A.M.A. Plastics

New Product – The Nora Easy Pot

amaadmin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:43:32 +0000

A.M.A. Plastics Ltd. announces an exciting new, consumer friendly hanging basket.

The Nora Easy Pot, from The Netherland’s E-Pla, offers a 1.5L (1.42 qt) reservoir making it easy for consumers to maintain adequate watering throughout the season. Over watering isn’t a problem either. These hanging baskets use water more efficiently than standard baskets. Beautiful baskets all season increase consumer interest next season. Sell beautifully finished, or empty for easy to assemble DIY sales. A marketing package is available for retailers. Add value and customers will come back. A hanging basket with a difference, from A.M.A.

Call us at 800-338-1136 or visit Growing Containers. Watch the video!

Image Gallery

amaadmin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:46:30 +0000

Al’s Flower Pouch Gallery

Ellepot Gallery

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20 Year Anniversary

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:50:51 +0000

Al’s Flower Pouch Celebrates 20 Years

amaadmin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:20:27 +0000

View Gallery Click Here

Some said it was a fad. Others said it would never work. Allen Monsma knew it would work. 20 years later, everyone at A.M.A. Plastics Ltd. is happy to be celebrating the success of Al’s Flower Pouch®.

A “Burst of Beauty in a Bag”, Al’s Flower Pouch burst onto the horticulture scene in 1992 through commercial growers and garden centers. Allen worked with growers to get the design right so that growers and garden centers could make a healthy profit selling this unique product.

Many in our industry remember Allen and his wife Shirley, working horticultural industry trade shows throughout the 1990’s.

Al’s Flower Pouch is sold primarily through our distributor network in the North America, Europe, Austral-Asia. In Canada, Al’s Flower Pouch sales help A.M.A. support the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada with whom, we celebrate 10 years of working together to raise funds for patient support, research and general awareness about the BTFC.

Over the years, millions of Al’s Flower Pouches and Al’s Mini Flower Pouches have been sold around the world, often with instructions printed in the language of the destination country – French, Dutch, Japanese, Farsi. Today, we make Al’s Flower Pouch in our own facility in Kingsville, ON. Watch for some new twists this year.

One of the original vertical growing systems, Al’s Flower Pouch has done well, because:

· It adds a revenue stream to growers and garden centers without taking away space from other product offerings – it puts the greenhouse walls to work.

· Growers and garden centers don’t need to buy a large quantity or invest in new equipment to make a big difference in their business

· For growers who are producing larger quantities of beautifully finished Al’s Flower Pouches, there’s Al’s Hopper, an economical way to fill Al’s Flower Pouch.

· This concept has sent many growers to our trade show booth wanting to “shake hands with Al” to thank him for helping them make a nice profit on their Al’s Flower Pouch sales, something many growers and garden centers could use more of these days.

· Gardeners love it, because a fully grown Al’s Flower Pouch is beautiful.

We’ve seen and heard about so many plant varieties in Al’s Flower Pouch over the years that we can’t remember them all. People get creative with them. From petunias and impatiens to herbs, and tomatoes. Almost anything that will grow in a hanging basket will grow in Al’s Flower Pouch. Try coleus, chrysanthemums or lantana.

Allen, Connie, Rick and all of the staff at A.M.A. would like to thank our distributors and the many growers, garden centers and home gardeners around the world for their support, some of them since day one, and those in Canada for helping us support the Brain Tumour Foundation.

So Beautiful. So Simple. Since 1992. Al’s Flower Pouch.

Check our website for photos and more information (www.amaplas.com) or call us at 800-338-1136.

Thanks,

Rick Bradt

A.M.A. Introduces Bio Twine For Greenhouse Vegetable Crops – From Nature To Nature

amaadmin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:10:25 +0000

A.M.A. Hydroponics is pleased to introduce Elite® Bio Twine, a high quality bio-degradable twine for greenhouse grown pepper and tomato crops, from Lankhorst Yarns of The Netherlands and Portugal.

Elite® Bio Twine is made of sustainable INGEO® PLA, that is soft and flexible, is UV resistant, easily strong enough for the entire life of a pepper or tomato crop (excluding beefsteak for the moment) with minimal degradation during the crop life. Lankhorst, the people who have set the standard in horticultural twines for years, have now set a new standard in horticultural, degradable twines with Elite® Bio Twine. This twine degrades in a proper compost pile in 7 weeks, is a big benefit in crop disposal. This twine has had two years of successful trials in Europe and is now ready for wide distribution.

There can be significant cost savings with Elite® Bio Twine, especially when combined with The Bio-Clip, a certified compostable clip from Deleco bv of The Netherlands, and also offered across North America by A.M.A. Hydroponics. Growers can simply cut the vines from the growing media overhead wires, then roll out the entire crop with the twine and clips for composting. It can mean a large reduction in labor and disposal and the end product can be put back into use as compost.

