11/22/11

Great Southern Tree Conference 2011

Don't miss out on the 2011 Great Southern Tree Conference.

This is what the FNGLA has to say about it...
"The Annual Great Southern Tree Conference (GSTC) is a cutting edge educational event centered around an outdoor demonstration area. Developed through the joint efforts of the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association and the University of Florida, this conference is devoted entirely to tree selection, landscape, production, establishment, marketing and management issues in the southern United States. Are you looking to better your business? Grow or install more or better plant material? Then mark your calendars for this premier industry event. While the main conference takes places December 1 - 2, there is also a special add-on bonus session which takes place November 30."

To find out more about the event click here.  http://www.fngla.org/events/great-southern-tree-conference/

If you would like to see the brochure click on this link. 
http://www.fngla.org/events/great-southern-tree-conference/2011/images/2011GSTCbrochure-lowres.pdf

Poinsettia Field Day

This in from the Environmental Horticulture Department at UF.

Calling all industry professionals: join us for our annual poinsettia open house!

The 2011 Poinsettia Field Day will be held Tuesday, December 6, 9am–3pm, in the UF Environmental Horticulture Greenhouse Complex in Gainesville.

On the industry day, a tour will be given. Last year, over 100 different varieties were on display from Dummen, Ecke, Selecta/Ball, and Syngenta.

There's no registration required. For questions or additional information contact Dr. Jim Barrett at jbarrett@ufl.edu.

11/15/11

Ornamental Plant Benefits

Marketing plants in this economy may seem overwhelming and the name of the game seems to be "Strive To Survive."  A simple marketing concept you can do for free is to constantly keep potential customers aware of the multitude of benefits derived from the products we grow. Every time a scientist mentions the fact that a particular fruit or vegetable has a health benefit, there is an increase in demand for the product. I feel that we need to do a better job of letting the public know how much benefit there is to creating beauty in the landscape with our products.

Here is a great summation of those benefits in a paper that was published in the Journal of Environmental Horticulture.  The title of the paper is "Economic, Environmental, and Health/Well-Being Benefits Associated with Green Industry Products and Services: A Review" by Dr. Charles Hall and Melanie Dickson.  Click on this link for the study http://tiny.cc/plantsaregreat   I feel that every grower needs to memorize this list of benefits and tell people about it, write articles about it, or adapt it as a handout or fact sheet for your office counter to give to customers as they go through.  You might even want to mail it to your retail cusotmers so that their customers can read it. 
When commercial/residential occupancy rates are down and home sales are slow, it is a great time to spruce up the exterior of the building and in the meanwhile make a return on your investment. Especially when there are deals to be found in the nursery industry.  Remember to sell the sizzle and not the steak!

Whitefly Trouble

This was originally posted from Dave Palmer in Manatee County.


This email was forwarded from Dr. Lance Osborne.

REPORTS ARE COMING IN ABOUT WHITEFLY MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS!
Based on early reports, 2011 may be another challenging year for whitefly management,with whitefly detections reported in several parts of the country.
Growers are reminded that in 2005, SAF helped USDA to convene the Ad Hoc Whitefly Task Force, made up of state and federal regulators, representatives of the ornamentals, cotton and vegetable industries, and leading scientists. That Task Force developed a comprehensive and effective whitefly management program, with specific spraying recommendations for whitefly control.


The continued success of the Whitefly Management Program depends in large part upon you: the ornamentals grower.

The program has been successful – but it will only work if growers are using it!
What should commercial growers be doing?

1. Weekly scouting is essential! Use sticky cards to monitor adults, and check the undersides of leaves to monitor the immature population. Visual inspections, sticky cards, and product performance-scouting are all necessary. Don’t let the whiteflies get ahead of you, or your treatment options will be more limited. Don’t wait until shipment to find out you have whiteflies!

2. Study and implement the “Management Program for Whiteflies on Propagated Ornamentals.” Click on any of the following websites:




The management program is based on the best scientific data and is updated to include new testing results and new products as they become available.

3. Do not rely on just one or two effective products. Rotate, rotate, rotate, with different modes of action, to decrease the potential for developing resistance. A resistant B-biotype can be just as bad as a Q-biotype! Or, if you are using a product that only kills the B-biotypes and have a mixed population, you will end up with more Q-biotypes, harder to control. Growers should also time product applications to meet label recommendations for the current life stage present. If neonicotinoids are applied too early in the crop cycle and/or heavy irrigation has occurred, the active ingredient residual may not last or may be leached out before the end of the crop cycle.

