Botrytis, Meet Calcium

By: JC Chong, Clemson UniversityWe pack our carts with the best crop of bedding plants ever, or our boxes with the best cut roses, only to receive a call from our customers rejecting the shipment because of gray mold. Botrytis meltdown is a huge problem during shipment because high humidity in sealed shipping carts or containers is just what Botrytis needs to cause an outbreak.With funding from AFE, Jim Faust and his graduate student Kathie Bennett (Clemson University) studied the potential of reducing Botrytis meltdown on petunia flowers with pre-shipment sprays of calcium chloride. Kathie sprayed four concentrations of calcium chloride (at 0, 400, 800 and 1,200 ppm) over two weeks before the expected shipping date. She infected the flowers…

All About Thrips IPM Programs

By: Rose BuitenhuisThe Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has a six-part series published in Greenhouse Canada magazine with practical information for thrips integrated pest management (IPM) programs.Written by Biocontrol Specialists Rose Buitenhuis, Michael Brownbridge and Graeme Murphy, the articles offer application tips and tricks, information on new technologies, and are supplemented by short videos demonstrating techniques or principles.Part 1, Designing Your Greenhouse IPM Program, introduces the systems approach to IPM and goes through the different elements of thrips IPM from start to finish, setting the stage for the rest of the series. The video explains the importance of choosing the right plant, the right environment and the right control agents for a complete IPM strategy. Part 2, IPM: Prevention and Early…

AFE Develops Employer Resource Guide for Business Internship Program

AFE developed a new Employer Resource Guide to accompany its Business Internship Program, now in its second year.The guide was created to help companies build a successful internship program, with easy-to-use guidelines and steps to create meaningful learning experiences for the next generation of business leaders.The internship program draws emerging young business professionals to the world of flowers and promotes the floral industry as a viable career path.Click the image above to download the Employer Resource Guide!Now’s your chance to host an intern and help eager students contribute to your organization and the industry!With support from participating industry organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada, students will gain practical business experience and develop essential skills to help the floral industry prosper.Open…

NFF’s 2017 Meeting and New Partnership with AFE

The National Floriculture Forum (NFF) has announced its 2017 annual meeting will be held in Philadelphia from March 17-19, 2017 during the Philadelphia International Flower Show.Participants of the meeting will attend the show and tour Longwood Gardens, and gather to discuss increasing the younger generation’s involvement in production and academic floriculture and horticulture.Members of the Young Professionals Council (YPC) will also attend and discuss their work on this topic.“I am very excited to be planning the 2017 event in Philadelphia. This is so important for the floriculture community, as it is one of the few events where academia and industry come together to discuss the pressing issues of floriculture,” said Krystal Snyder, 2017 NFF event coordinator and YPC member.“This year’s…

Preventing Downy Mildew on Coleus, Roses and Spotted Deadnettle

The floriculture industry faces complex issues that research funded by AFE helps address and solve.Mary Hausbeck Michigan State UniversityThe Endowment has funded research from Dr. Mary Hausbeck, Professor and Extension Specialist at Michigan State University, on the disease downy mildew.In an article published in Greenhouse Grower magazine, Dr. Hausbeck discusses how downy mildew diseases are potentially devastating to ornamental crops and can cause unsightly damage, as well. She provides details about the latest research and recommendations for preventing the disease.The article, which was featured in the August 2016 issue of Greenhouse Grower, can be viewed here. 

2016 Generations of Flowers Study

Download the 2016 Generations of Flowers Study Final Report. AFE, in partnership with the Society of American Florists (SAF), conducted the 2016 Generations of Flowers Study. This study is an update to the 2009 SAF study exploring consumer perceptions of flowers and plants and purchasing/gift-giving behavior among three key generations: Generation Y, Generation X and Baby Boomers.Funding for the project was provided by the Floral Marketing Research Fund (FMRF).Download the Executive Summary.Download the Final Report.Read the article in the May issue of Floral Management magazine for further analysis of the study results.The results show how different groups perceive, buy and use flowers and floral outlets. The research assessed patterns, motivations and barriers to purchasing and the practical and emotional value…

Prevent the Spread of Disease in Irrigation Water

Dr. Mary HausbeckAFE-funded research helps address a variety of issues that the floriculture industry faces.The Endowment is currently funding a research study from Dr. Mary Hausbeck, Professor and Extension Specialist at Michigan State University, entitled: Managing Pythium Species in Floriculture Irrigation Water.In an article published in Greenhouse Grower magazine, Dr. Hausbeck, along with fellow researcher Dr. Wei Zhang, discuss how water-mold pathogens can cause significant crop losses and reduce floriculture crop quality. They also provide ways to prevent the spread of diseases like Phytophthora and Pythium in irrigation water.The article, which was featured in the March 2016 issue of Greenhouse Grower, can be viewed here.

New Research Aims to Protect Gerbera From Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is the most common and damaging disease for gerbera crops. Growers often have to apply fungicides to control powdery mildew, which leads to significant increases in production costs.The lack of disease-resistant gerbera plants has been a major limiting factor for crop production.Severe powdery mildewAFE’s latest research report, Powdery Mildew Resistance in Transgenic Gerbera Plants, focused on increasing the plants’ resistance to powdery mildew through gene transference.Researchers Dr. Zhanao Deng, Zhonglin Mou and Natalia A. Peres of the University of Florida have concluded through this research that powdery mildew sensitivity can be overcome by transferring defense-related genes from non-crop plants to crop plants.Results have shown that genes from other plants can be transferred into gerbera crops to increase their…

Pollinator Work Continued Last Week

SAF and AmericanHort participated in two important meetings last week focused on the continuing debate about pollinator health.IR-4, the USDA-funded organization which helps provide EPA with data supporting registration of chemicals for horticulture and other specialty crops, worked with the chemical industry to host a conference on research needs.  Attended by several leading horticultural scientists, along with SAF and AmericanHort, the meeting generated productive dialogue around research needed to answer important questions about our industry’s impact on pollinators and how we can be part of the solution.A second, day-long meeting was held in Washington with the industry task force guiding the Bee and Pollinator Stewardship Initiative, launched by SAF, AmericanHort, the Horticultural Research Initiative (HRI) and the American Floral Endowment…

New Genetic Engineering Research Aims to Increase Postharvest Life of Cut Flowers

Roses overexpressing MTD. Symptoms are 4 days after spraying Botrytis spores on flowers of a low MTD expressing plant (2-), medium expressing plant (10+), and a high expressing plant (32+).New genetic engineering research from AFE funded researchers at North Carolina State University provides information about how to manage fungal diseases in eco-friendly ways, potentially increasing the postharvest life of cut flowers.Although fungal pathogens, such as Botrytis, cause economically devastating diseases in nursery, field and greenhouse production of important floriculture crops, few genes have been found that are suitable for targeted breeding or engineering specific resistance.This research is focused on expression of a naturally occurring plant resistance gene to produce plants with reduced production costs as well as lower maintenance requirements…

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