Now that Victoria Day weekend has come and gone, many floriculture greenhouses find themselves with a rare period of empty compartments or benches before fall crops go in. Similarly, many vegetable greenhouses extending their growing period are facing their first crop clean out. Now is the perfect time to consider a thorough cleaning of your greenhouse to prevent pest issues going forward into the new crop. But this can seem like a daunting task.
OMAFRA and the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre have produced a how-to video on greenhouse clean-out and disinfection that can help you know where to start.
Video Description
All videos were made by the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, in collaboration with the Ontario Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), and are applicable to both greenhouse floriculture and vegetable crops.
Details: This video tackles removing old plant material, cleaning surfaces and sterilizing with sanitizers. This helps to reduce the incidence of both arthropod pests and diseases that like to hide in nooks and crannies, and in water delivery systems.
Initial Release Date: 2020
Disclaimer: the appearance of any products in these videos does not constitute endorsement by OMAFRA or the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. Videos contain current information as of the initial release date. Some products or procedures that were not available or widely used at the time of filming were not included in these videos. Any products featured in the videos may currently be unavailable or discontinued.
Need More Info on Starting Clean?
If you missed it, our Canadian specialists gave an excellent webinar with Michigan State Extension in January on just this topic! Click HERE to be taken to this webinar on the MSU page.
Cara McCreary (Greenhouse Vegetable IPM Specialist, OMAFRA) and myself discussed the benefits of cleaning and disinfecting a greenhouse (floriculture or vegetable) in-depth. Here, we share detailed tips and tricks for this task, with a focus on the riskiest pathways of pest introductions and opportunities to mitigate these risks.
Dr. Rose Buitenhuis (Senior Research Scientist Biological Control at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Canada) also provides tips on how to reduce incoming insect pests by dipping vegetative cuttings in reduced-risk products. It’s definitely a good time to review this topic before poinsettia cuttings come in!
Other Resources:
Don’t feel like watching a whole webinar? That’s OK, because there’s lots of resources on greenhouse clean-up out there. Here are just a few:
- Tech On Demand Podcast: Greenhouse Sanitation | TECH ON DEMAND brought to you by GrowerTalks (podbean.com)
- Grower Talks article: Start Clean. Stay Clean. (growertalks.com)
- UMass Extension: Greenhouse & Floriculture: Cleaning and Disinfecting the Greenhouse | Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment at UMass Amherst
- Tech on Demand Video: Tech On Demand: Success With Cuttings (Part 1) – Sanitation & Facility Prep (youtube.com)