Don’t Trip Over Fall Production (Ball Seed Customer Days 2026)

This episode was recorded live during the Ball Seed Customer Days event in West Chicago, Illinois. Technical specialists Nathan Jahnke and Nick Flax shared best practices and tips for avoiding common pitfalls with key Fall crops—Mums, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Celosia, Cabbage, Kale, Pansy and Viola.

Nathan and Nick concisely broke down some of the Fall crop problems they hear about most from growers, including:

• Garden Mums—rootzone and canopy diseases, mineral nutrition deficiencies and crown budding.
• Echinacea & Rudbeckia—Aster Yellows, foliage purpling and creating the right plan for each species.
• Celosia—minimizing stress, EC recommendations, avoiding phyto and knowing what varieties to pinch and which ones not to pinch.
• Cabbage & Kale—managing height, knowing vigor by variety, dealing with caterpillars/worms and managing color/color development.
• Pansy & Viola—Berkeleyomyces (Thielaviopsis), substrate pH management, nutrition, minimizing DIF and how to best use PGRs.

Ball Seed Technical Services: https://www.ballseed.com/Services/TechnicalServices