High Quality Photos for Thrips Identification: Rating Phone Attachments.

This is a guest post by Avery Johnson (former OMAFA summer student and current M.Sc. student studying Thrips parvispinus) and S. Jandricic.

Having difficulty identifying thrips on sticky cards and need clear photos to send to your consultant or extension agent? Don’t want to invest in a microscope? Well, you’re in luck, because we’ve done the legwork to find some good alternatives to get high quality photos.

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Lewis mites! 2024 Updates in Poinsettia

lewis mite_UCANR — *Lewis mite. Photo from University of California.*

Lewis mite is one of those pests that seems to go in cycles – some years we don’t see it at all, and some years I get reports as early as August.

This year there seems to be scattered reports. Given that Lewis mite populations can ramp up in a warm fall and rear their ugly heads in October, it seemed like a good time for an update on what’s working, and what’s not.

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Poinsettia Pests 2024: Whitefly, Mealybugs and Other Pests

Poinsettia are being potted up and pest issues are already popping up! Read on to see what pests growers in Ontario are seeing, and what to do about them.

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Deficiencies Got You Down?

This post was originally written by Abigail Wiesner, Acting Greenhouse Floriculture Production Specialist, with contributions from Chevonne Dayboll.

As we move through production for fall and winter crops a refresher for nutrient deficiencies feels appropriate.

No matter where you are in a cropping cycle, nutrition problems can be tricky to figure out. The good thing is they can be differentiated from disease or pest issues based on a few key observations:

If the damage is uniform and crop wide, it’s most likely a nutritional issue
If the damage is localized or more random, it’s most likely a disease or pest issue

Keep reading to learn more about different nutrient deficiencies and how to spot them in poinsettias and other crops.

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Points for Points! Production Pointers for 2024 Poinsettias

This post was originally written by Abigail Wiesner, Acting Greenhouse Floriculture Production Specialist, with contributions from Chevonne Dayboll.

Christmas in July? Not quite, but poinsettias are making their way into greenhouses across Ontario, and they always arrive at the hottest time of the year.

Nutritional issues, environmental stress, PGR mistakes and early diseases can all be costly in this high-value crop. Read on for common pitfalls and how to avoid them, as well as links to pest management information in early production.

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Pesticide Rotation Guide for Thrips parvispinus in Canadian Greenhouses

By Sarah Jandricic (OMAFA) and Judy Colley (Plant Products)

*A female (left) and male (right) Thrips parvispinus on a mandevilla flower.*

With the arrival of mandevilla, dipladenia and hibiscus cuttings, now is the time to start planning your management program for Thrips parvispinus. Unfortunately, it looks like this pest is here to stay in North America, and in the tropical plant industry at large.

In this post, we’ll focus on pesticide rotations to manage pesticide resistance, as well as a few tips and tricks to make sure your pesticides stay working.

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June 19, 2024: Japanese Beetles Have Started to Emerge!

Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica) adults were caught in traps today in Guelph and spotted in the last day or two near London, ON. Read on for what the start of the adult emergence period means in terms of pest management for outdoor nursery and floriculture crops.

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“How-to” Video of the Week: Plant Washes and Other Tools to Make Detecting Parvispinus Easier

*OMAFA Summer Student Avery Johnson demonstrating plant washes on-farm.*

In this week’s “how-to” video, we’ll explore using plant washes on-farm.

Plant washes are a simple but effective method to detect low levels of critical pests, such as Thrips parvispinus.

Once you’ve washed out your pests, we’ve also developed a quick “decision tree” to help you easily determine if you’re dealing with Thrips parvispinus or another thrips pest.

Keep reading to find the link to the video and additional resources.

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How-To Video of the Week: Mass Trapping for Thrips and Other Pests

Thrips often get out of control in summer, when fall crop production is ramping up. But why is this?

Although some thrips enter your greenhouse via plant material (think tropical thrips like Parvispinus), common thrips like western flower thrips and onion thrips mostly enter your greenhouse through vents and doors.

Continue reading to learn when your thrips are likely to spike in your greenhouse, as well as how to effectively use mass trapping to combat thrips and other pests.

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Potted Chrysanthemums 2024: Dips, Thrips and Threats

Every year at this time, growers start to think about strategies to minimizing western flower thrips on their chrysanthemum crops. This year, Thrips parvispinus is causing extra concern, given that chrysanthemum is one of its reported hosts.

Although there have been no reports yet of Parvispinus damaging chrysanthemums in North America, it’s still good to exercise a bit of caution. However, jumping the gun and spraying chemicals will likely just disrupt your biocontrol program for western flower thrips, leaving you with a bigger mess on your hands.

This post contains information on things you can do to put your mind at ease about all sorts of thrips this chrysanthemum season.

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