TNLA Working for You September 18, 2020

Be the First to Know News and Updates from TNLA! SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

TNLA

Working For You

Take advantage of the job opportunities on TNLA's Career Center!

TODAY COULD BE THE DAY THAT YOU FIND YOUR DREAM JOB!

Members' News You Need to Know

Events

COVID-19 UPDATE - COVID Relief Legislation Continues to be a Stalemate; Senate Republican Bill Failed

Save the Date for the 2021 Nursery/Landscape EXPO

- Slow the Spread of COVID-19 Webinar with Dr.Charlie Hall & Dr. Brent Pemberton TNLA Upcoming Webinar: PCI Compliance:What's the Big Deal Anyway?

Chat with Green Aggies Webinar Opportunities 2021-2022 Scholarship Opportunities

Attention Nursery/Landscape EXPO Exhibitors!

Legislative & Regulatory TNLA Joins Effort to Defend FIFRA Last Day to Register to Vote is Coming up October 5

Green Vi$ion: Using Biochar as Container Substrates in Horticulture Production

It's Almost Here...TNLA's 365 Mobile App Experience Simplify Your Search for Green Industry Positions TNLA Career Center Job Postings Embrace Your Space Media Kit Purchase the Compensation & Benefits Study Today!

Retail Garden Centers can Now Enter TNLA's Newest Award Program 5 Tips to a Better Application:Texas Excellence in Landscaping Award

Take advantage of the Embrace Your Space Media Tool Kit! It's full of free graphics for your business to use to keep customers coming! #EmbraceYourSpace

A WORD FROM THE STATE Members' News You Need to Know Hear it straight from the State Office

COVID-19 UPDATE: Slow the Spread of COVID-19 We can stop the spread of COVID-19. But it has to be all of us — working together for a #HealthyTexas. Here are some simple steps we can all take to slow the spread of COVID19:

COVID-19 UPDATE: COVID Relief Legislation Continues to be a Stalemate; Senate Republican Bill Failed The coming election has resulted in an almost complete breakdown in negotiations on any further COVID relief packages getting through Congress. The most recent bill to receive a vote was the “trimmed-down” version offered

by Senate Republican leadership and it failed to achieve the necessary votes to proceed.

With a significant difference in the total dollar amount included in the packages, there does not appear to be much willingness to compromise prior to November 3rd.

This week, however, President Trump came out in support of a larger relief package, contrary to his Republican allies on the Hill. In spite of the political jockeying, Texas businesses in some sectors continue to suffer tremendously. Our friends at the Texas Restaurant Association have reported from a survey that nearly 50% of their restaurant businesses will close in the next six months without further relief packages. Statistics like this reflect the potential damage to the overall health of our states’ economy if restrictions continue and relief is not passed soon.

Wash your hands often for 20 seconds.

Use hand sanitizer if no soap and water are available.

Wear a cloth face covering in public and in large gatherings.

Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, then throw the tissue away.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

Disinfect surfaces, buttons, handles, knobs and other high-touch surfaces.

Stay six feet apart from others.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

If you’re sick, get tested, then stay home.

A WORD FROM THE STATE Members' News You Need to Know Hear it straight from the State Office

WEBINAR WITH DR. CHARLIE HALL AND DR. BRENT PEMBERTON Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Brings You: Exciting New Plants Coming Down the Pipeline with Dr. Charlie Hall and Dr. Brent Pemberton September 10 | 11:00AM CDT In this webinar, Dr. Brent Pemberton will discuss exciting new plants that entering the green industry pipeline based on his own plant trials in Overton, Texas, and with his participation in the Texas Superstar program. New product development is an important strategy for the industry so you do not want to miss this!

Dr. Pemberton’s area of research is in nursery and floriculture crop production and physiology. His research has an emphasis on field production of rose plants including work on propagation and irrigation practices, production systems, weed and disease control, and post-harvest care and shipping. He is currently working with a group of scientists on improving disease resistance in roses.

In addition, bedding plant pack and garden trials are performed each spring and fall featuring new varieties available for production in the green industry.

Register Here!

