The Challenges of Managing Pests and Diseases in Retail Settings
Promoting Pollinator Plants at Retail
Now that the rain has finally subsided somewhat across the Midwest – garden centers are experiencing a flood of customers excitedly itching to get out and garden! Whether you are a wholesale grower, a retail provider, or both – now is a great time to get out and see what is going on in the garden centers around you...
New Options for Aphid Management
We’re employing beneficial insects and mites more than ever, but somehow the suggestion to sell aphid-infested plants as ‘ladybug-ready’ hasn’t been widely embraced...
Polystyrene Foam Aggregates in Greenhouse Substrates
Greenhouse soilless substrates are formulated from various components and amendments. Traditional greenhouse soilless substrate components include peat moss, aged bark, perlite, and/or vermiculite...Spring is in Full Swing
Spring is in full swing at the greenhouses in Michigan. Easter lily growers wrapped up moving lilies to coolers or shipping them late last week...Reservoir Nutrient Solution Siphoning
If you are growing crops hydroponically in deep-flow or raft systems, one of the last things you want to see is an unusually low or empty tank...
Keeping Your Greenhouses Clean in Springtime -- Make Your Best Effort
Have You Evaluated your Irrigation Water Quality Recently?
As an Extension Educator with Penn State I spend my winters on the speaking circuit addressing growers and farmers on a variety of topics...
Basil Raft System Issues
Growing culinary herbs such as basil hydroponically can be very simple and strait forward. However, some problems do arise...Watch for Botrytis blight
Overcast, wet weather can increase
Pest of the Month
You can't see them, but we know they exist: not ghosts, but rather cyclamen mites infesting these Echeveria...New Greenhouse Disease Management Recommendations for Vegetables and Herbs
Dr. Mary Hausbeck in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University and her colleagues have released a
Register Now for Conference on Innovation in Greenhouse and Vertical Farming
Join us for the 2019 Conference on Innovationin Greenhouse and Vertical Farming to be held on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, atthe Virginia Farm Bureau in Richmond, VA...
Evaluating the Precision of a Fertilizer Injector by Measuring Electrical Conductivity
Evaluating soluble salts or electrical conductivity (EC) is an important aspect of in-house nutritional monitoring as it provides a value related to the fertilizer salts provided and the status of the crop’s health...
e-GRO Welcomes Two New Team Members
The e-GRO team continues to grow! We would like to introduce our newest e-GRO members, Dr...
Testing pH and Electrical Conductivity (EC) of Plugs Using the Press Technique
In-house nutritional monitoring is often focused on conducting a PourThru, Saturated Media Extraction (SME), or 1:2 Dilution procedure for plants produced in their final containers such as cell packs, pots, and hanging baskets...