The growing business of plant nurses … is expanding | Santa Maria Chamber Spotlight | Business

Grown in controlled environments until transplanted into fields by trained and experienced workers, plantain vegetable seedlings allow the farmer’s crop to get off to a stronger start than direct seeding. When Plantel Nursery started its business, the owners believed that Santa Maria would be an ideal place for nursery planting because the lack of agricultural land in the area is one of the best ways to increase the productivity of the farm. The number of harvests you can get in a year.

In the year After starting from a location in Gary in 1987, Plantel opened a second location on Telephone Road in Santa Maria, and a few years later opened their new production facility at 2775 E. Clark Ave. Between the three facilities, 1,350,000 square feet of greenhouse space and similar square footage are available for outdoor growing.

What is growing in the facility at any time is completely determined by the orders from the farmers, and it is generally planned to jump in the fields located on the Central Coast.

Les Graulich, Plantel CFO and secretary, explains that farmers can harvest at least one or two more crops per year from seed by transplanting in the field instead of using seed.

Using transplanted vegetables instead of seeds keeps the overall yield of the crop consistent, eliminating the chance of failed germination and gaps in crop rows. Early plant growth.

“We put a good quality plant in the ground for our customers,” Graulich said.

Most of Plantel’s plants end up in local fields and farms, with 70 percent of their jobs located in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The rest of the transplants are headed to farms around the state and even farms in Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona and Wisconsin.

With many potential customers seeing the benefits of using transplanted crop seedlings every fall, the plantel business is booming.

Graulich in 2010 He said the company’s growth is directly linked to land prices.

“Farmland is very expensive today, and if you sow direct seed on those farms, it’s taking a lot of time to get a crop in the field and grow it,” he said.

That fact has led to growth in the company, and it can be a 140-acre main production facility, which the facility currently has an additional 80 acres. The addition is built on the same level of product environmental impact as the rest of the facility.

“One of the things we’re proud of is what we do for the environment,” Graulich points out: “We have our own water recycling program, so sometimes we recycle 70-80 percent of our water usage.

The company uses 250,000 gallon tanks to recycle water used to grow seedlings, and has a large groundwater catchment system that stores any rainwater that reaches the facility and irrigates their nearby crops.

Technicians at Plantel test the nutrient levels of captured or recycled water to ensure that their plants receive the same nutrients as fresh water. Plantel has also developed in-house automated loading docks and is currently maintaining machines in the field that will impact the productivity of the planting process.

Adapting to new workforce realities, climate and environmental needs or future growth and development allows Plantel Nurseries to continue to grow, helping local farmers produce high-quality products for an increasing number of near and far markets.