Bushnell, Florida

The Bushnell greenhouse facility of Speedling, Incorporated is located on 60 acres in the heart of Sumter County just north of Tampa in Central Florida. This facility was constructed in 1984.

This nursery represents the introduction of our sub-irrigation growing system and consists of approximately 700,000 square feet of growing space. It is divided into two separate, but identical ranges. Each range has its own independent water and fertilizer tanks with a capacity of 4,000,000 gallons of recirculating irrigation water.

The sub-irrigation system basically circulates water underneath the trays rather than relying on overhead sprinkler irrigation. This allows the transplant trays to be watered and fertilized without wetting the foliage – an important consideration for preventing diseases. This facility served as the prototype for our Nipomo, California facility that was constructed in 1992.

This is primarily a vegetable nursery, but has also been the site for production of tobacco seedlings and seed geranium production. In addition to this, Bushnell is the production site for our Speedling soilless media that is used within our greenhouse operations, as well as being available for sale to growers and home gardeners through our Horticultural Products Division.