EARN 1 TNLA CEU HOUR WITH SUBMISSION OF A TNLA CEU FORM

TNLA UPCOMING WEBINAR: PCI COMPLIANCE: WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ANYWAY? PCI Compliance: What's the Big Deal Anyway? with Rich Kling, Merchant Owl September 25 | 11:00AM CDT During our next webinar we will discuss PCI Compliance, what it is and why it is important. PCI Compliance has been a thorn in the side of many business owners for several years now. I will help explain why PCI was created and what you can do to become compliant and what could happen if you don’t.

Register Here!

EARN 1 TNLA CEU HOUR WITH SUBMISSION OF A TNLA CEU FORM

A WORD FROM THE STATE Members' News You Need to Know Hear it straight from the State Office

CHAT WITH GREEN AGGIES WEBINAR OPPORTUNITIES The Chats with Green Aggies are on Zoom! Every Thursday 12:12pm. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Register For Any or All Future Webinars Here Sep 24, 2020 -Non-chemical control of CMBS; Poinsettia Nutrition; Knock-out Rose Oct 1, 2020 -Cool-season weed mgmt.; Pollinator Citizen Scientist Project; Lindheimer’s Muhly Oct 8, 2020 -Spring insect prevention during fall; Pruning pomegranate and similar plants; Belinda’s Dream Rose Oct 15, 2020 -Chitty Chat; Chinkapin Oak Oct 22, 2020 -Spring disease prevention during fall; Ornamental Peppers Oct 29, 2020 -(Halloween theme!) Pruning crapemyrtle; Biological Control of whiteflies: a case study (Vafaie); Shantung Maple EARN 1 TNLA CEU HOUR PER WEBINAR WITH SUBMISSION OF A TNLA CEU FORM

The Education Opportunities Do Not Stop Here!

Webinars in topics ranging from Business Management, Pest & Disease Management, Legislative & Regulatory, Plants, & More Educational white pages (Green Industry Essentials) EXPO Keynotes and Interviews Guided web courses CEU quizzes & more on TNLA Academics Education On Demand here!

A WORD FROM THE STATE Members' News You Need to Know Hear it straight from the State Office

2021-2022 SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES If you know of a deserving student who is studying programs related to the nursery and landscape, or agriculture industry, please send them to the TNLA Awards Platform to complete a scholarship application for either the TNLA Foundation or GROW Texas.

All applicants should carefully review the program requirements as explained on the website and submit their applications and required documents by the deadlines.

2021-2022 TNLA Foundation Horticulture Scholarship Program The Texas Nursery & Landscape Association Foundation awards funds to horticulture/landscape students for their continued education.

The standard TNLA Scholarship award is a $1,000 one-year scholarship award. Other TNLA Scholarship awards, varying in amounts, are also available.

Applicant must be a Texas resident.

Applicant must be a high school senior or returning college student majoring in horticulture, business or related field, have a sincere intent to enter or be involved in the horticulture industry, and attend an accredited Texas school for the period covered by the scholarship.

Completed application with all required attachments must be submitted by December 31st.

2021-2022 Grow Texas Scholarship Program The mission of the Grow Texas Scholarship Program (GTSP) is to help young Texans develop the skills needed to lead Texas agriculture into the future.

The standard Grow Texas Scholarship award is $1,000 or more one-year scholarship award. The $1,000 award is divided into a $500 payment per semester for the next two consecutive semesters.

Other Grow Texas Scholarship awards, varying in amounts are also available.

Applicant must be a Texas resident.

Applicant must be a high school senior or returning college student majoring in an agriculture related field, have a sincere intent to enter or be involved in the agriculture industry and attend an accredited Texas school for the period covered by the scholarship.

Completed application with all required attachments must be submitted by November 15th.

A WORD FROM THE STATE Members' News You Need to Know Hear it straight from the State Office

IT'S ALMOST HERE...TNLA'S 365 MOBILE APP EXPERIENCE The clock is ticking and we are getting even closer to launching TNLA's 365 Mobile App Experience!

We are currently putting the final touches on all of the app's member opportunities to be able to search company and product listings and join your peers in community conversations.

