ONCE0929 - Greenhouse Pesticide Management for the Green Industry Professional*

Course Description

Course Outline

9:00 to 10:00 AM - Greenhouse IPM Monitoring Techniques: Monitoring is the keystone with any Integrated Pest Management program. Although monitoring can become time intensive, when done efficiently it can increase the profits of growing greenhouse crops. The primary value with monitoring is identifying potential problems with insect or disease pests early before they build-up & spread. The use of yellow sticky traps helps to determine specific zones within the greenhouse where individual plants should be inspected more closely for certain insect pests. Also, sticky card weekly counts can provide some general action threshold guidelines for several key insects. Correctly identifying specific insects on the sticky traps will be stressed. Overall, monitoring helps identify specific “hot-spots” within the greenhouse where pesticides can often be more targeted & hence reduce the use of unnecessary broadcast cover treatments. Unnecessary sprays can cause plant damage & reduce their value.

10:00 to 11:00 AM - Key Insect/Disease Pests Within the Greenhouse: The primary insect/mite pests & some of the common disease pathogens found on greenhouse crops is the focus of this presentation. The key insect/mite pests covered includes aphids, thrips, whiteflies, two-spotted spider mites, fungus gnats, shore flies. Some of the diseases covered are INSV, botrytis, downy mildew, powdery mildew, rhizoctonia & pythium. Identifying these specific insect/mite/disease pests based on their signs & the plant symptoms they cause will be addressed. Some of the available pesticides & other control materials will also be discussed.

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM- Greenhouse Biological Controls with a Focus on Using Banker Plant Systems to Control Aphid Pests: The successful use of augmenting beneficial insects within commercial greenhouses has become increasing common during the past 10-15 years. The biological approach to greenhouse pest management has a steep learning curve & in order to prove successful, a full commitment is necessary & with advanced planning. One of the most expensive aspects of using beneficial insect is the cost for the need of over-night shipping. The use of Banker Plant Systems is a method that enables users to rear their own insects & therefore greatly reduce the shipping costs. The success stories of greenhouses utilizing the Banker Plants System continue to increase. This approach has especially been successful with controlling various aphid pest species.

Notes

This class will take place at Temple University's Ambler Campus.

Workshop Presenter: Steven K. Rettke, Ornamental IPM Program Associate, Rutgers Cooperative Extension

Steven Rettke has been employed with Rutgers Cooperative Extension for the past 23 years. He works primarily with landscaper, nursery & greenhouse professionals promoting the IPM (Integrated Pest Management) philosophy. During the past 17 seasons, he has provided field insect/disease pest monitoring & consulting services to growers cooperating with the Rutgers Nursery/Greenhouse IPM Programs. His areas of expertise include many of the key insect/mite & disease pests that affect the appearance & health of common landscape trees & shrubs as well as greenhouse crops. His emphasis is on the identification, behavior & life cycles of these pests & the multiple IPM strategies used to control them.

* PDA Pesticide Applicator Recertification Credits are available for this course.

For more information, call 267–468–8400.