NEW: Free Online IPM Training for Greenhouse Staff

Need a refresher on specific pests of floriculture, and what to do about them? Want to see how Canada – a world leader in biological control in ornamental crops – does things?

Then the following IPM training videos, made by specialists and consultants in Ontario, are for you!

Keep reading to learn how to access these videos, and the topics they cover.

Continue reading “NEW: Free Online IPM Training for Greenhouse Staff”

Worried About Access to Farm Labour? This Webinar Can Help.

Workers on a packing line in a greenhouse.

Access to migrant workers as a key source of Ontario’s agricultural labour is a current a source of worry for many growers, in light of the ongoing pandemic.

OFVGA and OMAFRA are joining forces to bring you 3 talks to update you on the situation and provide resources. So keep your calendars open on Feb 11th.

Pre-registration is required for this free webinar.

Continue reading “Worried About Access to Farm Labour? This Webinar Can Help.”

Upcoming Webinars: Surviving Covid-19, Workplace Inspections and WSIB.

A farmworker, considered an essential worker under the current COVID-19 pandemic guidelines, wears a mask as he works at a flower farm Wednesday, April 15, 2020, in Santa Paula, Calif. (April 2020)

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Covid-19 is going anywhere in Spring 2021.

Given that it’s the upcoming busy season for floriculture operations and workers, here’s a look at some upcoming webinars related to Covid safety, worker compensation, and surviving as a business during Covid.

So keep your calendars open on Feb 2nd, 3rd, 10th and 17th! More information on these webinars and registration can be found below.

Continue reading “Upcoming Webinars: Surviving Covid-19, Workplace Inspections and WSIB.”

Online Training -Greenhouse Basics & Nutrient Management

Picture1Just in time for spring, the University of Florida has released their list of upcoming greenhouse themed online courses for the summer of 2019.

There are three courses available through the summer: Greenhouse 101, Nutrient Management 1 and Nutrient Management 2.  All three courses are offered in both English and Spanish. Continue reading “Online Training -Greenhouse Basics & Nutrient Management”

Have a greenhouse improvement you need funded? The next Canadian Agriculture Partnership (CAP) intake has been announced

summer student pic

The next CAP intake for producers, processors and other agri-businesses is March 22 through May 6.

Please see the link here for the news release.

More information will be available on the websites of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Associationand the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on or before March 8, 2019.

Examples of projects that can be funded under CAPS include:

  • Innovative improvements to your greenhouse that promote biosecurity and limit the spread of insect pests from imported plant material
  • Education, planning and training projects that improve plant health
  • Preventing field pests from accessing your crop (e.g. screening)
  • Upgrades to sanitation and work-flow that prevent spread of pathogens
  • and other projects, as long as they promote plant health and safety!

via Next Canadian Agriculture Partnership (CAP) Intake has been Announced — onspecialtycrops

MSU Offering Greenhouse and Horticultural Lighting Course

Our extension colleagues at Michigan State University are offering an online course on Greenhouse and Horticultural Lighting.  The course works at your own pace, and can be completed anytime between December 2016 and February 2017.  Lots of information is available, and the course covers topics by Dr. Erik Runkle who gave some excellent talks at this year’s Canadian Greenhouse Conference. Continue reading “MSU Offering Greenhouse and Horticultural Lighting Course”

Webinar Detailing Thrips Control Strategies Now on the Web.

thrips infographic_no titleFor those of you that missed my webinar on “Thrips Control: from Propagation to Pocketbook”, it is now available for free on the Greenhouse Canada Magazine website

Keep reading for more details and a link to the talk. Continue reading “Webinar Detailing Thrips Control Strategies Now on the Web.”

Online Course Offered in Biological Control in Greenhouses by U.S. Experts

cucumeris-adult-female
Predatory mites are integral to greenhouse biocontrol programs.

Experts at Michigan State and Kansas State are now offering a fall term of the pre-recorded online course on Biological Control for Greenhouse Growers.

The enrollment period is open until Oct. 14, 2016, where the course will then be available until Jan. 13, 2017. Keeping reading for more details.

Continue reading “Online Course Offered in Biological Control in Greenhouses by U.S. Experts”

Thrips workshop info up on web

DSC_1454
The most current information on thrips and whitefly IPM is now at your fingertips at greenhouseipm.org.

For those of you who weren’t able to attend Vineland’s in-depth Thrips IPM Workshops this November, all the 411 is now up on GreenhouseIPM.org.

Here are the things you missed:

Preventing thrips ;  Controlling thrips in propagation ; Monitoring for thrips successfully ; Improving mass-trapping with lures ; Using mites effectively ; Biopesticides for thrips ;How to keep your thrips bios happy ; Checking the quality of your bios ; Controlling thrips with pesticides? ; Thrips case-study in mums ; Economics of thrips biocontrol ; Effects of fertilizers and biostimulants on thrips