A special thank you to TNLA's Women In Horticulture group who is currently helping TNLA out by being the first to test the app behind the scenes and connect with each other within the Women In Horticulture community group within the app. We will be sure to keep you posted as we get even closer to going LIVE at the end of the month.

MOBILE APP SNEAK PEEK

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES are available for TNLA’s New 24/7/365 Mobile App Experience! Get your brand noticed with clickable impressions by adding banners, community discussion posts, company logos, and more! Call Amy Prenger at 512-579-3858 for more details!

A WORD FROM THE STATE Members' News You Need to Know Hear it straight from the State Office

SIMPLIFY YOUR SEARCH FOR GREEN INDUSTRY POSITIONS Creating and profile and uploading your resume on TNLA's Career Center can generate job leads best suited for your skills. TNLA's Career Center is easy and FREE to use when applying for jobs.

TNLA's Career Center offers you the chance to surround yourself with a network of Green Industry companies that will help empower you to grow professionally.

Through TNLA's Career Center, you can: Search Keywords Search Position Categories Source by Location Find Full-time Contract Temp or Part-Time positions Look up different Job Level offerings Find the best Green Industry Jobs Here

TNLA CAREER CENTER JOB POSTINGS VISIT POSTING

GoMaterials, Nursery/Grower Development Consultant, Austin/Dallas/Houston, Texas

VISIT POSTING

James Landscaping, Inc., Landscape Design/Sales Position, Keller, Texas

VISIT POSTING

Unique Landscaping, General Manager, Colleyville, Texas

VISIT POSTING

O'Donnell's Landscape Services, LLC., Client Services Manager, Fort Worth, Texas

VISIT POSTING

Alliance Consumer Group, Full Time Gardener, Westlake, Texas

VISIT POSTING

TreeSource Wholesale Nursery, Counter Sales Representative, Houston, Texas

VISIT POSTING

Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Irrigation Technician, Houston Texas

A WORD FROM THE STATE Members' News You Need to Know Hear it straight from the State Office

PURCHASE THE COMPENSATION & BENEFITS STUDY TODAY! The Texas Nursery & Landscape Association is excited to have completed the 2020 Texas Green Industry Compensation & Benefits Survey and is ready for it to be released. With over 100 companies contributing, the survey represents a window into the employee benefits and compensation of your colleagues in the green industry. This valuable data is an opportunity to know how your competitors monetarily compensate employees, in addition to analysis on workplace culture, education, certification, and ancillary benefits. The study features hard data on compensation, as well as comments from the study participants in order to contextualize the results.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain insight into Texas-specific green industry employment information.

The complete survey results are available to TNLA members at $100 and non-members at $250.

Purchase it here!

RETAIL GARDEN CENTERS CAN NOW ENTER TNLA'S NEWEST AWARD PROGRAM Retail Garden Centers will be recognized across the State as the leading retail garden center in Texas through the newly established Texas Garden Retailer Awards (TGRA) program. Winners of TGRA will receive statewide promotion, unrivaled recognition among their peers and the honor to hold the title of this prestigious award as TNLA Retailer of the Year.

Entry Instructions: 1. Create an online account on TNLA’s Award Force.

2. Choose the TNLA Retail Award category to enter in with (there is no limit to the number of categories one can enter, however, there can be only one entry per company for each category Over One Million in Yearly Revenue OR Under One Million in Yearly Revenue).

3. Upload entry following the criteria guidelines, questions, and uploading supporting documentation and images.

4. Submit and pay for your TGRA entry.

5. Two Winners will be revealed at the 2021 TNLA Awards Fiesta in San Antonio, TX on August 6, 2021 NOTE: THE ENTRY DEADLINE FOR TGRA IS Saturday, November 7, 2020 by midnight.

Enter by Clicking Here

A WORD FROM THE STATE Members' News You Need to Know Hear it straight from the State Office

5 TIPS TO A BETTER APPLICATION: TEXAS EXCELLENCE IN LANDSCAPING AWARD 1 Use the photo descriptions as an opportunity to TELL THE STORY behind your design.

2 Include BEFORE and AFTER photos. Don't be afraid to take the judges through the journey of your project.

3 SHOW YOUR SKILLS. If your project requires special skill work, include a photo of the process for the judges to see Example: Show an up-close picture of how that sculpture got mounted onto the foundation, vs only showing the completed mounted sculpture from afar.