Elite® Bio Twine is made for tomato hook winding and when done properly (A.M.A. can offer this), will not stretch, become stressed with weak points, and it will fall easily and properly just like Lankhorst twines always do.

In pepper crops, Elite® Bio Twine will not creep (stretch) over the crop life like other twines often do. This saves the labor in resetting wire height or re-tying the twine. The crop continues to receive high light levels and the grower benefits with higher yield.

A.M.A. Hydroponics offers a full range of horticultural twines for tomato, pepper, cucumber and eggplant crops, plus tomato clips, truss supports, hydroponic growing accessories and growing media, including The New Substrate – BVB Sublime – Controllable, Sustainable, Profitable for Growers. Contact Shawn Mallen, Manager, A.M.A. Hydroponics at 800-338-1136 or smallen@amaplas.com.
Visit us at www.amahydroponics.com

New Product for Hydroponic Tomato Grower

amaadmin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:56:15 +0000

Hydroponic tomato growers can reduce installation costs of pre-wound tomato hooks by using the very efficient JS Hook System, available through A.M.A. Hydroponics, part of A.M.A. Plastics Ltd., of Kingsville, ON. The JS Hook System reduces tomato hook installation time by as much as 30%, meaning significant labor savings.

Pre-wound tomato hooks save growers time and allow consistent twine adjustments as the crop develops. Hooks are unwound regularly to allow the crop to drop as the vines grow longer. Installing traditional hooks takes time, particularly due to the “freefall” having to be unwound as the hooks are installed. With the JS Hook System, from The Netherlands, there is already an unwound freefall so the entire hook hanging process moves quickly and efficiently, automatically dropping exactly the amount of freefall twine specified by the grower. There are no rubber bands or clips with the JS Hook System, so there is no waste on the ground from these.

Hooks can be shipped with one or two colors of twine in a single case, for example, all white or alternating a white hook and a green one.

Growers can specify the amount of twine they want on the hook and the length of the freefall. Hooks are available in 18cm and 22cm lengths, made from quality, galvanized steel, with accurate bending.

A.M.A. uses only the finest horticultural twines from Lankhorst Yarns, in 1/1,000; 1/1,200; or 1/1,500 qualities and several colors including: white; yellow; green; red; blue; black. Lankhorst’s Elite Horti Twine is the softest in the business making it easier on the tomato plants and because there is much less “ziz-zag” as it unwinds, free falls faster and straighter when hanging hooks.

A completely sustainable tomato crop growing option is available from A.M.A. Hydroponics. Lankhorst compostable Bio Twine on the JS Hook System or traditional hooks, combined with Deleco’s Bio-Clip and compostable truss support, offers the opportunity for the most sustainable and efficient end-of-crop disposal – 100% compostability – crop, twine, clips, truss supports. Combine this with The New Substrate, BVB Sublime, also from A.M.A. and you have crop and media disposal handled in an environmentally sustainable way. We even offer an eco friendly footbath solution called Bio-San. BVB Sublime offers increased control to the grower, increased production in the crop and becomes fuel at the end of the crop, lowering disposal and fuel costs.

You can see the JS Hook System being installed, and our leading edge line of hydroponics growing supplies at www.amahydroponics.com.

A.M.A. Hydroponics ships across North America. Contact Shawn Mallen at 800-338-1136 or smallen@amaplas.com.

Brain Tumour Foundation receives A.M.A.’s 9th Annual Donation

amaadmin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:54:24 +0000

Susan Relecom, Director of Development, Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, accepted the 9^th annual donation from Rick Bradt, Managing Director, A.M.A. Plastics Ltd. on August 11, 2011 as part of A.M.A.’s effort to raise funds and awareness of the BTFC’s services for patients, their families and brain tumour research. A.M.A. donates a portion of every Al’s Flower Pouch® sale in Canada to the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. Each year, many thousands of the Al’s Flower Pouches sold in Canada are printed with the BTFC logo and contact info in an effort to help patients and their families find information about their condition, a problem encountered by Rick, following his brain tumour diagnosis in 2000. This year, we gratefully received extra funding help from our friends at BVB Substrates (BVB Sublime). About 55,000 Canadians are affected by a brain tumour. If you know someone recently diagnosed with a brain tumour, direct them to www.braintumour.ca, where they can find information, counseling and others in their situation. The BTFC supports the brain tumour tissue bank and has been able to significantly increase their research grants in recent years. There is a major project being considered that will need substantial funding over the next few years.

