Glas Trade Show 2023

It was great to see the industry turn out in force at the recent Glás Trade Show in Dublin. In general, growers in Ireland have enjoyed a good steady season.  This was echoed by the retail trade in attendance at the event and buyers keen to develop new suppliers and partners in the Irish amenity sector.

Ireland’s premier horticultural event, Glás provided an excellent platform to showcase our Levington Advance sustainable growing media portfolio and for growers to find out more about ICL technologies to help them successfully transition away from peat.

The one day event provided a welcome opportunity for many growers to meet Stuart Gammage, ICL’s highly experienced technical manager for growing media (UK & Ireland) and we were also joined by Colman Warde and Fergal Greenan, from our Turf and Amenity division.

Our team were kept busy all day explaining the different technologies around our Levington Advance peat reduced growing media recipes.  With sustainable growing media generally having lower water holding capacity and higher N leaching potential, visitors to the ICL stand were particularly interested in our H2Gro liquid and granules, for optimising water management and plant uptake, and in our two new fertilisers Osmoform (slow release) and Osmocote N (controlled release).

To help growers get to grips with the new mixes, we showcased the full Levington Advance growing media range – propagation, bedding, pot plants, herbaceous and nursery stock mixes – all of which are available in 3m3 loose fill bulk bags, as compressed probales and in bulk loose loads (35m3 & 100m3). The stand also featured our standard Levington Advance 75L bags for Seed and Modular, Pot & Bedding and Container Nursery Stock.

Another highlight proved to be Osmocote 5, our controlled release fertiliser designed specifically for sustainable mixes. Offering longevities from 3-4 months through to 12-14 months – there is an Osmocote 5 to perfectly match any of the bespoke mixes above.

New product innovations

With a dwindling range of chemical insecticides at growers’ disposal, it was rewarding to launch our highly efficacious new Metarhizium-based bioinsecticide, Lalguard M52 GR. Growing media incorporated, it delivers quick control of black vine weevil larvae and is compatible with other biological and chemical controls.

Last, but not least, at Glás we unveiled our new microbial inoculant, Vitalnova TriBoost. Significantly enhancing the beneficial microbial content of sustainable mixes, it promotes better rooting and overall plant health.  Conveniently pre-incorporated into mixes, Vitalnova TriBoost is the latest addition to ICL’s growing portfolio of tried and tested high performance biostimulants.

Read more about Vitalnova TriBoost from my colleague Sam Rivers in this edition of Technical Matters or click here to find out more about the Vitalnova range.