How We Grow

🪴 Growing a great plant is only part of the job. Helping the customer succeed with it is where the relationship really begins.Chad welcomes Leslie Halleck to How We Grow for a conversation about the business of horticulture—from customer education and authentic marketing to inventory planning and the future of garden center retail. 🌱Drawing on decades of experience in research, retail, and consulting, Leslie explains how businesses can better connect what they know about plants with what their customers actually need.💡 You’ll hear:🌼 Why great plants still need a clear story🛒 How to approach sales through customer success👥 Why your next great employee might already be a customer📣 Why marketing and production need to work together🌱 What root development reveals beyond the size of a nursery pot🔄 What an evolving garden center industry could mean for entrepreneurs🎧 A conversation for growers, retailers, and anyone building a business around plants.🔗 Connect with Leslie:https://lesliehalleck.com/

What if a grower could adjust a crop nutrition program as conditions change throughout the season?

In this episode of How We Grow, Chad Massura talks with Mike Hemman, CEO of Deerpoint Group, about a fully managed approach to crop nutrition. Mike explains how Deerpoint works with growers to set a fertility plan, delivers nutrients through automated fertigation, and uses soil, water, and tissue testing to inform adjustments.

They discuss why the timing of nutrient delivery matters, how faster lab results can support decisions during the growing season, and the labor involved in managing a conventional fertilizer program. Mike also shares his perspective on ag tech: the most useful tools start with the problem a grower needs to solve.

In this conversation:
• How a managed crop nutrition program works
• Why large, infrequent fertilizer applications can be inefficient
• How tissue samples and irrigation data inform adjustments
• The role of water quality and root-zone conditions
• Where automation saves time—and where grower judgment remains essential
• What could come next for site-specific crop nutrition

Learn more about Deerpoint Group: https://deerpointgroup.com/

What happens when an irrigation system appears to be working—but the crop tells a different story?

In this episode of How We Grow, Chad talks with Domonic Rossini, Team Leader, Agronomy West at Netafim USA, about the hidden problems that can develop between the irrigation line and the root zone.

Domonic explains how poor maintenance, changing water chemistry, incompatible fertilizers, soil conditions, and uneven application can affect crop health and uniformity. He also explores how soil-moisture probes, weather stations, satellite imagery, aquifer recharge, and digital farming are helping growers make more precise decisions.

In this episode:

💧 Why irrigation emitters become plugged
🌱 How overwatering can look like drought stress
🧪 Why growers should regularly test their water
⚠️ How fertilizers and treatments can react inside a system
🌾 Why soil testing should happen before system design
📡 How digital tools are changing irrigation management
💰 Which irrigation investments can actually pay off

Learn more:

🔗 Netafim USA
🔗 Domonic Rossini on LinkedIn
🔗 About Netafim North America

Visit Rosy: https://rosysoil.com/

Netafim develops precision irrigation, fertigation, and digital-farming solutions designed to help growers improve yields while using water and other resources more efficiently. (Netafim USA)

🌱 What makes a new plant truly garden-worthy?

Diane Blazek, Executive Director of the National Garden Bureau and All-America Selections, joins Chad to explain how new plant varieties are tested across North America before reaching growers and home gardeners.

They explore:

🧪 How All-America Selections trials new varieties
🏅 What it takes to earn a Gold Medal
🌎 Why plants must perform across different climates
💧 How breeders are developing easier, lower-input plants
🥬 Why cabbage seed sales unexpectedly exploded
🐝 The growing demand for pollinator-friendly and drought-tolerant plants
📱 How misinformation and negativity affect gardening online

Diane also shares the accidental wedding-gift mishap that led her to All-America Selections—and why she remains optimistic about horticulture’s future.

Learn more:

🌻 All-America Selections: https://www.aaswinners.com/
🌿 National Garden Bureau: https://ngb.org/
🏆 Explore AAS Winners: https://www.aaswinners.com/
🥬 Learn about brassicas: https://ngb.org/year-of-the-brassica/

Tad Hussey, owner of KIS Organics and host of the Cannabis Cultivation and Science Podcast, joins Chad to separate useful biological principles from the hype surrounding them.They discuss the three essential components of a successful soil system—physical structure, chemical balance, and biology—and explain why biology alone cannot compensate for poor watering, unbalanced fertility, or the wrong substrate.The conversation also covers:🌱 Why all soil is technically alive💧 How watering affects nutrient cycling and root health🪱 What to examine before choosing compost or worm castings🧪 Why soil testing matters for commercial growers♻️ How growers can reuse media successfully🪨 The physical, chemical, and biological benefits of biochar⚠️ Microplastics, sodium, pathogens, and other compost concerns🌎 Why regional feedstocks could help biochar scale🧴 The horticulture industry’s ongoing plastics problemLearn more about Tad and KIS Organics:🔗 KIS Organics [https://www.kisorganics.com]🎙️ Cannabis Cultivation and Science Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/1MM4vf9NGTO3ti58a4yLVb]📸 KIS Organics on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/kisorganics/]

