Update on impact of hurricane on Florida nurseries
The Apopka/Orlando nurseries seem to have incurred minimal damage to crops, with some damage to their greenhouses. They will start shipping as normal next week.
The West Palm Beach area was hit and miss. Carter Road Greenhouse was severely damaged, and this was one of our primary Dracaena growers. Most other nurseries in this area are reporting a 50% loss, but will start shipping what they have next week.
Homestead was a different story. There was severe damage to most nurseries. Almost all of the nurseries lost their roof/shade cloth. So what plants survived the hurricane winds, got sunburnt on Tuesday when it was 95% and sunny. Most nurseries will not be shipping for several weeks until they can get their shade cloth back up, and assess the damage to their crops. They also do not have electricity or phone service as of today.
The good news is that out of the colleagues we spoke with, no one lost their homes. Residences do not have electricity, but they do have a roof over their heads.
I think 4”, 6” and 8” material should be ok for right now. However, 10” plants and larger may not have a good availability, especially in Dracaena tip and canes. We are shipping a lot of Hawaiian Dracaena canes (Lisa, Warneckii, Michico & Rickii) from California next week. I know these are more expensive, but at least we know the quality will be good. As for 10” and 14” Aglaonema, I just don’t know what survived at this time.
Myself and Bryan are flying to Florida, and we will visit our suppliers to see where to proceed from here. We will keep everyone posted.
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