2025 California Spring Trials Debrief ft. Chris Beytes & Jen Zurko

2025-04-10

Host Bill Calkins welcomed GrowerTalks’ editor in chief Chris Beytes and editor Jennifer Zurko to the podcast to share thoughts on the event—the plants, the trends, the fish tacos—and the overall impact spring trials has on the professional horticulture industry. When Chris, Jen and Bill return from Spring Trials each year, folks in the industry always ask for overall thoughts, hot new varieties expected to be big sellers and what they consider to be industry breakthroughs. It was Bill’s bright idea to record a podcast answering some of these questions and of cour...

When Chris, Jen and Bill return from Spring Trials each year, folks in the industry always ask for overall thoughts, hot new varieties expected to be big sellers and what they consider to be industry breakthroughs. It was Bill’s bright idea to record a podcast answering some of these questions and of course, his partners in crime for the annual trek westward agreed to it.

Here are the questions the three tackled in this episode:

If the 2025 California Spring Trials were a person, how would you describe their 2025 vibe?
Name a few new introductions from CAST 2025 that stand out in your mind—and why.
Do you go to CAST looking for something specific or just to see what’s new and report back via the magazine, videos and social media?
If you could have ONE new introduction shipped to your house for free, what would it be?
What are some new intros that you feel are Instagram-ready?
What new variety should launch on Shark Tank?
Name some 2025 CAST varieties that got major promotion at the event that you think will live up to the hype?
Were there any new intros that made you think, “what the heck is that” OR that surprised you?
What’s a new product you haven’t seen yet that you WISH would be introduced (i.e. if you were launching your own product, what would it be?)
What’s ONE reason why a grower who’s never been to Spring Trials should go at least once?