Local plant propagation a success at Ron’s Plant Farm
A Townsville nursery is clawing its way back to bloom after devastating rainfall, followed by COVID-19 nearly resulted in its closure.
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A Townsville nursery is clawing its way back to bloom after devastating rainfall, followed by COVID-19 nearly resulted in its closure.
Located in Black River, Ron’s plant farm copped a thrashing when the 2019 monsoon wreaked havoc on the region.
Owner Ron Williams said the sheer amount of relentless rainfall saw a significant amount of his plant crops gone in a matter of hours.
“It was about $150,000 worth of stock gone overnight,” he said.
“Then we had the mini sort of heatwave soon after and I had plants burn and then after all that we got more rain again.
“It has been an emotional rollercoaster for all my family members and a great deal of thought went into whether I’d continue the nursery or not.”
With home maintenance and hobby gardening soaring to popularity amid COVID-19 restrictions, Mr Williams said he’s seen an increase of people coming to his nursery so much so he can’t keep up with demand.
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He said it’s been bitter sweet because those same restrictions have meant trucks haven’t been able to transport the stock as well as a backlog on plant promulgation.
“It’s been a real issue because of not being able to import tissue culture from overseas or even interstate,” he said.
“Even with places in Australia the supply is limited depending on what they’ve got available and a lot of places literally do revolve around the climate and that’s for our food crops as well.
“Now it’s just sheer logistics, you can’t just chuck them (plants) on a truck because they get windburn or dehydration knocks them around.”
Mr Williams said he’s been working hard to future proof his business by growing many varieties of plants and fruit trees himself, as well as offering landscaping services.
He said he needed workers but JobSeeker benefits were proving more attractive to candidates.
“It’s near impossible to get someone that’s actually willing to turn up to work and not drunk or high on drugs, or need rehab for a broken fingernail,” he said.
“I’ve not long finished doing the recent upgrade of Brother’s Leagues Club but again, due to not finding people who give a damn about what they’re doing it hinders my business and you can only compete where you can compete.
“Hopefully the propagation area to produce tube stock will help because this issue isn’t going to go away and it will produce up to 500,000 plants a year if all goes to plan.”
Originally published as Local plant propagation a success at Ron’s Plant Farm