Unveiling AFE’s New Website: Tailored for You

We are excited to unveil our newly redesigned website, featuring seamless navigation, enhanced program accessibility, and a modern, vibrant aesthetic! The new website reflects our unwavering commitment to providing easy-to-use, accessible resources and programs supporting research, internships, scholarships, and education for the floral industry. As the Endowment’s initiatives have grown over time, adapting to the industry's ever-changing needs, the website housing all of the resources has been reshaped as well. Industry members can find resources and programs specific to their business segment, including tailored-specific news, research findings, opportunities, and more. With a focus on accessibility, the redesigned platform ensures that visitors can easily access valuable resources and navigate the website effortlessly."We are thrilled to introduce the new website, which embodies our dedication to serving all segments of…

Discount Available: 2024 Greenhouse Training Online

Each course is completely online and includes pre-recorded videos, an interactive discussion board, and quizzes. The course material is available any time of the day, and new modules are activated each week during the course for the four weeks of each course, for a total of 8 learning modules. Experienced university instructors are available to help, and graduates receive a personalized certificate of completion. Courses are designed for individuals already working in the horticulture industry. Exclusively for AFE supporters, we are pleased to provide a 20% discount. Just use code: AFE2024 when you register. The University of Florida Greenhouse Training Online 2024 program starts June 3rd! Online course schedule for 2024: Greenhouse 101 teaches the underlying horticultural science of plant growth to…

Spring Hiring Campaign Kicks Off to Tackle Labor Challenges

The AFE Career Center provides valuable online career tools, resources, and industry guides tailored to both individuals seeking opportunities in the floral industry and employers looking to expand their staff. The Center provides the most up-to-date job listings, real-time job alerts, networking opportunities, and free tools to help both candidates and employers during the job search. Since its launch in 2020 by AFE, engagement has more than doubled in both job views and active applications.  Calling All Job-Seekers! Explore an array of resources including resume tips, reviews, and a centralized job openings hub at afecareercenter.com. Be entered to win 1 of 3 $50 Amazon gift cards by uploading your resume by April 23rd! Uploading your resume means employers can reach out to you directly with inquiries…

Developing a Screening Pipeline for the Identification of Phosphorus-Solubilizing Bacteria

By Juan Quijia Pillajo, Sachin Naik, and Michelle Jones Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient with low availability for plant uptake. High media pH levels can cause the formation of insoluble compounds with calcium (Ca). Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) can enhance P availability for plant uptake by producing organic acids to acidify the rhizosphere. The identification of PSBs requires both in-vitro and in-planta evaluations. In-vitro protocols allow for the screening of extensive bacterial collections, but the number of bacterial isolates that can be tested in the greenhouse is limited by the amount of space and time required to evaluate the plant responses to PSB inoculation. Digital phenotyping is an emerging tool for high throughput and precise evaluation of plant performance…

Botrytis Control in Greenhouses

Botrytis can cause devastating losses during production, shipping, and in retail. An Integrated Pest IPM approach is necessary to manage Botrytis successfully and it is critical for growers to have alternative control methods to use in rotation with fungicides to prevent resistance. Microbial biopesticides are an IPM tool for controlling disease while mitigating fungicide resistance risk. Adoption of biopesticides in production is growing but their variable performance under commercial conditions is still a challenge. Advances in biopesticide research reveal that they work best when used in combination with other strategies. Several natural compounds have been found to enhance biopesticide efficacy with significant implications for IPM. In our previous AFE-funded research, we found that chitosan reduced symptoms caused by Botrytis on petunia…

Newly Released! Grow Pro 2024 Lineup

Free monthly webinars featuring ground-breaking research! The American Floral Endowment (AFE) has released the first six months for the 2024 monthly Grow Pro Webinar Series. In these free webinars, nationally recognized researchers, hosts, and speakers offer ‘how-to’ advice based on AFE-funded and other research projects to help the industry navigate through ever-changing growing challenges. “These educational training sessions are directly impactful to industry businesses, and the information shared can be implemented immediately. We have taken input directly from the industry to shape the 2024 sessions ensuring that these continue to be valuable resources covering emerging challenges and new advancements,” noted Laura Barth, AFE’s Research Coordinator. Here’s some direct industry feedback collected through anonymous surveys at the end of each session showing the impact…

Controlling Whitefly on Poinsettia

Unfortunately, poinsettia and sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) go together like cats and fleas; if you have one, you’ll have the other. By this time (June) you should already be considering your whitefly management strategy. Here, we make a case for biocontrol as both a viable and economical way to control whitefly based on leading research supported by the American Floral Endowment (AFE) and many years of grower experience in Canada. The Problem with Pesticides Management of Bemisia whiteflies with pesticides can be difficult, if not impossible, in some years. This is because whiteflies that originate on cuttings (and those that fly in from field crops, as in the Southern US) have likely been exposed to multiple applications of several groups of…

Manipulating Light to Improve Quality of Cut Flowers

Once completed, this research will provide growers with well-defined recommendations for vegetative and reproductive growth to increase cut flower production efficiency and profitability. Specifically, we are quantifying how several new and commercially important cut flower varieties respond to daylength and/or vernalization temperature and duration to ultimately determine how these environmental parameters should be managed to hasten flower initiation and induction without negatively impacting stem quality and yield. This information is especially crucial for cut flower growers located in northern latitudes as they transition to year-round greenhouse production.   Bluebeard (Caryopteris ×clandonensis) and Billy button (Pycnosorus globosus) are both crops that have been recently introduced as cut flowers, however, there is very little production and flower induction information available. These crops have the…

Optimizing the Efficacy of Beneficial Bacteria Against Botrytis Blight in Greenhouse Crops

Botrytis cinerea is the causal agent of botrytis blight or gray mold, the most common and economically devasting disease for greenhouse crops. Fungicides are routinely used to control Botrytis; however, some Botrytis strains are developing resistance to those chemicals. Beneficial bacteria have been used successfully as biological control agents for disease control. The Jones laboratory at Ohio State University has screened a collection of beneficial bacteria to identify strains that can control Botrytis blight in petunia. These experiments have identified some strains of Pseudomonas bacteria that are effective microbial biocontrol agents (MBCAs). We have characterized these bacteria to identify potential modes of action by which they inhibit the severity of Botrytis blight. This research was made possible by a research…

A Spotlight on Thrips and Botrytis Management at Cultivate 2023

An incredible 188 people attended AFE’s educational session “Effective Management of Thrips and Botrytis” at Cultivate ’23 this July. It was one of the highest attended sessions in the history of the event.   This session was part of the American Floral Endowment’s Thrips and Botrytis Campaign, an initiative aimed at reducing the impact of these pests on the floriculture industry. Dr. Rose Buitenhuis from Vineland Research and Innovation Centre shared insights into the components of a successful thrips IPM program, including identification of different thrips species and biological control. Dr. Jim Faust from Clemson University focused on the recommended techniques for reducing botrytis from the greenhouse to the postharvest environment. The session provided participants with practical information that could…

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