A.M.A. will be there to help and we hope our friends will too as we celebrate the 30^th Anniversary of A.M.A. Plastics, the 20^th Anniversary of Al’s Flower Pouch and the 10^th year of support for the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada in 2012.

Watch for more information. 800-338-1136 or www.alsflowerpouch.com.

New Managers

admin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:05:33 +0000

June 27, 2011
Hi All,

Things are happening at A.M.A. Plastics Ltd. Connie & Rick Bradt are proud to announce these appointments to our management team:

Janan Alles – Manager, Growing Containers, Soils & Equipment
Terry Maiuri – Manager, Logistics & Properties
Shawn Mallen – Manager, Hydroponics & Manufacturing
John Vezina – Manager, Ellepots & Pre-Fill

Terry, John, Shawn and Janan (pictured clockwise from the left) are well known to our customers. With the support of A.M.A.’s terrific staff and greenhouse growing experience behind them, they’ll help you chose the right product and get it to you at the right time, helping to improve the profitability of growers.

A.M.A. Plastics was founded in 1982 by, Connie’s father, Allen Monsma. Nearly 30 years later, A.M.A. continues to offer value, selection and service in growing containers, seeding and production equipment, grower & retail mixes; hydroponic growing media, twines and clips for the professional market; is expanding again in Ellepot production; all with top notch delivery whether locally or across the continent. Al’s Flower Pouch remains a staple product for many growers and garden centers around the world. Visit us at www.amaplas.com or call us at 800-338-1136.

Thanks,
Rick Bradt

A.M.A. Hydroponics Presents BVB Sublime

admin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:36:14 +0000

July 19, 2011
Good Afternoon All,

A.M.A. Hydroponics, a part of A.M.A. Plastics Ltd. held a successful Grower Day yesterday, July 19th, at its Kingsville, ON facility, to introduce The New Substrate, BVB Sublime, to the North American market. Holding the grower day in Kingsville, right in the heart of Canada’s largest greenhouse production area, meant representatives of some of North America’s largest hydroponic vegetable growing operations were in attendance in addition to professional grower consultants and greenhouse crop researchers and advisors.

BVB Sublime is a polyurethane substrate engineered expressly for hydroponic vegetable crops. Developed through extensive research over the last 4 years, in a partnership between Bas van Buuren bv (BVB Substrates), of De Lier, Netherlands and Huntsman International’s, Everberg, Belgium facility, BVB Sublime (pronounced sue-bleem), offers many benefits to aid grower profitability. Several representatives from BVB Substrates and Huntsman were on hand to deliver technical and product information through excellent presentations by John Noordam (BVB); Laura Eaves (Huntsman, TX) & Rob Weggelaar (Huntsman, BE). Also presenting was Esther van Echtelt of Philips Lighting bv of Eindhoven, Netherlands, Esther spoke about Philips’ involvement in the rapidly developing market for LED lighting in greenhouse crop production.

BVB Sublime is designed to hold water while offering maximum air/water ratio throughout the crop life. Roots develop throughout the slab rather than developing at the bottom of the slab. This leads to more efficient water and nutrient use, and most importantly, increased yield.

BVB Sublime is inert, clean and safe. The grower has complete control. There are no dust issues with Sublime for employees handling the product. It also means reduced food safety issues and no tannin leaching compared with coir substrates. Water recycling becomes much easier. Greenhouse troughs are cleaner too, compared to coir.

BVB Sublime can be re-saturated in the event that it dries out, with no difficulties even if it occurs many times. This substrate does not collapse over the crop cycle nor if it is stepped on or somehow crushed. It bounces back to its original shape.

BVB Sublime solves another large problem for growers. Sublime does not become costly waste to dispose of at the end of the crop cycle. BVB Sublime becomes fuel for bio-mass or coal boiler systems, or for industrial furnaces. It has the same caloric value as coal, even with the plant material in it. It’s simply mixed into the regular fuel stream.

Grower controllability, sustainability and profitability are built into BVB Sublime. A.M.A. Hydroponics is proud to be assisting growers with this new, leading edge product. Our involvement in hydroponics supplies dates back to 1996 and today, we are suppliers of J-Hooks, Truss Supports and The Best Tomato Clip from Deleco and we offer the finest Horticultural Twines available today from Lankhorst Yarns. Our line of compostable and degradable twines and clips offer sustainable options for our customers, especially when combined with BVB Sublime Substrate. We operate A.M.A. Hydroponics from a separate, restricted access, clean facility and maintain substantial inventories. We can ship anywhere in North America.

For more information, call Shawn Mallen, Manager, Hydroponics & Manufacturing at 800-338-1136 or 519-322-1397, or visit us at www.amahydroponics.com.

Thanks,
Rick Bradt

Growing Containers

admin — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:45:30 +0000