Calling All Hydroponic Experts!
The Progressive Gardening Trade Association (PGTA) has agreed to act as the national association for the new Hydroponics and Environmentally Controlled Agriculture industry. In order to standardize the practices needed for successful commercial hydroponic production, an assessment and certification program is being developed and implemented. We are currently seeking experts in the hydroponic and/or controlled environment agriculture fields to assist with test question development for a national certification assessment program.
Interested? Find out more information on participating in this exciting new education field by clicking here.
2010 PGTA Annual Meeting
Eco-Products Showcase
Exhibitor Information
Information for exhibitors interested in showcasing their products at the 2010 PGTA Annual Meeting and Eco-Products Showcase on April 10 and 11, 2010 in San Antonio, Texas has been posted. Click here for more details.
Ready To Grow Your Business?
Tainted Vegetables
Financial Hardship
Soaring Food Prices
Regional Drought
Global Warming
These are just a few of the many reasons why the home vegetable garden is making a comeback in a big way. If you own a small nursery or garden shop, the PGTA can help you grow your business, all year long, while significantly minimizing seasonal sales fluctuations.
Sales of vegetable seeds and plants are up by 40 percent over last year, an unheard of one year growth rate for any segment of the $40 billion annual lawn and garden market. Why? Because the rise in energy prices is not only affecting fuel prices, but virtually every consumer product including food. Obviously, one of the easiest ways to provide a hedge against rising food prices is to grow your own.
Of course, other factors are driving this growth, including contaminated vegetables, concern for the environment, and supplementing the family income.
The Progressive Gardening Trade Association has been on the forefront of these issues for over a decade, providing information on progressive home gardening techniques that include organics, hydroponics, drip irrigation, container and other eco-friendly, water-wise plant growth and food production solutions.
Why the PGTA?
One of the most prevalent impediments to the successful application of progressive gardening technologies is the lack of accurate and reliable information available to the consumer.
Low paid employees at big box stores and discount centers generally don't have the expertise nor experience necessary to successfully guide the customer.
The PGTA provides the help you need to successfully help your customers grow healthy food, aromatic herbs, and fantastic flowers, right in their homes or yards, with methods that are safe, responsible and eco-friendly.
For more information on how the PGTA can benefit your business and community, see our membership information page.
Education
The Progressive Gardening Trade Association works with many organizations to further the use of progressive gardening techniques in classrooms of all grade levels. For the past several years, we have worked in conjunction with the National Gardening Association, The Grow Store in Colorado and numerous product manufacturers to provide indoor hydroponic gardening grant packages to elementary, middle and high schools.
These packages provide eligible schools with the equipment and expertise that encourage students to explore how plants grow in hydroponics, without soil, which provides real world experience for subjects including biology, mathematics, science, and many others. We hope that you will encourage your customers to make their childrens schools aware of this exciting program and offer them the opportunity to participate.
If you are interested in applying for a grant for your school or classroom, please visit the KidsGardening.org or click on the banner below.
2009 Annual Awards Program
The PGTA is pleased to announce the winners of our 2009 Media Awards Program. The purpose of the program is to recognize member efforts to create superior advertising, writing, websites and other projects and materials aimed at promoting the image and encouraging the use of earth-friendly, water-wise and organic gardening principles.
Click here for 2009 winners and the winning entries! 2010 entry information will be posted soon!
2010 Annual Meeting Dates
The 2010 PGTA Annual Meeting and Eco-Product Showcase will be held on April 10th and 11th, 2010, with pre- and post-convention activities on the 9th and 12th respectively, at the Hyatt Regency in beautiful San Antonio, Texas!
We have just confirmed two of our featured speakers for our 2010 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, including Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, Inc. and Bevan Suits, founder of the Sustainable Design Group, a multidisciplined team covering design, engineering, communication, science and construction, with a focus on aquaponics. Bevan Suits is an industrial designer, writer and video producer with nearly 25 years of exploration of sustainable concepts.
Mark your calendars now for this exciting event in this historic location. Exhibitor reservations are now being accepted. Click here for more information about the show!
2011 Annual Meeting Location Announced
Portland, Oregon was chosen as the location of the 2011 PGTA Annual Meeting and Eco-Product Showcase by the PGTA Board of Directors. An emphasis on retail store and manufacturing tours is being planned. Stay tuned for more info.
PGTA Hydroponic Food Garden Tour
The Progressive Gardening Trade Association, in cooperation with member sponsors including American Hydroponics, Botanicare, General Hydroponics, Grodan, Hydrofarm, National Garden Wholesale, Nature's Control, Nickel City Wholesale Garden Supply, Progress Earth, Spray-N-Grow, Sunleaves, and The Grow Store, produced an outstanding Hydroponic Food Garden Tour for members of the Garden Writers Association as part of the GWA 2009 Annual Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Held on Sunday, September 27th, 2009, volunteers from member companies converged on PGTA Board Member Peyam Barghassa's (Grodan) suburban home just south of Raleigh where the tour was held. Over 40 garden writers from publications including Organic Gardening, Southern Living, Garden Design magazines, plus organizations including the U.S. National Arboretum, Burpee & Co. and many others were treated to a naturally prepared lunch followed by a multi-part hydroponic food tour that included stops in the kitchen garden, hobby greenhouse, outdoor hydroponics, soilless raised beds and more.
See more pictures of this exciting event on our Facebook page.
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