USDA Floriculture Crops Summary Gives Us a Look at Where We’re Growing

As we step into a new season, I’m excited to welcome you back to another year of Growing Further. Whether you’re gearing up for spring planting, reflecting on last year’s lessons, or already deep into production, this time of year always carries a sense of renewed energy and opportunity. Since our last issue, there’s been no shortage of momentum across the floriculture industry.  Like many of you, I’ve been enjoying the reporting on the latest USDA Floriculture Crops Summary and what it tells us about the state of our industry. You can read more insights from our friends at Ball Publishing here, and the full report here. Overall, the report points to a sense of stability, with total floriculture sales…

Air, Electricity, and Insects: A New Recipe for Plant Nutrition?

By Pamela Andrade, University of California, Davis Greenhouse and nursery producers operate under constant pressure to deliver uniform, high-quality plants on predictable production schedules. Whether producing bedding plants, ornamentals, or vegetable transplants, growers depend on reliable inputs, especially growing media and nitrogen fertilizers, to maintain crop performance. However, in recent years, both of these foundational inputs have come under increasing scrutiny due to environmental concerns, rising costs, and supply chain vulnerability. Nitrogen remains the primary driver of plant productivity across horticultural systems. Adequate nitrogen supports vegetative growth, canopy development, and overall plant quality. Yet the global nitrogen fertilizer system is both energy-intensive and vulnerable to disruption. Most synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are produced through the Haber–Bosch process, which converts atmospheric nitrogen…

Advancing Powdery Mildew Resistance in Gerbera Through CRISPR Gene Editing

Powdery mildew is one of the most persistent and economically damaging diseases affecting gerbera production. While some cultivars show partial resistance, most commercial varieties rely heavily on fungicide applications to maintain quality and marketability. Traditional breeding for resistance is time-intensive and difficult to apply to established cultivars, and transgenic approaches can face significant regulatory hurdles. A recent project, led by Dr. Dayton Wilde and his team at the University of Georgia and supported by AFE, explored a promising alternative: using CRISPR gene editing to develop powdery mildew-resistant gerbera more efficiently. Building a Gene Editing Platform for Gerbera Before targeting disease resistance, researchers first needed to establish reliable tissue culture and transformation systems for gerbera. Optimized protocols were successfully developed for…

Stories of Support and Growth

We can try to measure the impact of the American Floral Endowment (AFE) in the number of research projects we fund, scholarships awarded, or educational programs developed. But the true impact is best understood through the people whose careers, work, and businesses have been shaped by that support. Across the floral industry, from university labs to greenhouses and flower shops, our programs help turn ideas into solutions, support the next generation of professionals, and strengthen the industry’s future. That impact is possible because AFE was built with the future in mind. An endowment, by definition, requires foresight. It asks us to look beyond today’s challenges and consider what the industry will need tomorrow, five, ten, even twenty years from now.…

The August “Gus” and Mary Belle De Hertogh Scholarship: A Lasting Commitment to Floriculture Education 

Supporting students who are committed to building careers in floriculture has long been one of the core focuses of the American Floral Endowment. Continuing that commitment, the August “Gus” and Mary Belle De Hertogh Scholarship Fund is being established by Mary Belle De Hertogh in honor of her late husband, Gus, celebrating their shared belief in the power of education and their enduring commitment to supporting the next generation of floriculture professionals.  The new scholarship will provide financial support to undergraduate or graduate students who have demonstrated an interest in floriculture and who intend to pursue a career in the field after graduation. This scholarship will be awarded annually, with an application deadline of May 1, and preference given to students who have…

2026 Grow Pro Webinar Lineup

Our Grow Pro Webinar Series returns in 2026 for its sixth year, continuing to deliver timely, research-based education to growers across the floral and horticulture industry. What began as a targeted training opportunity has grown into one of AFE’s most widely attended educational programs, reaching hundreds of professionals each month and supporting growers at every stage of production. The upcoming year features an especially strong and diverse lineup, with sessions addressing critical production challenges and emerging innovations. Topics range from pest and disease management, substrates, water use, and PGRs to technology integration, temperature management, and sustainable production strategies.  “The Grow Pro Webinar Series has become a vital connection point between research and practice,” said Laura Barth, AFE Research Coordinator. “These webinars allow us to deliver…

New Scholarship Supports Global Floriculture Research

Some of the most meaningful opportunities in research come from stepping outside what’s familiar — new environments, new collaborators, new ways of thinking. A new Named Fund through AFE is designed to make those experiences possible for Ph.D. students in floriculture. Established in January 2026, the Royal Heins International Floriculture Research Scholarship Fund supports semester-long international research experiences that help Ph.D. students grow both scientifically and professionally. “I chose to work with AFE because it has a long-standing, trusted track record of supporting scholarships and research that advance the floriculture industry,” stated Dr. Heins.  Designed for Impact and Experience Created through a generous commitment from Dr. Royal Heins, Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University and longtime industry researcher, the scholarship…

Nitrogen Fertilizer Needed to Grow Crops is in the Air We Breathe

By Professor Christian Nansen, University of California Davis and co-authors from his lab group: Postdoc Patrice Savi and graduate students Pamela Andrade and Yugeng Zou. In this article, we provide insight into a solution to the global challenge of meeting future demands for nitrogen fertilizer. This article follows up on a virtual seminar in the 2025 Grow Pro Series by the American Floral Endowment, entitled: Plasma-Activated Water (PAW) for Floriculture Production. The seminar is available as a YouTube video here. The Growing Demand for Fertilizer With a growing human population, longer life expectancy, and living standards improving in many parts of the world, demands for more agricultural and horticultural products will increase in coming decades. Many of us scientists dedicated…

Beyond a Lifetime’s Work

Dr. Terril and Cathy Nell’s Support for AFE’s Legacy Circle is a Culmination of Passion and Lessons from Around the World He was simply following his grandmother’s instructions. “Here is a packet of seeds. Go rough the ground up over there and sprinkle these over the top. Let's see what happens.” The marigolds planted in his grandmother’s garden flowered. But what also started to grow was a glimpse of the future for a young boy from the south. That day symbolized the beginning of a rich career in the floriculture industry for Dr. Terril Nell, including time spent serving AFE as the Research Director.  Now, the retired college professor and industry advocate, along with his wife, Cathy, are looking to…

Your 2025 Wrapped: Research in Action

Dive into Your Year of Floriculture Innovation Everyone’s comparing Spotify Wrapped results right now, and I was thinking… If AFE research had a Spotify Wrapped, what would it look like for 2025? This year, growers, researchers, and AFE definitely turned the volume up with new trends, new feedback, as well as some old favorites. So put your headphones on, here’s your AFE Research Wrapped 2025. Your top tracks of 2025 You responded. We counted. Over 100 growers, researchers, and industry professionals weighed in through our Industry Summit, surveys, events, and conversations nationwide to provide feedback on which research tracks would be most beneficial to the industry.  And the playlist isn’t final yet. There’s still time to take the funding input…

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