4 Explain in detail HOW AND WHY you are using the tools/techniques you are using.

Example: Trimming turf with a hedge trimmer as to not chip the concrete, or using a line level to trim the hedges in as level as possible.

5 Describe the CHALLENGES faced by your project site Example: The site hosts concerts, so irrigation and compaction are always a potential issue for the site.

TNLA’s TEIL program changes the way your customers look at your business. By becoming an awardwinning company, you can show your company’s professionalism and expertise and promote your company as an award-winning firm! Submit your application Here by November 6, 2020

A WORD FROM THE STATE Events

Hear it straight from the State Office

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2021 NURSERY LANDSCAPE EXPO The 2021 Nursery/Landscape EXPO will be held in San Antonio, Texas, August 5-7, 2021. EXPO gives Green Industry professionals the chance to engage with their peers and build profitable business connections. While at EXPO you will have the opportunity to get questions answered, attend expert-led education breakouts, keynote presentations, and source new products. Mark your calendar for the 2021 Nursery/Landscape EXPO and visit www.nurserylandscapexpo.org for updates and additional information.

ATTENTION NURSERY/LANDSCAPE EXPO EXHIBITORS Priority Exhibitor Booth Space Selection for the 2021 Nursery/Landscape EXPO (faceto-face) is happening NOW! Booth spaces are going fast so call Trevor at 512-579-3859 now to secure the best possible booth location or email EXPO@NurseryLandscapeEXPO.org.

We look forward to ‘rising together … stronger than ever’ August 5-7, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas.

A WORD FROM THE STATE Legislative & Regulatory

Hear it straight from the State Office

Last Day to Register to Vote is Oct. 5th

TNLA Joins Effort to Defend FIFRA TNLA this week joined a letter to Congress signed by hundreds of state and national agriculture and landscape associations to defend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act. The letter stated the uniform opposition of industry to two bills recently filed which would drastically alter the way pesticides are studied, reviewed, and regulated. The bills would eliminate the preemption of federal registration and require the US adopt the regulatory scheme of the European Union.

TNLA supports the process of development of chemical safety protocols under FIFRA and the rigorous periodic review of these products by the EPA’s current process. We cannot support an approach to dismantle this, making these critical pesticides and fungicides subject to political patchwork approval. While neither bill is considered likely to seriously pass in this Congress, they proponents of the legislation are aiming to make a critical push in the new Congress.

October 5th is the last day to register to vote in person for the November 3rd 2020 election.

TNLA encourages all of our industry members to participate actively in the upcoming elections. The November election will now be without straight ticket voting on the ballot, requiring voters to continue down the full ballot and individually select the candidate of their choice.

Texans can find out more including where to vote, their ballot, and how to register at the Secretary of State’s website Vote Texas: https://www.votetexas.gov/index.html

GREEN VI$ION Featured Article

USING BIOCHAR AS CONTAINER SUBSTRATES IN HORTICULTURE PRODUCTION Part 3: Physical and Chemical Properties, Guidelines for making the right biochar mix Written by: Ping Yu and Dr. Mengmeng Gu Ping Yu is a Ph.D. student working on using biochar as container substrate in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M University, yuping520@tamu.edu Mengmeng Gu, Professor/Extension Specialist, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, mgu@tamu.edu

Biochar, a by-production with huge potential as we mentioned in the former articles, may affect substrate physical and chemical properties.

Herein, we present research-based information on biochar’s physical and chemical properties, as well as on its incorporation in potting mixes. This paper represents the third of a five-part series provided to the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association audience.

Container substrates must fulfill several functions for plants’ growth: create a suitable root environment (e.g. pH), support and anchor plants, hold nutrients and water, as well as enable gas exchange between the roots and the atmosphere. Suitable physical and chemical container substrate (aka potting mix) properties are important to provide these functions for proper plant growth.