4. If you have control problems: Contact your propagator, your local extension agent or university expert. Knowing which biotype you are dealing with will help you choose the most effective control products: Q-biotype and some B-biotype whiteflies are resistant to certain products and will not be effectively controlled unless you use the correct program. So follow the Whitefly Management Program, and please get your whiteflies biotyped. The biotyping process is fast, free, and information will be kept absolutely confidential. The Whitefly Management Program provides the contact address to which samples may be sent for biotyping.

5. Practice good sanitation BETWEEN crop cycles. Whitefly management does not end once you ship. It is very important not to develop a resistant whitefly population develop within your nursery or greenhouse, and then cycle it from crop to crop! So make every effort to eradicate residual populations after shipment. It’s important for your vegetable, cotton, or peanut-producing neighbors – and it’s important for your future crop years. Letting whiteflies – and especially difficult-to-manage populations of either biotype – survive within your greenhouse or nursery is just a headache, and maybe a disaster, waiting to happen.

6. Inspect incoming shipments, and isolate if necessary. Ornamentals propagators are cooperating with the Task Force-developed program, so you should not be receiving undue numbers of whiteflies. Zero-tolerance is NOT the goal for anyone, so you may see a whitefly or two when your shipments arrive. That’s normal, and means that your propagator or rooting station is probably following good management practices. But if you see many whiteflies on incoming shipments, keep those plants separate from your other crops until they have been treated. And inform your propagator or rooting station.
7. Watch your neighbors’ fields. If you’re near cotton, peanut or vegetable fields (and especially if you are in a part of the country that has been hot and dry over the summer), you may see whiteflies migrate to your greenhouse at the end of their season. Obviously, you don’t want to be contributing whiteflies to their fields, either!

PLEASE DON’T BE PART OF THE PROBLEM: BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!

11/8/11

La Nina at Play this Fall and Winter

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) climate scientists are predicting that the La Nina that we had last year will continue to be a multi-year phenomena and may increase in strength this fall.  The current La Nina is not as strong as it was last September but one half the models predict it will strengthen this fall and winter.  This will place our overall winter weather as drier and warmer than usual.  This doesn't mean that we might not get a cold freezing blast but it means that for the most part the overall seasonal weather will be averaged to be warmer and dryer.
For detailed information about the La Nina Report click on this link and go the the Climate Prediction Center of NOAA.  http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/

11/2/11

FNGLA Lake Region Chapter Meeting

The FNGLA Lake Region Chapter will be having their next meeting at Sunshine Growers greenhouses in Polk Co. just east of County Line Rd off of Drane Field Rd on Thurs. Nov. 10th, 2011 at 5:00 pm.  We will be looking at their lineup of poinsettia plants they have in production.  There will also be a BBQ dinner at $15.00 per person.  For more information please click on this link and scroll down to November on the calendar.   Http://hillsborough.extension.ufl.edu/Ag/AgOrnProd/AgCalendar.html

11/1/11

Nursery Production Water Webinar Series

Water, water, everywhere!  This is an awesome educational opportunity for growers.  The Water Education Alliance for Horticulture is working with University of Florida Cooperative Extension, OFA, FNGLA, the German grower association Zentralverband Gartenbau and several experts at universities and companies on webinar topics to help growers conserve, recirculate, and treat irrigation water.
This is a great opportunity to sit at your own computer for lunch and get the latest information from around the world on a variety of timely water topics.  The technology is very easy to use so don't get intimidated.  You will click on a link and join the webinar.  Just make sure that your computer has speakers or you have a phone that can call for the audio.  It couldn't be any simpler to get UF Extension education. 

Registration is free at watereducationalliance.org (click on “workshops”), and 45-minute presentations will run at noon EDT on the following Tuesdays

29-Nov   Best Management Practices for water conservation Tom Yeager (University of Florida)

6-Dec   Biology of waterborne pathogens Gary Chastagner (Washington State University)

13-Dec   A Systems Approach for Managing Phytophthora Diseases in Nurseries: the Importance of Water. Jennifer Parke (Oregon State University)

20-Dec   Monitoring water quality Paul Fisher (University of Florida)

10-Jan   Filtration and avoiding clogging of irrigation lines (Dramm Water)

17-Jan  Surface cleaning and sanitation Warren Copes (USDA-ARS)

24-Jan  Algae control and pond management Ken Wagner (Water Resources Services)

31-Jan  Pro and cons of water disinfection techniques: A European perspective Walter Wohanka (Geisenheim Research Center, Germany)

7-Feb  Designing water treatment systems Paul Fisher.

If you are a nursery producer and irrigate plants then I hope you will take the time to learn more about some of these topics.  If you have any questions please call Shawn at 813-629-6104.