By Lars P. Jensen

With consumers and

retailers pushing a

“green” initiative, there

is an interest in using

environmentally friendly products in

plant production. Instead of plastic,

some growers are now using pots

manufactured with alternative

materials that can be placed into the

soil and will degrade over time, thus

eliminating the waste of throwing

the pot into the trash. Examples of

biodegradable pots include:

• Coir pots

• Cow manure pots

• Ellepots

• Grass pots

• Jiffy pots

• Peat pots

• Rice pots

• Straw pots

Many of these biodegradable pots

already have been incorporated into

product lines. For example, “Easy-

Scape” and “Circle of Life” from the

Ball Horticulture Co. (www.ball-

landscape.com) and the “Classic

Selections” and “SausEdge” (www.

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28 November 2007 BIG GROWER www.biggrower.com

By integrating biodegradable pots

into various areas of production,

big growers can help clean up the

environment — and save money.

GROWING GREEN

Benefit from

sausedge.com) programs created by

Riverview Flower Farm in Florida use

some types of biodegradable pots.

Initially, biodegradable pots

are often looked at as just another

item that needs to be produced and

shipped. However, as you begin to

use biodegradable pots, you should

consider the question, “What do

biodegradable pots offer your com-

pany?” What if you could integrate

the biodegradable pot into several

areas of production, thus making it

more useful and cost effective than

if it were just another SKU?

There are three main segments

where biodegradable pots can play

a role: jumbo liners, landscape and

retail.

Jumbo LinersResearch by Dr. Paul Fisher at

the University of Florida has dem-

onstrated that the use of large or

jumbo liners (2½- to 4-inch) can sig-

nifi cantly reduce the amount of pro-

duction time required to fi nish large

pots or baskets. With traditional

propagation methods, a liner is pro-

duced in fi ve weeks, transplanted

into a basket or pot and grown on

for 10-12 weeks to be ready for sale.

With jumbo liners, more time is

spent in the propagation tray, so less

time is required after transplanting

to fi nish the pot.

Growers have used the reduction

in the time to fi nish in two ways.

First, growers can start their bas-

kets or large pots later in the spring

(because the baskets fi nish faster

from a jumbo liner), which can save

them money on heating costs. Second,

growers can use the faster fi nish time

of the jumbo liner to grow a second

crop in the same space.

Jumbo liners can be produced in

pots or bedding fl ats. However, bio-

degradable pots offer the same ben-

efi ts to the greenhouse grower as the

landscaper — faster planting with

less clean up. In addition, the bio-

degradable pot stabilizes the media,

decreasing its loss during transplant.

RetailThe retail segment is one of

the biggest driving forces behind

biodegradable, nonplastic pots.

Consumers have said they want

to reduce or eliminate plastic, and

with biodegradable pots, packaging

is reduced because the entire pot

can be planted and will degrade

over time. Pots can be sold indi-

vidually or in 4-, 6-, 9- or 18-count

carrying trays.

The biggest-selling SKU in the

retail area is 4- or 4½-inch pots.

When you are in a store checking out

your products, do you spend a lot of

time handling these pots so the sales

tables look presentable? If you do,

why not try to use these biodegrad-

able products to push a new SKU

of six, nine or even 18 plants? If you

were able to get through that with

just a few product lines you could

spend less time in the stores rear-

ranging the sales tables. The Classic

selections, Sausedge and EasyScape ➧

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www.biggrower.com BIG GROWER November 2007 29

Top: Biodegradable pots are manufactured us-ing organic materials that may be placed into soil and degrade over time. Opposite: Be-cause more customers are seeking eco-friendly products, many retailers are taking advantage of the opportunity by offering biodegradable options. (Photos: Riverview Flower Farm)

When you

are in a store

checking out

your products,

do you spend

a lot of time

handling these

pots so the

sales tables look

presentable?

programs are all pushing the idea of

selling more plants per SKU.

LandscapeThe landscape sector also wants

“green” products for the same reason

as retailers: customers are asking for

it. One primary issue with the land-

scape industry is the lack of low-cost

labor. With traditional plant mate-

rial, plants are pulled out of the pot

to be planted (which takes time), and

the pot itself is thrown into a pile to

be cleaned up later (which also takes

time). In comparison, biodegradable

pots are planted directly in the soil,

limiting cleanup to the carrying tray.

In side-by-side trials around the

country, landscapers were able to

plant and clean up a given area twice

as fast as the same number of people

using plant material from traditional

4-inch plastic pots.

If you are going to offer biode-

gradable pots to your landscape cus-

30 November 2007 BIG GROWER www.biggrower.com

tomers, make sure you choose one

that will break down in the soil rela-

tively quickly.

The NumbersThe switch from plastic to biode-

gradable pots can have some initial

costs, but may save you in the long

run. For example, a large perennial

propagator who spoke with us orig-

inally looked at biodegradable pots

(Ellepots) as being too expensive. As

we got to know the company better,

we learned the grower shipped out

millions of pre-fi nished perennials

in plastic pots — pots that cost the

company 4-7 cents each and would

be thrown out after customers

received the plants. So we decided

to test the jumbo Ellepot. It grew

a fi ne plant and even saved some

time on the bench compared to the

plastic pot.

His next question was, “Can I

save labor with this system?” Well,

I would not be able to write this if

he couldn’t. Today the fl at fi lling of

propagation trays and fi nished trays

are all done on Ellepot machines.

The operation was run with only 3-4

workers — keep in mind this was the

fi rst season they used it.

Today that same grower owns

fi ve machines, manufacturing and

transplanting biodegradable liners.

Because of the automation, labor sav-

ings and reduced use of plastic, the

grower estimated a savings of more

than $500,000 per year, all because

he implemented a product that at one

time had been deemed too expensive

for his production.

My point is that the answer is

never right in front of you. The

“green” initiative by retailers and

biodegradable pots is here to stay.

See if you can use the biodegrad-

able pot as a building block for

a variety of products, not just an

individual product line. You may

be able to incorporate the products

elsewhere in your production. Make

sure to look at all the products avail-

able out there. Don’t just assume

that one biodegradable pot is better

than another. You need to test them

in your operation to see which one

works best for you. ■

Lars Peter Jensen is national sales

manager of Ellegaard. He can be

reached at lpj@ellepot.dk.

CowPots are made from composted cow manure and are intended to withstand months in the green-house. Once planted they decompose within weeks, providing nutrients to plants. (Photo: CowPots)

LearnMore For more information related to this article, go to www.biggrower.com/lm.cfm/bg110704

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