In selecting Greenhouse Canada’s Grower of the Year, we look to highlight the career of those individuals who exemplify the spirit of innovation and curiosity, who lead with passion and dedication to the craft of greenhouse growing, and who propel the industry forward. 

Among the numerous nominations we received in 2025, there was one individual whose inspirational story and demonstrated impact on the sector captivated us: Roberto Corea, head propagator at Jolly Farmer Products Inc.

Nicaragua to New Brunswick

Corea’s journey from his birthplace in Chinandega, Nicaragua to Northampton, New Brunswick, where Jolly Farmer is headquartered, is one fuelled by curiosity, a love for plants and horticulture, and, at times, motivated by disappointment.

As the son of a lawyer and retired military member, Corea’s exposure to greenhouse growing and horticulture came a little later in life. 

“My passion for plants was sparked, I think, during high school,” Corea told Greenhouse Canada in a recent interview. “I loved science and biology and that led me to the decision to study agronomy.”

After high school, he studied at Universidad de Catolica del Tropico seco (Catholic University of the Dry Tropics) in Esteli, Nicaragua and it was during this time that he entered his first commercial greenhouse.

“During the first year, we went to a greenhouse where they grew vegetables,” he recalls. “When I walked in there, I was like: ‘Wow!’  And from that moment on, I said I want to work in greenhouses.”

Upon graduation, Corea started working at one of Ball’s offshore stock farms, Las Limas, in Esteli, where he was responsible for elite stock, propagation, new varieties trials and flower check. 

While working for Ball, he became familiar with name Jolly Farmer and, given the quality of their products and their prevalence in the industry, Corea said he was curious about the possibilities that might be available to him with the Canadian company. He reached out to the company, and others, in pursuit of opportunities but there were none at the time.

He continued his work with coffee plants, propagating them from both tissue culture and seeds. Corea said in these roles he gained an appreciation for trialling new varieties and experimenting with different methods of propagation and cultivation.

Growth-limiting guidance

During this time, he recalls, he worked under a very senior grower who he viewed as his mentor. Corea says a discouraging interaction with her has remained with him to this very day and it continues to motivate his approach to the industry.

“I was just starting in the industry, and she really had a lot of experience,” he said, noting that he was fascinated with trialling as a means to expand his knowledge. “She really didn’t like it. She told me ‘there’s nothing new to find out or learn so why keep doing it?’”

It was an eye-opening moment, Corea says, because instead of dampening his spirits, it lit a fire under him.

“It was disappointing, but I knew there’s nothing written in stone; there’s always something new to learn and I want to keep improving. It motivated me.”

In the pursuit of improvement, he applied to further his experience in the U.S. and entered the year-long CEAP training program in Connecticut. While in the U.S., more than a year after reaching out to them, an HR representative from Jolly Farmer reached out to encourage Corea to apply again and in 2018, he was hired.

Big moves

A short time later, Corea, his wife and daughter made the move to picturesque Northampton, New Brunswick. Since moving here, Corea has become a Canadian citizen and welcomed, a little under two years ago, a son.

“I’m very proud of where I am right now,” he said. “It’s been a long journey.”

In the nearly eight years that Corea has been with the company, he has committed himself to finding ways to improve efficiencies in the production process.

“[Roberto] doesn’t just accept the status quo — he actively challenges it, always asking how processes can be improved and how outcomes can be optimized,” said Gregory Weir, a senior line grower with Jolly Farmer and Corea’s friend and Grower of the Year nominator.

Precise propagation

A key to successful propagation, according to Corea, is ensuring “good quality cuttings,” which he describes as being a good size, have a healthy appearance, free of bugs/disease, not stretchy, mature, and toned. 

“If we don’t get good quality cutings from the beginning then we’re going to be struggling the whole season,” he said. “If we have a thin or a soft cutting, it’s going to take longer to root and it’s going to need more PGR.”

To ensure pest and disease pressures don’t eat into production time and profits, Jolly Farmer has a large crew dedicated to inspecting incoming plant material.

“We play a lot with the proactive IPM or integrated pest management and we dip a lot of cutings because if we find something then we dip them and we’ll try to keep the the greenhouse clean.”

In one of his biggest challenges as a grower, it was Corea’s keen eye and deep industry knowledge that enabled him to correct a crop of poinsettia that was well off projected growth targets mere weeks before shipping to a massive retailer.

“We had to make environmental changes very quickly to gain the inches that we needed,” he said, noting that with a temperature adjustment, supplemental lighting, employing a more ‘aggressive’ fertilizer and adjusting irrigation volumes, they were able to ship healthy, beautiful plants on time.

“It was day-to-day but, in the end, they were really nice,” he recalls proudly.

For Corea, though, this victory was bittersweet as he says poinsettia still present a host of unique challenges every year.

“It’s the crop that keeps me humble,” he jokes, adding that from the moment they stick their poinsettia crop until they ship, “it’s five months of stress.”

Stressful though it may be, in his time with Jolly Farmer, through trialing and engagement with consultants and industry experts, Corea has been able to optimize rooting of the crop to the point where he has shaved time and money off the process by dipping cuttings with IBA (Indole-3-butyric acid) and NAA (Naphthaleneacetic acid), replacing the previous method of spraying trays before sticking.

“My approach has been to bring more scientific, data-driven methodologies to our daily operations,” he said. 

Through trialling, Corea determined that a more efficient and affordable method of fertigation through mist for crops like Petunia, Calibrachoa and Lobelia can result in weeks being shaved off production.

Corea’s careful attention to detail on a routine walk of Jolly Farmer’s greenhouses also led to the industry-wide revelation that Calibrachoa is susceptible to Chili Pepper Mild Mottle Virus (CPMoV). 

“I just saw some some weird spots on the plant and then I started looking at it and then I saw it was just that variety,” he said. “I called the specialist here and I told her probably we should test it for virus.”

Tests revealed the presence of this devastating pestilence on location and at the company’s stock farms, necessitating the crop’s destruction but marking a key discovery for the sector. While the company suffered a great financial hit in the ordeal, Corea took some pride in knowing that it would lead to improved virus detection and production methods across the sector.

Motivational mentor

His motivation to see the industry progress and improve also plays out in his dedication to sharing his hard-earned knowledge with a younger generation of growers.

“Roberto plays a vital role in training new [Jolly Farmer] staff, passing on his knowledge and passion for horticulture to ensure that the industry continues to thrive,” Weir wrote in his nomination. “His mentorship builds both confidence and competence in young growers, fostering a culture of excellence and long-term commitment.”

He describes his leadership style as “coaching-oriented and collaborative” and encourages participation and outside-the-box thinking by asking: ‘What do you see?’ 

“It gets them talking,” he said, which leads to more questions and possibilities.

As a leader and grower, Corea says the knowledge-sharing aspect of his work is where he finds the most fulfilment.

“I think supporting the young growers is not just an important role; it’s one of the most rewarding things that I can do,” he said. “It’s not about just cultivating plants; It’s about cultivating people too.”

The key piece of advice he likes to share with young growers?

“Always be a detective,” he said with little pause. “And never stop trialling or experimenting.”