MEMBER PROFILE 



day-a-week route, but "nothing's fixed. One of our 

 selling points is that we'll deliver — day or night — any- 

 time something's needed. " 



IN NE'W HAMPSHIRE, the easiest thing to do is to 

 fill your life with work. To consciously choose not to 

 do this requires its own forms of discipline. They've 

 needed to make the operation cost-efficient and use 

 their energies wisely. 



They do most of the work themselves. In spring, 

 eight people — housewives and high school students — 

 are hired part-time, but it is their own long hours 

 that make the place run. 



Three years ago, a two-story all-purpose storage 

 barn was built across the driveway from the upper 

 houses, replacing a tractor trailer set up on the site. 

 "The additional storage allows us to buy in bulk — me- 

 dia, pots, supplies — when the price is right." 



They have two delivery vehicles. They plan to keep 

 the van, but hope to sell the bigger truck (an 8'xl5' 

 box) and lease a similar truck for the three months 

 each year it's needed. 



Both say that spending time with their children — 

 Craig (13) and Lisa (11) — is their major priority. "We 

 want to enjoy them now. They grow fast — in ten 

 years, they may not be around." So, after the fourth 

 of July, they pay someone to feed the mums and keep 

 an eye on the place while they're off camping or at 

 the beach. 



In the fall, Wayne substitute-teaches at the Candia 

 elementary school (grades five through eight) and 

 coaches basketball — and Beth has a year-round part- 

 time job as a bookkeeper, but someone is home when 

 the kids come home from school and there's time for 

 hiking and skiing. 



"Customers are local. One man makes a day of it 

 and comes up from Boston each fall to buy his mums, 

 but most come from Candia, Auburn, Deerfield, 

 Raymond.... 



Candia is still a small town and marketing works 

 best when it's on a personal level. They no longer ad- 

 vertise in local papers, but they are one of the busi- 

 nesses that's on the placemats used for the breakfasts 

 held every Sunday New Year's to Memorial Day at the 

 Masonic Hall. They give flowers to the cub scouts 

 who, in turn, give them to their mothers on Mother's 

 Day. And they donate plant material for the plantings 

 at the school, the town hall, the library.... 



Their lives and business mesh nicely with those in 

 the town around them. Growth and development may 

 someday bring changes, but right now, the fit seems 

 about perfect. (BP) 



Candia Gardens is at 544 High Street, Candia, New 

 Hampshire 03034. The phone number is 603-483- 

 5692. 



How good are your diagnostic skills? I 

 often get called in to evaluate problems 

 at greenhouses and nurseries and I've 

 found that most growers will diagnose a 

 problem using the issues with which he or 

 she is most familiar. Possibilities outside 

 their areas of expertise are rarely consid- 

 ered. Keeping an open mind, without let- 

 ting preconceived ideas affect your think- 

 ing, is key to finding causes and solutions. 



Sometimes, growers are so emotionally 

 tied to their crops that they can't take that 

 important step back in order to see the 

 larger picture. Recently, a grower was com- 

 plaining to me that his New Guinea impa- 

 tiens was rooting poorly; he was convinced 

 it was disease-related. I looked at the roots 

 and agreed he had a problem, but I wasn't 

 sure disease was its cause. The soil felt cool 

 to the touch. He explained that he had his 

 sensors set at 75F. I questioned the setting 

 and he showed me, on a computer, the set- 

 ting of 75F. I asked for a soil thermometer 

 and discovered — much to his embarrass- 

 ment — that the actual temperature was 

 58F — too cool to root a New Guinea — and 

 a lot of other plants as well. 



Certain components are needed to make 

 any plant grow and a good diagnostician 

 should be able to evaluate each one. Nutri- 

 tion (which includes water quality) can eas- 

 ily be evaluated by a media, water, and/or 

 tissue test. Pests (any disease or insect) 

 may take longer to screen for since many 

 diagnostic labs can be slow in turn-around. 

 The cultural component is very broad and 

 ranges from watering habits, temperature 

 (day/night, air, soil), spacing, and variety. 

 Variety is often discounted, but because so 

 much breeding is occurring today, many 

 new varieties show characteristics and 

 growth habits not usual in the traditional 

 types. 



Jim Zablocki, technical manager of the 

 Northern Horticultural Group, Scotts 

 company, can be reached at 6o)-224-$^83. 



