SmartGrow Story

Orlando, October 2, 2003--The Most Innovative New Product of the Year award at the just completed Florida Nursery and Allied Trades Show in Orlando, FL went to the SmartGrow™ liner plug.  SmartGrow ™ is a product of the World Response Group (WRG) with offices near Homestead, Florida.  The award went to the SmartPlug™, a small mass of woven hair about 1.5 inches thick with a hole through the center.  SmartPlug™ is a new medium used to propagate plant cuttings.

The World Response Group started in Huntsville, Al when a local barber, Phillip McCrory, began experimenting with the adherence of liquids to human hair fibers.  After appearing on CNN, McCrory received calls and letters from people about the use of waste hair in gardens.  “The trick to success with the SmartGrow product,” said McCrory, “was figuring out how to manufacture hair fibers into mats that will retain water and biodegrade to release the 15 percent nitrogen to plants.  I spent several months perfecting the manufacturing.”

Richard Daft, WRG board member and professor at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management in Nashville, attended FNATS and was enthusiastic about SmartGrow’s potential in the horticulture industry.  “Where else will you find a product that is so naturally suited to plants?” asked Daft.  “The SmartGrow™ mat can be used as a nutrient-based weed shield that is 98 percent effective.  No more herbicides or hand weeding.  And the SmartPlug™ accelerates root growth in both liner trays and air layers.  SmartGrow will shift the world’s viewpoint about human hair, which will become a major reusable resource.”  Daft added, “The business model is promising because growers are looking for products that will increase production rates and profits.”

Raw hair comes from countries that collect hair for sale to the wig, hair extension and toupee markets in the U.S. and Europe.  “The hair is washed and sanitized and made ready for manufacture,” said Daft.  “Phil McCrory had a brilliant idea that horticulture is now awakening to.”

“Many people don’t realize that natural hair fibers are a terrific media for propagating cuttings,” said Blair Blacker, CEO of WRG.  “The mats are pathogen free, retain both water and oxygen, and are a supermarket of plant nutrients.”  Hair-fiber horticulture applications have been researched at WRG for the last two years.  Boo Hanson of Hanson Farms in Atlanta, GA became a SmartGrow™ advocate after seeing the results at his nursery.  “Some growers are reducing the time from cutting to transplanting by 30 percent or more, increasing their speed to market,” Hanson commented. 

WRG offices are located at 1452 North Krome Avenue, Suite 103G, Florida City, FL.    33034.  They can be contacted by phone at 305/248-6189 or via the net at http://www.wrg.us/.