Features
Cultivate 2024 brings community together

For four sweltering days in mid-July, the horticulture industry converged on the beautiful city of Columbus, OH, for Cultivate ’24, one of North America’s biggest green industry events.

This year’s event, organized by American Hort, featured hundreds of education and information sessions across many subject areas, as well as a massive tradeshow floor with thousands of exhibitors sharing the latest and greatest in products, services and innovations.

Greenhouse Canada was on hand to explore what this year’s event had to offer and the following is a brief synopsis of some of the cool things we experienced and some of the products and innovations that we might be seeing more of in the months and years to come.

Stellar sessions

The care with which American Hort develops the Cultivate speaker line-up is readily apparent from the moment you pick up your phonebook-sized show guide.

This year, there were more than 160 total sessions for attendees to explore and while that may seem like an overwhelming number from which to choose from, the sessions have been organized and coded according to education tracks (ie: greenhouse, garden retail, nursery, etc) and skill/knowledge level of the attendee.

One of the most well-attended sessions this year (and last year as well) was the 2025 Garden Trends report which was delivered by president of the Garden Media Group, Katie Dubow.

Dubow, who is thoroughly engaging and delightful, unveiled some of the big gardening trends we will be seeing in the months to come. The official 2025 Garden Trends Report comes out later this month, so we’ll try and keep some of its secrets here, but it’s worth noting that teal is the 2025 colour of the year (Dubow traditionally wears clothing to reflect the colour of the year when presenting on this topic). Another highlight from this session is the prediction that reclaiming urban spaces and renewal of underused spaces will continue to drive all levels of consumers to gardening.

On the heels of this session, was a talk highlighting the work of some of Canada’s leading pest management researchers.

Dr. Lance Osborne, a professor of entomology at the University of Florida, lead a session outlining the latest developments on battling invasive pests including Thrips and mealybugs. Much of the session focused on Thrips, particularly Thrips Parvispinus and the challenges associated with this pest that is still quite new and devastating to a number of crops, most notably tropicals, but researchers warn the list of vulnerable plants continues to grow.

Osborne highlighted the extensive work of Canada’s Dr. Sarah Jandricic, OMAFRA’s greenhouse floriculture IPM specialist, as well as Vineland Research and Innovation Centre’s Rose Buitenhuis.

Among one of the key takeaways from this session was the emphasis on scouting and early detection. Osborne and his colleagues stress how important this is to mitigating challenges with this pest. A good hand lens is an incredibly useful tool to use for early and routine scouting. Researchers also encourage regular plant taps during these scouts and to have any detected species tested.

Growers at Cultivate were also drawn to a session presented by one of Greenhouse Canada’s 2024 Top 4 Under 40 honourees. Rose Séguin, an agronomist with Montreal’s Sollum technologies, shared her insights on cutting energy consumption in greenhouses using dynamic lighting protocols. In this talk, Séguin shared data from Red Sun Farms in Leamington that shows some of the savings that operation has been able to achieve using real-time, predictive dimming strategies. Growers were very keen in this session, asking Séguin a number of questions that led to further lively discussions on lighting strategies and crop management.

Bustling trade show

It is with awe that one steps onto the Cultivate Trade Show floor. If it weren’t for the handy-dandy show guide or floor maps strategically placed throughout the Greater Columbus Convention Center, one could very easily get lost in the sea of exhibitors and attendees.

The New Varieties section, as per usual, was a big draw for people. On display were some of breeders’ best selections for the upcoming year, many of which we saw at the California spring trials.

Some big product introductions were featured on the floor this year. At Philips, the team was abuzz with the launch of their GreenPower LED toplighting force 2.0 which is a dynamic system that offers a very high and efficient output that can be integrated with existing climate control systems. We’ll be seeing a lot more about this system in the coming months as Philips is currently conducting trials in operations across Canada.

Proven Winners, in addition to their floriferous line-up of new varieties, unveiled some of their new packaging solutions. First up are their 4.5-inch square containers with a 1.65-pint capacity. The development of this packaging is a direct response to grower feedback calling for more compact and sturdy containers. The company has also introduced a line of zero-plastic containers that are plantable and compostable alongside their already established line of tags and containers made from 100 per cent recycled plastic.

Burlington, Ont.’s own Aldershot Greenhouses were exhibiting some of their hydrangea and mini rose varieties. Their booth, located at one of the trade show’s main entrances, attracted a lot of attention with their colourful and pristine display. Their superior plant material also adorned the Flowers Canada booth, serving as a gorgeous example of what Canadian greenhouse ornamental growers are capable of.

Hopefully coming soon

One of the last stops on our Cultivate adventure, and one of the most fascinating from this year’s event, was the Light Bio exhibit. Here is where we were able to get up close and personal with the new Firefly Petunia; a petunia that glows in the dark. The Light Bio exhibit was located off the tradeshow floor in a completely dark room, lit only along the floor to direct visitors.

At first, there isn’t much to see as your eyes need a few minutes to adjust, but when they do, a blanket of glowing petunias appears. It is absolutely mind blowing to watch them appear out of what seems like nowhere. (Eds note: despite my best efforts, I was unable to capture quality images of the Firefly Petunias). The breeder achieved this by combining the genes of a regular petunia with those of a bioluminescent mushroom.

The Firefly Petunia earned USDA approval in the Fall of 2023 and Light Bio team assured us that they were working their way into Canada. According to Keith Wood, CEO and founder of Light Bio, this is just the beginning of this illuminating approach to breeding and we’ll be seeing much more from them in the years to come.

That glowing highlight is how we wrapped up our experience in Columbus this year. The innovation and ingenuity of the Firefly Petunia was the perfect exclamation point at the end of Cultivate ’24, an event that celebrates, facilitates, and supports those very attributes of the horticultural industry.

Cultivate ’25 is scheduled for July 12 to 15 in Columbus, Ohio.

Check out some of our coverage from last year’s Cultivate here.