Sizes vs Expectations

               Have you ever ordered a shirt in your size only to find it didn’t fit right?  Although they advertise standard sizes like Small, Medium, Large, and X-Large, each manufacturer has different specs for their clothing.  One brand’s large might fit like a boat sail while the next shows your tummy every time you lift your arms.  This same dilemma seems to be true for the Nursery Industry.

               Growers tend to advertise similar sizes like #1, #3, or #5.  We all know the container sizes they’re referring to, but we do not know how big that plant actually is.  Experienced buyers are familiar with the grades of the different growers because they’ve tried most of them over the years.  They know which ones will work for their business and which will not.  For the inexperienced, it’s only an educated guess without the help of a strong inside salesperson.

               A strong inside salesperson can help you avoid the other main challenge of purchasing by container size and that is the fluctuation of grades from one year to the next.  One year, an Emerald Green #5 might be 4ft tall while the next it’s a fresh crop at 36” or even a juvenile crop at 30” tall.  The inside salesperson is able to let you know how the crops look at the time of ordering.  One good inside salesperson is worth their wages x10 in the amount of credits they can prevent. 

               Every receiver and grower has an idea of which grades are appropriate for each cultivar.  If it were a Venn Diagram between growers and buyers, you’d notice a large overlap over the acceptable size for most plants.  An Emerald Green #5, for instance, is generally acceptable at 36” tall at a minimum.  Too much taller and it becomes a blow-over risk.  Any shorter and you’d do better to buy a #3. 

               Hopefully I've illustrated the importance of container sizes vs expectations of grade. One of the upcoming projects of Standard Nursery is to set those minimum acceptable standards for every plant that we contract so that growers have a target that matches the natural life cycle of the plants while customers have clear expectations of what to receive.  To use the clothing analogy, it’s like buying men’s jeans which are sized by inches.  With standard specifications, you’ll be able to tell if the plant will suit your needs and is worth the price when you place the order.

               How nice would it be if clothing were all sized the same way?