Nursery Cost Analysis

When growers think about "sustainability" usually they are thinking about conservation and environmental consequences. Many producers don't usually think of economic sustainability. Staying in business is a consideration within the realm of sustainability and staying in business means having more money coming out than what you put in.  What if I asked you how much does it cost to produce a finished 1 or 3 gallon of a particular plant your growing?  Would you know the answer to a series of questions such as; How much profit do you make on that plant?  What would it save you if you didn't pot up that plant?  How much profit is in producing that plant?  How much profit would you lose if you had to dump 10% of that crop?  Should you grow more of these plants than those plants?  These are all questions that can be answered by doing cost analysis. Here is an excellent video introduction on what cost analysis is in a nursery. It might surprise you that you can predict financial results on your nursery using this method. It does take some time to do the calculations but the paybacks could be substantial in terms of making real educated guesses on production factors. Just click on this link to view a Floricast video that explains the method   http://tiny.cc/zyyxo

Diaprepes Root Weevil in Ornamentals

I have recently been to a couple of tree producers and have seen the dramatic effects of diaprepes root weevils in their nurseries.  Above is a picture of a dead holly tree that seemingly had root damage caused by both insects and disease.  These medium-size insects can have devastating results to larger grown material. The adults can be seen in ornamentals by the damage they inflict by notching the leaves.  Usually this is not bad enough to render a plan unsalable, but it is a good indicator of the insect and of the need to treat it. The bad stage of this insect infestation is what lies below the ground unseen.  The juvenile stage of this insect is a root grub that will girdle roots of plants and trees. If infestations are extremely high plants may show symptoms of lack of vigor and even death. Along with root girdling, plants may become infected with soil borne pathogens usually this is Phytophthora. Roots become susceptible when the juveniles wound the roots and allowed root exudates and carbohydrates to leak and  feed pathogenic fungi.  These fungi when weather conditions permit can become extremely aggressive infecting roots and causing tree death.  Here is a link to a publication on diaprepies  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in147  and here is a link to host plants that can harbor the pest  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in119  Here are some pictures of root damage and fungal infection probably caused by the insect/disease complex on holly.