GrowON Webinar “Squeaky Clean Start to 2023” Now Available on Demand.

Getting off on the right foot in the new year is important personally AND in your greenhouse, especially when it comes to pest management.

Two of our Canadian greenhouse experts gave some great talks on where, when and how to sanitize in your greenhouse to avoid pest outbreaks, and new research findings on dipping vegetative cuttings to reduce incoming pests.

If you missed this webinar last week, see how you can watch a recoding of this Grow ON Webinar, below.

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Upcoming Webinar: “Squeaky Clean Start to 2023”

Getting off on the right foot in the new year is important personally AND in your greenhouse, especially when it comes to pest management.

Join two of our Canadian greenhouse experts for some great talks on where, when and how to sanitize in your greenhouse to avoid pest outbreaks, and new research findings on dipping vegetative cuttings to reduce incoming pests.

More details can be found below on how to register for this joint event between Michigan State Extension and OMAFRA’s Grow ON Webinar series.

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Water DNA Tests: Pros, Cons and Interpreting Results

This post was written by S. Jandricic and A. Wylie.

This is the fourth article in a series about water sanitation. The goal of this series is to get you reflecting on your own irrigation system before you are faced with a problem. The first post covered where problems are likely to occur in your greenhouse ; the 2nd covered the types of pathogens found in water and the 3rd covered where and how to sample your water.

Once you’ve got your water sample, this post will cover why water DNA tests are useful, and how to interpret the results. This is the next step towards identifying and then treating your water issues to prevent unnecessary fungal or bacterial disease in your greenhouse crops, and potentially save you thousands of dollars in crop losses or fungicide applications.

These posts make good refresher resources, so make sure to bookmark them!

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OMAFRA Controlled Environment Agriculture Webinar Series: spraying in CEA – June 24, 12-1 pm

Interested in learning more about effective spraying in controlled environment agriculture? Tune in at noon this Thursday with host Dr. Fadi Al-Daoud and co-host Dr. Andrew Wylie for a presentation by OMAFRA’s application specialist Dr. Jason Deveau specific to closed environments:

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Dipping Poinsettia Cuttings to Reduce Whitefly 101: 2020 Edition

dipping cuttings — Dipping poinsettia cuttings to help lower Bemisia numbers was investigated and perfected by the Biocontrol Lab at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Ontario.

Although we’ve been talking for years here in Canada about dipping your poinsettia cuttings in low-risk pesticides, some growers have yet to take the plunge.

This preventive technique improves efficacy of BOTH biocontrol and pesticide programs for Bemisia, since it lowers your starting pest pressure.

If you’re still unsure of how or when to apply cutting dips, check out the rest of this post.

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Is Your Water a Source of Plant Disease? How to Sample and Find Out.

After reading the previous posts in this series, you’re now aware of WHICH pathogens can be spread through your irrigation water, WHERE they can accumulate, and WHY that’s important. We’re now moving on to posts covering WHAT you can do about it!

This post will walk you through how to sample water sources on your farm, and which tests you can run to determine if your water is helping – or hurting – your crop.

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Japanese Beetles are in Flight! How to control JB under the new GCP regulations.

Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica) adults are starting to take flight in southern Ontario. They have been spotted in Hamilton and Niagara this week. Read on for an updated post on WHAT and WHEN to spray for JB to meet certification requirements if you ship product outside Ontario.

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Updates on Ornamental Disease Webinar Series, “Let’s Talk Disease”.

We are ecstatic to report that the webinar series “LET’S TALK DISEASE” hosted by Greenhouse Canada Magazine and OMAFRA has had high interest and participation from growers.

Running from March to late April, this series covers topics from sanitation measures, to the most effective fungicides for persistent pests like powdery mildew.

Keep reading for and UPDATED list of dates and exciting speakers, and how you can view presentations you might have missed

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