Category: Gerbera

Can We Reduce Pest Pressure in Floriculture by Adjusting Plant Nutrition?

Subirrigation in a dutch tray of gerbera plants

Producing high-quality ornamentals while decreasing pesticide use requires finding creative ways to reduce pests across your whole production system.

Are you interested in learning more about the role fertilizers and biostimulants can play in plant health — both in terms of plant quality and pest levels?

This upcoming and FREE webinar provides and overview of a current project between the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, OMAFRA and industry partners on this unique topic.

Continue reading “Can We Reduce Pest Pressure in Floriculture by Adjusting Plant Nutrition?” →

Which Thrips are in Your Flower Crops (Part II): How to ID and Control Onion Thrips

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Thrips tabaci, or Onion thrips. Photo courtesy of Thrips-ID.com.

If you were at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference (or are regularly reading this blog!) you’d know we’ve recently identified Onion thrips as a pest of floriculture crops in Ontario (see this post).

Outside of Ontario?  Well, this still may apply to you, as a recent study in France also indicated that up to 47% of pest thrips in floriculture greenhouses were Onion thrips.  So, this issue could be wide-spread.

My last post covered the extent of the problem in Ontario’s industry.  This post will help you identify if YOU are dealing with Onion thrips (OT) along with Western flower thrips (WFT), and what to do about it.

 

Continue reading “Which Thrips are in Your Flower Crops (Part II): How to ID and Control Onion Thrips” →

Which Thrips Are in Your Flower Crops: When Paradigms Shift (Part 1)

WFT on hibiscus_Caitlin McDonald_1Up until this point, most of Ontario floriculture growers (and me!) assumed the only pest thrips we were dealing with was Western flower thrips (besides Echinothrips in a few crops like gerbera and poinsettia).

But a survey conducted in major commercial operations in 2016-2017, AND recent outbreaks of serious damage have proved us wrong. (You know what they say about assuming!). Keep reading to find out the truth about thrips! Continue reading “Which Thrips Are in Your Flower Crops: When Paradigms Shift (Part 1)” →

Leafminer control in Ontario’s greenhouse crops -what’s working?

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Fig. 1. Leaf mines on gerbera leaves.

As much as we all hate thrips, there are, frankly, worse problems to have.  And it’s name is Leafminer.  These flies cause just about the ugliest damage we see in floriculture (Fig. 1), and they have incredible pesticide-resistance capabilities. Outbreaks seem to go in cycles, and I’ve had quite a few gerbera and mum crops come across my desk with leafminer this past 2 weeks.

This post covers chemical options (BawHawHawHa!!! Oh… Sorry… I’ll get myself under control now) and non-chemical options for leafminer, as well as how their control fits into the big picture in greenhouse IPM programs.  

Continue reading “Leafminer control in Ontario’s greenhouse crops -what’s working?” →