicon and calcium, like really building out that tissue in the epidermis of the plant is really important. If you've got a thick leaf, then they can't get in there. It makes it harder. At least you're forcing them to work harder, which is the job. They need to work harder. They've got it too easy.

Bill Calkins: Very, very true. That's cool. Well, thank you so much for that rundown. I wanted to just make sure that we had that being recorded so that folks can write it down, take notes.

Kristen Fowler: And also too, I would like to add nematodes to those.

Bill Calkins: Yeah.

Kristen Fowler: Nematodes can be added into that mixture of any of those products. They are a great, especially in the wet stage, to target the fungus gnats, shore fly, thrips pupae that are down in the soil. It's a really, they're great. I love nematodes. And, you know, depending on the season you're in depends on the species, but they're incredible. They're definitely an integral part of propagation for sure.

Bill Calkins: 'Cause there are cold-season and warm-season.

Kristen Fowler: Yeah. Like once you get above 80, you should really think about start switching over to the Carpocapsae. Like the feltiae, they don't really like it too hot. They want to stay in the Northeast where it's cool.

Bill Calkins: Really nice. No, that's good. That's good.

Before we wrap up, I did want to leave a little bit of time for final thoughts because this is a complex topic, but you've done a very good job of making it understandable even to someone like me, which is amazing. Because when we talk propagation, and you mentioned it, like you see all your plants in one greenhouse, the density is so high and the value is so high that you really don't have a ton of room for error. And I know that, you know, just from talking to you and your team, the importance of partnerships, but also that problems can arise in prop and you really want to, you know, stay on it, follow it all the way to the end to reduce the losses.

So before we close, what do you want to leave the listeners with to help them feel reassured that taking a bio-based approach to propagation is a good way to go?

Kristen Fowler: I would say, going back to what I said before, start simple, start small. Like don't take on more than you need to. I think some people think if you start using bios then you have to change everything over, and that's not always the case. Consistency is key. It's just about making sure you're maintaining on a weekly basis. You should be scouting. Most growers already have a weekly rotation that they've built out, and integrating that into what you're doing every week is really important.

And just do not give up. Just because you try it one time doesn't mean that it didn't work. This is a living system you're working with. Fluctuations in environment, crops, pest pressure, you know, these are all variables that are very intense, and they can change in any given time. You know, like I said, think about your bio applications, you know, as a spray. Like you're consistently adding them in there, and it's important to partner with your consultant, with whomever company that you're working with. It's literally our jobs.
You know, I get texts from growers like, oh, so sorry to bother you, but that's literally my job all the time. Like this is what I get paid to do. We want to be seen or, you know, we want to be considered as a member of your IPM team. We want you to, if you find something, send us a picture of it, tell us what is this, and we can say, hey, that looks weird. It may kind of look maybe like a thrips, but it doesn't. You've never seen it before. But there are things that we can do. We can help you. If I don't know the answer, I have a whole team of very smart people behind me that I can post it to and get an answer within the day or a few days to, you know, help them with it.

And it's important to lean on those folks, especially even also with Extension as well. Like wherever you're located, however it's working, you know, you're working your bio program, rely on us. That's literally our jobs. We get new information all the time, and we're excited to share that. And, you know, it's a process. It's not, and like I mentioned before, it's really about building trust. You know, we have to show these folks that it works and that it's not as complicated as it is.

And, you know, I know I'm bringing back up a topic from previous podcasts, but the IPM CSI, right? We're gonna ask a bunch of questions, we're gonna scan the room, we're gonna look at it and say, okay, well maybe you used this mite or this bio in the past, but your temperatures and the crop that you're using, you'd be better off to use these. Let's try this and see what happens. And, you know, just because something takes care of thrips doesn't mean it takes care of thrips for the crop you have, in the greenhouse you have, in the state that you're growing in. There can be a lot of variables to it. So rely on us. It's our jobs to help you as much as possible.

Bill Calkins: That's awesome. And that's a perfect segue because I'm also interested where folks can find out more about Koppert's products, how to reach out to the team. You guys have a lot of specialists out across North America. Where's the best place to go for information?

Kristen Fowler: I will say koppertus.com. International company, a lot of folks go to koppert.com. Your web browser will redirect you, but koppertus.com has all of the available biological controls that we can legally bring into the country. It also has a site map for all of our consultants. So depending on what state or region you're in, you can click on it, contact any of us. We are split up into multiple teams, so we have an ornamentals team, we have the hydro team, agri team, pollination. So perhaps you reach out to someone and they're on a different team, but they will connect you directly.

And I will also say too, if you go to koppertus.com or to naturalenemies.com, which is our retail website, we do have the chatbot that comes up in the bottom corner. It is a real person. So that is a member of our customer service team who's done a great job of learning our protocols, and they have learned all these fun names to help you. And once they reach a certain point, then they can connect you with one of us if need be. So please talk to the chatbot. It's a person. Be nice.

Bill Calkins: No, that's actually good to know. I wonder, you never know who's on the other side of that.
Kristen Fowler: So for now it is a living, breathing person.

Bill Calkins: Excellent. I'll put links to all of that in the show notes as well as the PMF guide. And what was the other, the side effects...

Kristen Fowler: Yeah, the Side Effects Guide.

Bill Calkins: I'll put all that in the show notes so folks listening can go down and click those links.
Well, thank you so much for your time today. One last question: when should the listeners order these products? 'Cause I know we're starting, I mean we're getting orders for plants in right now. So for spring 2026, what's the timeline to order your biocontrols from Koppert after you put in your orders?

Kristen Fowler: Perfect. I mean that's for in general, yes. So currently I'm working on spring programs for my customers who are on a Koppert program that start, they run for various different time frames. We're getting those typed up now so we can get them in the system. And that helps with our forecasting. Much like plants, it's really hard to make bugs appear, but we do a great job at it. But we do at least need a good week ahead of time, like a good five business days for orders. But the earlier you can let us know or work with us to at least get something set up in the system to get a scheduled order so we can kind of let you know, or, but if you want to order week to week, we can do that too.

So place your plant order, place your biological order, or at least talk to your consultant so they have an idea of what might be coming down the pipeline. You know, if you want to get serious and take it on, communication and partnership, that's what it's all about.

Bill Calkins: Well, again, Kristen, thank you so much for your time today. I think that we covered a lot.

Kristen Fowler: I think so. Yes. I can talk about this for sure. I'm glad I have this job. I can just sit here and geek out about this all day.

Bill Calkins: That's so cool. And I can sit and listen to this kind of stuff all day. But we don't have all day, and our listeners don't have all day, so I guess we better wrap it up. So on behalf of Kristen Fowler and the entire Koppert team, I'm Bill Calkins with Tech On Demand wishing you a fantastic spring season with healthy plants going out the door. Take care out there. Happy propagating.

RESOURCES:

Koppert U.S.

Koppert Consultants & Locations

Koppert Contact

Koppert Crop Protection Products

Koppert’s Side Effects Guide App

2025 GrowerTalks Biosolutions Guide

2026 GrowerTalks Insecticide, Miticide & Fungicide Guide (English)

2026 GrowerTalks Insecticide, Miticide & Fungicide Guide (Spanish)

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