FNGLA Manasota Chapter Meeting + CEUS

The FNGLA Manasota Chapter will be hosting a meeting at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center located in Balm, FL on Thursday, August 1, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.  We will receive a tour of the research center, get environmental horticulture research updates, obtain CEUs, and feast on a tasty dinner. Attendance fee is $20.00 for members/$30.00 for non-members, and $10.00 for students.  This meeting is open to anyone in the green industry.  Click this link to register 

Here is the agenda:

4:00 pm: Arrive

4:15 pm: Tour GCREC Diagnostic Clinic, Dr. Natalia Peres, Professor of plant pathology, UF/IFAS, Gulf Coast REC

4:40 pm: Mites and thrips, Dr. Sriyanka Lahiri, Assistant Professor of entomology and nematology, UF/IFAS, Gulf Coast REC

5:00 pm: Parasitic nematodes, Dr. Johan Desaeger, Associate Professor of entomology and nematology, UF/IFAS, Gulf Coast REC

5:20 pm: Urban water uses, management, and recycling, Dr. Mary Lusk, Assistant Professor of soil and water sciences, UF/IFAS, Gulf Coast REC

5:30 pm: Dinner

5:45 pm: Remarks, Dr. Jack Rechcigl, Professor and Center Director, and Dr. Nathan Boyd, Professor and Associate Center Director

6:00 – 8:00 pm: CEU program - Pest Management Tools and New Varieties for Production and Utilization of Ornamental and Nursery Plants (2 CEUs)

6:00 pm: Management of invasive pest insects in nursery crop production, Dr. Lance Osborne, Professor of entomology, UF/IFAS, Mid-Florida REC

6:25 pm: UV light, chemical control, and biocontrol for thrips and mite management in specialty crops, Dr. Sriyanka Lahiri

6:45 pm: Chemical alternative methods for disease control, Dr. Natalia Peres

7:05 pm: Notes from the field; a pest update, Mr. Shawn Steed, Extension Agent IV, UF/IFAS Hillsborough County Extension Services

7:40 pm: New caladium, lantana, and porterweed introductions for nursery production and landscape use, Dr. Zhanao Deng, Professor of environmental horticulture, UF/IFAS, Gulf Coast REC  

CEUS; 1 Core (487, 482) + 1 O&T, Private, Ag Row, Demo and Res., Commercial L&O.

Any questions please call Shawn Steed at the Hillsborough County Extension Office 813-744-5519.

Thrips parvispinus - a Regulated Invasive Pest in Florida

Alert: Thrips parvispinus Threatens Nursery Crops

Photo L.S. Osborne 

I recently attended a presentation of a colleague at the Florida State Horticulture Society's Annual Meeting.  She was discussing the damage done to peppers in South Florida's pepper crop by pepper thrips, Thrips parvispinus.  It was fairly significant, looked remarkably like broad mite damage, and it wasn't easy to control.  This insect has a liking for a wide host range of crops we grow in central west Florida like mandevilla, gardenia, ixora, strawberry, hibiscus, and roses among others. What is also worrisome is that it is a regulated pest and can hold up sales of ornamental plants.  For more information on this pest please check out UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center's website.  There is a list of a description, host crops, and control measures. Thrips parvispinus - MREC - UF/IFAS - University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences - UF/IFAS (ufl.edu)

If you suspect thrips damage or symptoms, please have your pest identified.  I am happy to help visit your nursery (in Polk or Hillsborough Counties, FL) and assist in the identification. Just reach out via email or call me at the Extension Office.