Physical properties: Container substrate physical properties include air space (%), container compacity (%), total porosity (%),and bulk density (g.cm-3). Air space measures the proportion of air-filled large pores (macrospores) after drainage. Air space influences gas exchange and water holding capacity. Container capacity measures the maximum percent volume of water that substrate can hold against gravity----- the amount of water remaining in pot when substrate is watered to saturation and there is no more water dripping from the bottom of the pot.

Total porosity equals container capacity plus air space. Total porosity is the measure of substrate volume holding water and air. Bulk density measures how much one unit of the substrate weighs. Generally speaking, biochars with fine particles hold water better (but less air space) than ones with coarse particles. Biochar particle size largely depends on feedstock particle size as the pyrolysis process normally decreases, instead of increase, biochar particle sizes. Biochar made from fine materials will have fine biochar particles. For example, manures, the products going through the whole animal digest system, have very fine particles, manure biochars may look like black flour. Sludge biochar is another example of fine particle sizes. Such fine-particle biochars could be pelletized to achieve larger sizes. On the other hand, wood (softwood, hardwood, or wood bioproduct, like bark) biochars have bigger particles sizes than most manure biochars, even if the feedstocks (what we feed through the pyrolysis process) is preprocessed, such as hammermilled, to reduce their sizes.

Chemical properties: Container substrate chemical properties include electrical conductivity (EC) and pH. Electrical conductivity indicates soluble salt, measuring all the electrical charged ions dissolved in water. pH measures a substrate’s acidity or alkalinity. Scientists define pH as the negative logarithm (base 10) of hydrogen ions concentration in a solution.

GREEN VI$ION Featured Article

Similar to physical properties, biochars’ chemical properties vary significantly on their EC, pH and nutrient availability. We had trialed a type of biochar with EC so high that liners transplanted in potting mixes with the biochar all died within three days, some as fast as the afternoon of the same day. Biochar with high EC is not recommended to be used in potting mixes, unless at extremely low rate. For instance, oak wood biochars’ pH is 3.16 and 5.18 when produced at 60ºC and 350ºC, respectively. When incorporating biochar with low pH, consider increasing lime incorporation, and when incorporating biochar with high pH, consider no or decreasing lime amount. Biochar made from the same feedstock under different conditions could have different pH. Nutrient: Most biochars have negligible amount of nutrients, but some could serve as nutrient source. For instance, manure biochar high significant levels of P and K. Fertilization programs may need to be adjusted to utilize nutrients in biochar and save fertilizer costs.

Mixing different components: Peat and bark are commonly substrate component used for greenhouse and outdoor container production, respectively. Due to their own physical and chemical properties, peat and bark are not often used alone, but blend with other components, such as perlite, vermiculite, sand, and lime, to achieve suitable conditions for plant growth.

When mixed together, particles of different components are mixed together and create certain container property values somewhere between values of each component, but not necessarily the weighted average. For example, potting mix of 80% (volume) of peat with container capacity of 80% and 20% (volume) perlite with container capacity of 10% may not exactly have container capacity of 66% (80% * 80% + 20% * 10%=66%), but it is probably very close.

Guidelines for incorporating biochar in potting mix: When adding biochar, understandably the physical and chemical properties of the final potting mix will be somewhere between those the original mix and biochar, and reflect the amount of the biochar addition. So how would mixing biochar affect peat- or bark-based potting mix? So answer is that it depends on the original mix and the biochar to be added.

Warning: The most important thing is treating each biochar product as a different product.

Although collectively called ‘biochar’, the differences among biochars may be greater than the difference between fruits and vegetables. As mentioned in the first article, biochar can be derived from various feedstocks, processed under different pyrolysis temperatures, subjected to various pre- or post -treatment, leading to very different physical properties, as shown in table 1. What works with one type of biochar should NOT be assumed on other biochars, even ones from the same feedstock.

Is it possible to replace peat completely with biochar in potting mix? Maybe, technically. When mixing something together, you get something somewhere in between. Through trial and error, taking components from Table 1 and creating something with physical and chemical properties in the recommended range should not be too hard.

How would plants grow in mixes with biochar? Is it economically feasible to incorporate biochar?

These are questions to be answered in next two articles.

GREEN VI$ION Featured Article

Table 1: The physical and chemical properties of different container substrate components

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