What if growers could improve water, fertilizer, and root performance without simply adding more inputs? 🌱In this episode of How We Grow, I’m joined by Dr. Jeb Fields, Nursery Specialist at the University of Florida, to explore the surprisingly complex world inside a container.Jeb explains why growing media is less about the ingredients themselves and more about the structure—and the air, water, nutrients and roots moving through the spaces between them.We get into:💧 How water actually moves through a container🪴 Why growing media can be roughly 85% pore space🌱 How substrate structure affects roots, irrigation and fertilizer🥥 Peat, bark, coir, wood fiber, and emerging regional materials🌾 The potential of sugarcane bagasse as a substrate component🧱 How substrate stratification creates a more even moisture profile📉 Why layering materials could reduce peat use by 50%♻️ What growers need to understand before using biochar🧪 How to design small, practical trials inside a growing operation🔮 Why the growing systems of 2040 may look completely different from those we use todayJeb’s biggest recommendation for growers is simple: Don’t become complacent. Create a small trialing area, change one thing, and pay attention to what the plant tells you.🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES📰 Nursery & Landscape Insider:https://www.growertalks.com/Newsletters/📬 Subscribe to Nursery & Landscape Insider:https://www.growertalks.com/Newsletters/Signup/?newsletter=nurserylandscapeinsider✉️ Contact Dr. Jeb Fields: [email protected] Soil: https://rosysoil.com/🌱 Follow How We Grow:Instagram: @howwegrowpodTikTok: @howwegrowpod

In this episode of How We Grow, Chad talks with Dr. Ariana Torres, Associate Professor at Purdue University, about the business decisions behind specialty crop farming.

Ariana explains why growing is only half the job. The other half is knowing whether the crop, market, labor, technology, and investment decisions actually make financial sense.

They discuss:

🌱 Why horticultural economics matters for growers
💰 How to think about profitability, break-even price, ROI, and payback period
👩‍🌾 Why labor is often the biggest cost in specialty crop operations
🏗️ When investments like high tunnels, greenhouses, and automation make sense
📊 How the HORE Calculator helps growers model real financial decisions
🛒 Why consumer behavior and willingness to pay should influence what growers produce
🌍 The role of sustainability, organic, and market segmentation in pricing decisions

Ariana’s message is clear: the most expensive decision a grower can make is the one they don’t analyze.

🌱 Justin “Jules” Giuliano, Lead Soil Researcher at Rosy Soil, joins How We Grow to talk about what it really takes to build better soil.

From school gardens and vermicompost to cannabis cultivation, Rodale Institute, urban farming, and Rosy’s soil lab, Jules brings a hands-on perspective to soil science. 🧪

In this episode, he breaks down biochar, microbes, living soil, peat-free potting mix, and why great soil takes trial, failure, and a lot of plant testing.

We also get into why raw biochar can cause problems, how compost-inoculated biochar works, what growers should look for in their soil, and why the future of biochar may involve new feedstocks and “designer chars.” 🔥

🌿 Rosy Soil:
https://rosysoil.com

🧪 Rosy Soil Science:
https://rosysoil.com/pages/science

👤 Justin “Jules” Giuliano on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-giuliano-1719ab189

🔥 American Biochar Institute:
https://biochar.org

🌱 Intro to Biochar:
https://biochar.org/introduction-to-biochar

🚜 Rodale Institute:
https://rodaleinstitute.org

🥕 Gardeneers:
https://gardeneers.org

🪱 Nature’s Little Recyclers:
https://www.natureslittlerecyclers.com

♻️ Healthy Soil Compost:
https://healthysoilcompost.com

🌱 Jules’ path from garden educator to soil researcher
🪱 Vermicompost, microbes, and living soil
🔥 What biochar actually does in soil
⚠️ Why raw biochar can cause problems
🧪 How Rosy tests peat-free soil mixes
🌿 Why great soil takes trial, failure, and patience
🌾 The future of new biochar feedstocks and “designer chars”

What is soil really doing beneath the surface?

In this episode of How We Grow, Chad talks with Dr. Andrew McGowan, a soil scientist, agronomist, and member of Rosy Soil’s Soil Advisory Board. Andrew also works at Terradot, where he helps lead field trials and deployments focused on enhanced rock weathering and carbon removal.

Andrew breaks down why soil is much more than “dirt,” how growers can make better sense of soil tests, and why simple observations — like digging a hole — can reveal so much about plant performance.

They also talk about where growers can overcomplicate soil data, how to test new products without jumping in too fast, and why replicated field trials are so important for separating real value from hype.

Later, Andrew explains enhanced rock weathering: how crushed rock can help remove CO2 from the atmosphere while potentially supporting soil pH, calcium, magnesium, and silica levels.

A practical conversation on soil health, smarter growing decisions, and the future of carbon removal in agriculture.

Links & Resources
Rosy Soil: https://www.rosysoil.com/
Terradot: https://terradot.earth/
Kansas State Agronomy: https://www.agronomy.k-state.edu/
USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey: https://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/

What does it actually mean for soil to be “alive”?

In this episode of How We Grow, Chad sits down with Garver Akers, regenerative farmer, ecological horticulturalist, consultant, and longtime advisor to Rosy Soil, for a deep conversation on living soil, organic growing, earthworm castings, biochar, and the real-world challenges of farming with integrity.

A few of the big ideas from this conversation:

Soil structure comes first. Before chemistry or biology can do their job, air, water, and roots need room to move.

“Organic” does not automatically mean regenerative, ecological, or even truly alive.

Earthworm castings and casting teas can be powerful tools for reducing plant stress and supporting soil biology.

Sustainability only works when it is both ecological and economic.

Great growing requires both science and art.

This is a thoughtful, grounded episode for anyone interested in soil health, regenerative growing, sustainable agriculture, or simply learning how to pay closer attention to the living systems beneath our feet.