Biocontrol Agent Failures Can be Linked to Past Pesticide Applications

Vegetable production in protected culture systems is growing exponentially in many communities as the demand for local year-round produce increases...

Pour-thru on Primula

During a recent grower visit, I noticed several primula plants that had begun to develop chlorotic foliage...

Such Bugs and Goblins! Another Thrips Threat

Apparently unexpected new pests have been appearing even since Shakespeare’s time. One popping up in recent discussions, Thrips parvispinus, was new to continental North America when first reported from Florida on Anthurium and Hoya in 2020...

In-store Signs – What Draws the Eye?

Customers are bombarded with a lot of information while shopping for goods. The same is true in the ornamental horticulture industry...

Increasing Daily Light Integral Improves Vegetable Transplant Quality

Vegetable transplants can be produced year-round for controlled-environment production; however, spring is the most popular season for greenhouse growers to produce vegetable transplants destined for retail garden centers and field production...

Gerbera: Distorted New Growth

Around 5 gerbera plants were found in a commercial greenhouse with new leaves that were darker in color, thicker, and distorted...

Trouble with Tropicals? Join our March 16th webinar!

Mealybug, scale, and spider mites, oh my! Tropical plants often carry troublesome hitch-hikers. Join Michigan State University Extension and Dr...

Growth Control of Rooted Cuttings

The time to stick and propagate unrooted cuttings is here and so is the time to think about methods to control growth of rooted cuttings...

Test Your Irrigation Water Source This Spring

Water is the most important input for greenhouse operators, yet it is also the input that is frequently taken for granted by growers until a cropping problem is observed...

Check Furnaces and Flues Before Putting Crops in the Greenhouse

Some growers shut down their greenhouses in December after their poinsettias have been shipped to their final destination and will fire up their heaters/furnaces again for the first time in late January...

Bugger Off

"Pest Resorts" is the best way to describe scattered weeds overwintering in the greenhouse. It amazes me when I inspect weeds in our greenhouses or at growers to find active colonies of spider mites, Western flower thrips, whiteflies or aphids...

Greenhouse Online Courses Open for Registration: Earn your Plant Health Professional Certificate

Michigan State University Extension and University of Florida IFAS announced a collaborative training certificate program this past summer: the Plant Health Professionals (PHP) Certificate Program...

Optimizing Rosemary Fertility

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is a popular culinary herb and containerized greenhouse crop. To produce fresh cut rosemary or marketable containerized plants, growers must optimize the production environment and inputs such as mineral nutrition...

Cabbage Catastrophe: Dry Down

Ornamental cabbage and kale are both popular fall crops and we are nearing the finish line in their production and marketing cycle...

Drop, Don’t Stop Ornamental Cabbage and Kale Fertilization

Even during the coloration stage of ornamental cabbage and kale they are still growing and putting on new leaf growth...

Spotted spurge: A common weed of container production in nurseries and greenhouses

           Euphorbia maculata (or Chamaesyce maculata) also known as spotted spurge or spotted sandmat, is a common broadleaf weed in container production in nurseries and greenhouses...

White Mold in Hydroponic Lettuce

White mold is a disease caused by a fungal pathogen (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum). Although greenhouse food crops can become infected by this pathogen, it is uncommon and readily avoidable...

Troublesome Tradescantia

This Tradescantia ‘Nanouk’ began showing necrotic spots in early fall. Given that variegated foliage plants are sensitive to high EC, a pour through substrate test was performed...

Disease management is not just chemical usage

Greenhouses are transitioning into fall crops with poinsettia and mum cuttings being rooted. It’s a good time to review sanitation, especially in propagation where Botrytis, Rhizoctonia and Pythium can cause significant losses...

Stranger on Hydrangea: Chilli Thrips

I first heard news of chilli thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis) tearing through southeastern US landscape roses and foliage plants soon after it was found in Florida in 2005...

Renew Your pH/EC Meter Calibration Solutions

Spring has arrived and summer is almost here, which means it’s time to dust off your pH/EC meters to begin monitoring crop nutrition...

Kontos Phytotoxicity on Geranium

A recent sample of phytotoxicity is a reminder that Kontos (spirotetramat) should not be used on geraniums and to always read your pesticide labels...

Slippery Weeds of Greenhouse: Algae, Moss, Liverwort and Nostoc

The greenhouse condition of high moisture, controlled temperature, and light favors the growth of the lower group of plants which includes the algae, mosses, liverwort, and Nostoc...

Don’t Forget the Picture!

High quality photos are one of the best tools in the ornamental plant marketing tool kit. People are visually drawn to plants and fixate on them longer than any additional information that is provided when determining their purchase likelihood...

Chilling Injury Symptoms

Given that both tomatoes and peppers are warm-season crops, they are prone to symptoms of chilling injury in the greenhouses at temperatures below 41 °F and  50 °F, respectively...

Gardens Are for Insects

It’s been exciting to see pollinator gardens and pathways catching on with growing consideration of the ecological contributions of communities of gardens and managed areas...

Light Trespass an Emerging Issue in Some Greenhouse Production Areas

Light trespass caused by the installation and use of LEDs and other lighting systems in greenhouse production facilities is the latest issue to arise in some communities across the USA and Canada...