MNLGA 2015 Alternative Crops & Production Methods for
Greenhouse & Nursery Growers

• Edibles and vegetables purchased by homeowners continues to increase!
• Only category that is increasing!
• Agri-Starts sold over ¾ million edible liners in
2014

Easy to grow & fast turn time:
Colocasia
Musa
Alocasia
Lots of bang for your buck!

• Native to most of U.S.; adaptable to wide range of growing environments
• 1 gallon finishes in 3 to 4 months; use trellis (except
Osage)
• Easy to grow
• Thornless and thorny varieties available
• Primocane vs floricane

• Excellent container plants
• ‘TR Hovey’: dwarf papaya that fruits in one year
• Bred for hydroponic fruit production

• Height: 2 to 4 feet (as 1 to
3 gallon pot)
• Finish in 3 to 4 months
• Fast and easy to grow; delicious fruit
• Grown as tree or shrub
• Bears fruit on current years growth; All hardy to zone 7; some hardy to zone 6
• Keep moist until established

• Morus nigra ‘Dwarf
Everbearing’
--fruits throughout summer & fall
--Zone 5 to 11
--Stays small with minimal pruning

Katuk
Sauropus androgynus
• Edible leaves, shoots, flowers
• Eat raw or cooked
• Tastes like almonds/nutty flavor
• Very upright-needs no staking
• Zone 8-11

Yacon
Smallanthus sonchifolius
-From the Andes mountains
--Produces large sweet edible & crunchy tubers
--Huge commercial potential as cash crop
--Hardy Zone 7 to 11
--Harvest in 5 months

Passionfruit
Passiflora edulis
‘Possum Purple’
-Self fertile vine to grow up trellis
-Sweet purple fruit
-Zone 9 to 11
-Saleable in 1 gallon pot in 6-8 weeks

• Pandan – Pandanus amaryllifolius
-Leaves widely used in Asian cooking
- Flavoring used for jasmine rice and desserts
-Zone 9 to 11
Alocasia ‘Calidora’ mixed with Pandanus, New Guinea Impatiens and
Scaevola

• 72 cell to 6” pot: ready in 12 weeks with 2 pinches. Need to stay above 65 degrees
• Need vernalization period to be able to set flowers & fruit
• Best to get plants in summer
& pinch twice before dormancy
• Set in cold frame through winter, pull in early spring
• Flowers come and fruit set— instant sell

Uses
– Landscape
– Patio Plant
– Excellent anti-oxidants
• Self fertile but better yield with cross pollination
– Blueberry production in
US has tripled over the last 5 years
– Requires acidic soil and fertilizer

Woody vine covers trellis easily
Requires male/female (1 male for every 5 females)
A. arguta ‘Issai’—self fertile female with bite size fuzzless fruit
--Hardy Kiwi : Zone 5-9
Finishes 1 gallon pot in
10-12 weeks
Fruits in ~ 3 years

Manihot Variegata and Sedum Gold

Goji Berry
Lycium barbarum
Fast grower, easy to grow
Keep pH at 7 or above
Bright orange reddish fruits
Zone 3 to 10
Spreads easily in container or in landscape

• Zingiber officinale –
Edible Ginger Root
Can be harvested at 4 months
Zone 8 to 11
Curcuma longa --
Turmeric
Handsome plant with stunning flowers
Zone 7b to 11

• Colocasias
– Leaves held perpendicular
– Thinner/papery leaves
– Petiole attached in the middle of leaf (peltate)
– Like to be kept wet
– Prefer full sun
• Alocasias
– Many times leaves held upright
– Thicker leaves
– Petiole attached at margin
– Like to be kept dry
– Usually need shade

Colocasia ‘Mojito’
PP21,995
Excellent camoflage coloration, green leaves with purple throughout
Strong grower to 4’-5’ tall
Finishes 1 gallon in 6 to 8 weeks

Colocasia ‘White Lava’
PPAF bred from C. ‘Nancy’s Revenge’, but ‘White
Lava’ has white streak at earlier stage sun tolerant

Colocasia ‘Black
Coral’
PP23,869
Striking black foliage with blue veins and wavy leaves
From Univ of Hawaii breeding program

Alocasia ‘Megalodon’
TM
Highly lobed leaves
Upright habit
Grows large 5’-8’ tall
Finishes 1 gallon pot in
6 to 8 weeks

Alocasia ‘Low Rider’
TM
Dwarf form of Alocasia Portora
Finishes 6” pot in 8 weeks
Cute – makes a great table top plant or in a mixed combo

Alocasia ‘Calidora’
(Persian Palm)
Classic upright
Alocasia
Great in a mixed container
Finishes 1 gallon in 6-
8 weeks

Musa sumatrana
‘Zebrina’ (Rojo)
Great centerpiece for mixed container that will stay short with red & green foliage
Finishes 1 gallon pot in
6 to 8 weeks; keep at
65-68 degree nights minimum in winter

Ensete maurelii (Red
Abyssinian Banana)
• Brilliant red coloring in leaves and midvein
• Excellent for patio containers or landscape

Find your demographic area for sales
www.city-data.com
(Average age, income, country of origin & household size in that area)
Early Majority… 1/3 of customers higher price point, may not sell as many though
Late Majority… price point drops; customers looking for deals
Laggards… time to find a new product

• For more information visit our website www.agristarts.com
Heather McDermott
(407) 889-8055