p 



Xrod 



-roduction is set up seasonally. 

 There are four groups and each group has varieties that 



grow best in its own season 



a 



ingwithtemperedwater. Waterfrom 

 an artesian well can be pretty cold." 

 The tank fills through the top and 

 empties from the bottom, pressure 

 forcing the water into the watering 

 lines. Bromide is injected for algae 

 control. 



All watering is automatic. In the 

 snaps, there's plastic tubing with 

 evenly-spaced 360-degree dram noz- 

 zles running down the center of 

 each bed. Computer-run booms are 

 in three houses. Chapin systems 

 take care of the rest. 



Tom has storage for 46,000 gallons 

 of oil ("I buy once a year, whenever 

 the price is right"). Two under- 

 gi-ound tanks hold 13000 gallons and 

 two above-ground tanks and the silo 

 hold 33,000. The silo is surrounded 

 by a cement berm large enough to 

 contain any spill. In 1980-86, Tom 

 heated with coal and the berm is a 

 coal bin that has turned out to be just 

 the right size for its cuiTent use. 

 ("Things work out.") It cost $6000 to 

 build the silo; it would have cost 

 $18,000 if it had been under- 

 ground — in order to conform to regu- 

 lations, the tank would have to have 

 been a double layer of steel. The 

 environment is a concern — Tom con- 

 forms to the state's regulations, but 

 withsomeexasperation:"NewHamp- 

 shireenactsstrictprotectionlawsand 

 doesn't have the manpower to enforce 

 them." 



he stops production around Thanks- 

 giving, then starts up again in the 

 spring in time to have a crop flower- 

 ing for Easter. 



But there are other crops. 7000 poin- 

 settias. 5000 trays (eight packs to a 

 tray) of bedding plants. Pot mums 

 (Tom has room for 5000 and grows 

 them on a year-round basis.) Shoots 

 of this yeai-'s Easter lily crop (3000 

 pots) were well above soil line in 

 late December. 



Down the spine, the 30 x 148 house 

 to the left (lilies, ivy geraniums) is 

 covered with Tedlar, a cellophane- 

 like polyvinyl fluoride covering put 

 outbyDupont. Itseems fragile, butis 

 stronger than it looks. Tom likes it— 

 "It's easy to handle and lets in lots of 

 light,"— but he likes Exolite the best 

 of all the coverings he uses: "It's ex- 

 pensive, but it lasts longer." 



To the right is a 28 x 76 double poly 

 "cool house" (50 degi-ee temperature 

 on the ground). Bulbs are here in 

 spring. In January, it's filled with 

 cyclamen and primroses. He buys 

 primroses in cell-packs, repots them 

 into 4 l/2s and grows them to flower 

 in January. They sell well— they're 

 small, yet give some color in mid- 

 winter.' He grew 2000 last year; this 

 year he's growing 4000. ("The secret 

 inthisbusinessisto growsomething 

 when the other guy isn't.") 



Tom is the licensed propagator for 

 Mikkelsen's Sunshine line of New 

 Guinea impatiens. "More is grown; 

 more growers are in it," Tom says, 

 "and it has become very competi- 

 tive." Tom hopes to get a license 

 from Ecke, distributor for the 

 Kientzler line of impatiens, but until 

 that happens, the impatiens side of 

 his business may slow down. He sold 

 100,000 cuttings two years ago; 

 last year, 70,000. 



He used to grow gloxinias year 

 round, but because of lack of light, 



20 THE Plantsman 



Opposite the retail house, on the 

 other side of the spine, is a 40 x 60 

 "work, tool, soil, and storage" area. 

 There's a 16 x 16 x 6 soil bin. Tom 

 uses a mix of field soil, peat, perlite, 

 vermiculite, and compost— heavily 

 laced with manure— bought from an 

 old dairy farm. He steams the full bin 

 (five steam lines go into it) for ten 

 hours; a bin-full should last the 

 winter. 



A small Gleason flat-filling machine 

 stands nearby. 



There is also a 8 x 22 cooler (full of 

 hyacinths in December). Its cooling 

 system is designed to draw in outside 



air whenever the outside tempera- 

 ture reaches 40 degrees and mix it 

 with inside air to maintain a tem- 

 perature of 35-40. This was put in to 

 save money, but "it hasn't done it." 

 What the air exchange does do, how- 

 ever, is keep the stored material 

 fresher longer by preventing the 

 buildup of ethylene. 



Off the work area is a small (22 x 30) 

 Polygal house containing 6000 Afri- 

 can violets. (Tom buys unrooted 

 plantlets from California; he can get 

 1500 shipped for $50 freight costs). 

 The violets are all in 4 1/2" pots in 

 three tiers under 75% shade cloth. 

 Florescent lights are on twelve hours 

 a day. The plants are watered using 

 capillary matting and are fed a 

 lOOppm nnk every other watering. 

 Alternate waterings are plain water 

 to prevent salt buildup. 



Seeds are started here as well. Tom 

 uses 288 plug trays CTou can leave 

 them longer and get sturdier seed- 

 lings"). Except for gloxinias— they're 

 planted in 20-row seed trays ("the 

 seed is too small for plugs"). It's a full 

 house — an efficient house — "a house 

 that can really generate the cash." 

 Upstairsintheworkareaareoffices— 

 one for Tom, one for Nora. Nora does 

 the books there. The offices seem al- 

 most luxurious, with plum carpeting 

 and sliding doors that open onto a 

 narrow walkway that overlooks 

 whatever's going on below. 'The 

 builder did a good job," Tom said. 

 "I'm not up here that much, but 

 sometimes it's nice to have a quiet 

 place to work or see customers. Or to 

 just get away and think." 

 The offices are beautiful, with well- 

 chosen colors and clean-lined furni- 

 ture, but the real beauty of Newton 

 Greenhouse seems outside these 

 rooms, in the efficient intertwining 

 of twenty years of practical solutions. 

 (B.P.) 



For further information: Tom and 

 Nora McElroy, Newton Greenhouse, 

 32 Amesbiiry Road, Newton, NH 

 03865. Phone:603-382-5289.) «^- 



