Dip, cool or steam? Clean Start treatments for Thrips parvispinus

Mandevilla cuttings in propagation with different treatment tags in them.

This post written by Ashley Summerfield (M.Sc.), Senior Research Technician in the Biocontrol Lab at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre.

They say that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure” and nowhere is this truer than in IPM. Reducing the incoming number of invading pests will inevitably improve the success of any pest management strategy.

This post covers recent research advances made by Vineland Research on treatments of propagative plant material to help control Thrips parvisipinus. This includes effects of treatments on all thrips life stages, including eggs, as well as potential phytotoxicity of treatments on tropical plants.

This post also includes a link to the recent webinar on starting clean for Parvi recorded by Flowers Canada Growers, if you prefer that format!

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REMINDER: Thrips parvispinus behavior webinar TOMORROW at 12 EST. Plus, don’t miss the 3rd webinar in this series on Parvispinus July 23.

Flowers Canada Growers (FCG) has recently been hosting a webinar series on Thrips parvispinus. This series goes over what we’ve uncovered about this pest here in Ontario during a joint project by the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agri-business (OMAFA)

The next webinar will be tomorrow, July 16th at 12 EST, and will go over interesting behaviors and ecology we’ve learned about Parvi that could help us better manage this pest.

The last webinar will be held next week on July 23rd, also at noon EST. This presentation will look at progress that’s been made towards biocontrol of this invasive pests.

Read on for more details and how to watch the webinars!

Continue reading “REMINDER: Thrips parvispinus behavior webinar TOMORROW at 12 EST. Plus, don’t miss the 3rd webinar in this series on Parvispinus July 23.” →

June, 2026 DLI Report

(Originally published on ONgreenhousevegetables.ca on June 14, 2026 by Greenhouse Floriculture Summer Student Kendra van der Wier )

Welcome to the Vineland DLI report for June 2026! Here in Vineland, June has been a sunny and very hot month!

In June 2026, Vineland received 53% more light in June than in April! (May 2026 data was not available).

Read on for detailed graphs and more information.

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Upcoming Webinar: Getting to Know Thrips parvispinus

Flowers Canada Growers (FCG) has recently been hosting a webinar series on Thrips parvispinus. This series goes over what we’ve uncovered about this pest here in Ontario during a joint project by the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agri-business (OMAFA)

The first webinar covered the Start Clean approach for cuttings infested with Parvispinus (that recording will be made available shortly). The next webinar will be held on Thurs, July 16th, and will go over interesting behaviors and ecology we’ve learned about Parvi that could help us better manage this pest.

Read on for more details.

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Fourth Intake of Agricultural Stewardship Initiative Cost-Share Funding Program Opens July 8, 2026

This post was originally published on ONgreenhousevegetables.ca on  by Averie Mastronardi

The governments of Ontario and Canada are investing an additional $12 million through the Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (ASI) to help farmers adopt practical improvements that increase efficiency, reduce costs and build long-term resilience.

This initiative delivers on the government’s plan to protect Ontario’s farmers and agri-food sector by making strategic investments in cutting-edge solutions needed to support modern farming and help the sector remain resilient and competitive in the global marketplace.

Read on for program details and key dates.

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Effective Mass Trapping For Summer Thrips, Part 2: Colour, Placement and Duration

Yellow or blue – that is the question. Photo by A. Summerfield.

Part 1 last week covered WHY to trap and WHEN to it’s best to put up your cards. This post goes over trap colour and placement to optimize thrips catches while reducing effects on natural enemies.

Although I’ve talked about this in older posts, I’ve put this data in context of what we know now, in terms of the various thrips species that invade Niagara greenhouses. I’ll also be sharing some data on card duration.

If that isn’t exciting enough for you, next week’s Part 3 will discuss whether or not using lures is worth it to increase thrips catches.

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Mass Trapping For Summer Thrips, Part 1: Why Trap and When to Start (Answer: This Week!)

Sometimes your thrips biocontrol program is working great. Other times, it seems to get completely overwhelmed.  Thrips can get out of control in Summer, when fall crop production is ramping up. This is where mass trapping can really help.

This post will cover where thrips come from, which species we find on cards, and when the best time is to add mass trapping to your thrips IPM program.

And stay tuned for Part 2, which will cover ways to optimize your mass trapping!

Continue reading “Mass Trapping For Summer Thrips, Part 1: Why Trap and When to Start (Answer: This Week!)” →

Save on Energy’s Expanded Energy Management Program – EMIS Updates for Greenhouse Operators

This post was originally published on the ongreenhousevegetables.ca blog on  by Averie Mastronardi

Save on Energy logo

Energy management information systems (EMIS) can reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions, lower utility costs, improve operational performance, and strengthen decision‑making. Receive funding of up to $50,000 or $250,000, depending on your annual energy consumption, for the installation of an EMIS through Save On Energy’s Expanded Energy Management program. The EMIS funding ends March 31, 2027, and incentive payments must be made by this date. To ensure your incentive is available, we recommend that organizations aim to complete approved projects by the end of 2026. 

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Growing Roses? Export Rules to the U.S. Have Changed.

In the efforts to prevent a quarantinable strain of Ralstonia from entering the United States, USDA-APHIS has changed importation rules for rose material for planting. This includes rose material coming from Canada.

Under the new federal order, roses (Rosa spp.) grown in Canada must now have been grown entirely within Canada or the U.S.. This includes root stock and graft material.

This is to reduce a potential pathway for Ralstonia solanacearum Race 3 biovar 2 (Rs R3bv2) into the U.S., which can devastate solanaceous crops such as potato and tomato, as well as geraniums.

Read on for more details about RS R3bv2 and the new export regulations.

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April, 2026 DLI Report

(Originally published on ONgreenhousevegetables.ca on May 12, 2026 by Fadi Al-Daoud)

Welcome to the Vineland DLI report for April, 2026!

So far, April is finally looking sunnier in Niagara, with the average DLI in Vineland climbing.

Read on for the detailed data report and more information about our DLI data collection project.

Continue reading “April, 2026 DLI Report” →