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IPM In-Depth Workshop
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NYS IPM will hold their second IPM In-depth workshop from
12:30-5:00 on July 20, 2009. This year's hands-on topics are:
- Aphid identification
- Beneficial and damaging nematodes in the greenhouse
and nursery
- All about alkalinity - testing your water
Program details:
Aphid ABC's
Aphids may not be your #1 pest, but they often seem to blow
up out of nowhere at really inconvenient times. How does that
happen? Where do they come from? What kinds of aphids are common
in greenhouses, why can it be important to know which kinds
of aphids are on your crop, and how do you tell them apart?
How can you detect an infestation before it gets serious? What
pesticides are best for which aphids, and why? What sorts of
predators and parasitoids can be used against aphids, and how
do they work? We'll try to cover these topics. Feel free to
bring in some aphid-infested plants and we'll see if we can
identify which species you have.
Nematodes in the Greenhouse and Nursery
In this session we'll take a look at the increasing problems
with foliar nematodes and root knot nematodes, we’ll look at
the symptoms and the tiny, squirmy worms under microscopes!
We'll also take a look at the very common free-living nematodes
that can be found in all soils and beneficial nematodes that
can be used to help control greenhouse pests.
All About Alkalinity
What is my water’s alkalinity? Why is alkalinity, not pH,
the #1 factor affecting nutritional disorders? How come my alkalinity
changes throughout the year? What is the best fertilizer choice
for my alkalinity? How does alkalinity reduce effectiveness
of some pesticides and how can you correct for this? In this
session, we’ll learn the answer to these questions through ‘pHun’
hands-on chemistry exercises. Be sure to bring a water sample
from your operation (rinsed 20 ounce plastic soda bottles work
fine).
The Doctor is IN
Bring in plants that have ‘issues’ you can’t identify and
our team of experts, and your fellow growers, will diagnose
what the problem might be. We’ll all learn something!
The day after the IPM-In-Depth is
Cornell's annual Floriculture Field Day (July 21).
Registration form - Combination form allows you to register
for IPM In-Depth and/or Floriculture Field Day and Container
Competition. Cost for the IPM In-Depth is $45 and attendance
is limited to 45 participants. Pre-registration required.
Questions? Contact Betsy Lamb at
eml38@cornell.edu or
(607)254-8800.
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Helping the Good Guys Finish First:
Biological Control of Insects in Nurseries
Betsy Lamb, NYS IPM
eml38@cornell.edu
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You can read articles on using biological control in greenhouses
in every trade journal. But what about nurseries? How can they
get in on the act? Actually, nurseries have the advantage as
there is naturally occurring biocontrol happening all the time
– for free!
You may have seen ladybugs and lacewings around your plants,
but you may not notice the minute pirate bugs, rove beetles,
parasitic wasps, hover flies and spiders happily chowing down
on pest insects. There are several guides to beneficial insects
that can help you identify the good guys you already have (see
list below). Just remember, if there is nothing for them to
eat, they won’t hang around - so not seeing huge populations
of beneficial insects doesn’t mean that they haven’t been there.
You can help the good guys out by using basic IPM practices
in the nursery. Natural enemies have a hard time getting ahead
of huge pest populations – there is always a lag in getting
the biocontrol numbers up. So keep pest populations low using
cultural controls like optimum nutrition and water, and good
air flow around the plants. If a pest hot spot develops, use
spot treatments of pesticides rather than treating the whole
nursery.
While there are a few instances where adding natural enemies
to the nursery can work (augmentation), a more common method
is to keep the naturally occurring beneficials there by making
them happy – conservation and enhancement to biocontrol aficionados.
One way of doing that is by choosing chemical pesticides
that have the least effect on beneficial insects. What you are
looking for is a pesticide with a low immediate impact and short
duration of impact on beneficials. You can check pesticide compatibility
with some natural enemies on biocontrol companies ‘side effects’
lists (see below). Different life stages may be affected differently
and different application methods may have different effects,
so keep all those variables in mind.
Another way to encourage the good guys to hang around your
nursery is to create a place for them to live, reproduce and
feed. Some beneficial insects need, or can survive on, pollen
or nectar. Pest insects may also live in this refuge and feed
the natural enemies. A refuge can also provide a place for beneficials
to escape from pesticide applications. A good refuge has a diversity
of plants so there is something flowering all the time, in an
area that is close enough for the good guys to move into the
production area but not close enough to create a weed problem.
And you may not need to create a new area. If your nursery has
an unsprayed demonstration garden with plants blooming throughout
the season, you may already have a refuge for your beneficial
insects.
It always helps to have a few resources to back yourself
up. There are many out there, but here are a few to get you
started:
Identifying beneficial insects
Creating refuges for natural enemies
Pesticide compatibility
*** These tables are created for other states so the pesticides
listed may not be labeled in NYS
Some Beneficial Nematode Suppliers:
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Disease Vectors: When Insect
Feeding is Just the Beginning
Brian Eshenaur, NYSIPM,
bce1@cornell.edu
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Certain insects can act as vectors and are capable of spreading
diseases. In fact with some diseases, movement by insects is
the only means of spread. In some parts of the world mosquitoes
can pick up the malaria pathogen and spread it from person to
person. In New York, ticks can move Lyme disease and other pathogens
from wildlife to people in a similar manner.
Insects in the greenhouse also vector some plant diseases
of ornamentals. Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus (INSV) is a particularly
troublesome virus on many ornamental crops. Western flower thrips
are the exclusive vector of this disease. These thrips can acquire
INSV only when they are immature by feeding on an infected plant.
Once inside the thrips, the virus multiplies within the salivary
glands and the thrips can transmit it to other plants through
adulthood. It is the adult thrips that are more mobile and more
likely to spread the virus to healthy plants. Monitoring for
thrips in the greenhouse using yellow sticky cards is an important
tool for thrips management. Inspecting new plugs arriving in
the greenhouse for both thrips and symptoms of INSV is also
key. Reducing thrips numbers and their movement among plants
is necessary to controlling this disease. Some growers have
found using the quick on-site ELISA test kits to be an important
tool for confirming the virus’ presence.
Many of us think of fungus gnats and shore flies as just
a nuisance in the greenhouse but these insects have also been
known to carry certain pathogens. They may pick up fungi on
the surface of their body or consume spores while eating that
are later passed through their digestive systems and onto other
plants. Shore flies have also been shown to move bacteria from
plant to plant. Spores of Verticillium, Fusarium and Thielaviopsis
can be transported by fungus gnats. The fungus-like organisms
Pythium and Phytophthora may also interact with fungus gnats
and shore flies—insects’ role in the spread and severity of
these diseases is an area of active research. In any case, removing
infected plants as well as monitoring and controlling fungus
gnats and shore flies could help control many root and stem
pathogens.
Having an awareness of disease carrying insects will help
growers minimize disease spread within a greenhouse. Insect
vector management is an important consideration when developing
an integrated pest management plan for greenhouse crops.
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