2014 AFE Scholarship Applications Now Being Accepted

Ryanna ZoellnerUniversity of Georgia2013 James Bridenbaugh Memorial Scholarship RecipientNow is the chance for horticulture and floriculture students to apply for more than 20 different scholarships through AFE. The deadline is May 1 to submit applications for sophomore through senior students, as well as for graduate students.AFE encourages students to apply for scholarships early as the need for financial assistance in floriculture and environmental horticulture programs is great. For 2014, AFE will award just less than $40,000 in scholarships.“AFE’s robust scholarships provide financial assistance to both undergraduate and graduate students to help in their journey of becoming the next great leaders in floriculture and horticulture,” AFE Executive Director Debi Aker said. “An investment in their education is an investment in the…

Research Pre-Proposals Due to AFE by June 1

Past AFE-funded research helps your flowers stay healthier longer!If you have a floriculture research project that needs to be funded, AFE wants to help in securing funding for your project. AFE is now calling for research pre-proposal applications for 2015-2016 funding, due no later than June 1, 2015.AFE’s Production and Post-Harvest Research Committee has identified three high priority research areas for the current pre-proposal cycle that are relevant to all segments of the floral industry:Control of Botrytis, not only during production but also during post-productionControl of leaf miners in all susceptible fresh cut flowers and potted plantsSpecific post-production practices that include transportation requirementsResearch projects can last from one to three years and any reasonable but justifiable budget will be considered. For…

Alluring and Murdering Thrips With New Research

A) Marigold guardian plant system in a test greenhouse. B) Thrips lure on sticky card (red arrow).AFE is still up to murder, sex and greed, this time with a new research report. In the report, scientists from the Entomology Research Laboratory at the University of Vermont (UVM) describe how they allured and then murdered western flower thrips through an inexpensive non-chemical pesticide system that is easy to use.Thrips are deadly for ornamentals, causing substantial economic loss by damaging flowers and leaves or transmitting plant viruses, and most chemical insecticides have proven to be ineffective at controlling thrips. Report #216: Formulations of Insect-Killing Fungi in Combination with Plant-Mediated Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Systems for Thrips describes an innovative strategy that uses…

Floral Plant Giveaway Aims to Boost Horticulture Enrollment

Volunteers prepare boxes with plants and labels.AFE and Altman Plants supplied plants to the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University for a Floral Plant Give-Away Project (FPGAP) intending to recruit new horticulture students.During the fall semester of 2012, lecturers Lee Ivy and Lis Meyer, Assistant Professor Julieta Sherk and Professor and Department Head John Dole, Ph.D., began the FPGAP to increase student interest in plants and raise awareness of horticulture as a viable career option.They distributed 715 plants of multiple varieties to undecided undergraduate students and support members of the school’s First Year College Program, as well as to students enrolled in introductory horticulture classes.“Students in the First Year College Program by definition are undecided about a…

Floriculture InfoSearch Puts Decades of Info at Your Fingertips

Industry members now have online access to a comprehensive floriculture library containing information that may have been previously unavailable. AFE has partnered with North Carolina State University (NCSU) to create the Floriculture InfoSearch Engine, a powerful search engine for convenient and comprehensive access to floriculture literature, videos and presentations.The website also contains a floriculture archive with materials from AFE, NCSU, scientific journals and trade publications, all of which is accessible and searchable through one website.“We want to thank a couple of floriculture pack rats, George Staby and Harold Wilkins, for opening their files to us and several industry groups and magazines for allowing us to scan and enter their articles,” project leader and NCSU Horticultural Science Department Head John Dole,…

Greenhouse Grower Donates Charity Competition Win to AFE

BASF Professional Turf & Ornamentals created a friendly rivalry with greenhouse industry trade magazine editors this year at the OFA Short Course in Columbus, Ohio, and AFE is $1,000 richer as a result.The company organized a special Media Pyramid for Charity game in their booth at the show on July 15. Editors and publishers from Greenhouse Grower, Grower Talks, GPN and Greenhouse Management magazines answered questions and earned $500 for their charity of choice just for participating. If more than four questions were answered correctly, BASF added additional money.Robin Siktberg, editor of Greenhouse Grower magazine, and her partner, Bob West, director of interactive sales, won the competition for the second year in a row, earning a total of $1,000 for…

Understand Downy and Powdery Mildews with AFE Reports

AFE  has released two new research reports to help the industry better respond to downy mildew and powdery mildews:Understanding Coleus Downy Mildew: Special Research Report #134Understanding Gerbera Powdery Mildew: Special Research Report #135Blair Harlan and Mary Hausbeck, Ph.D., from Michigan State University examine downy mildew on coleus, a colorful bedding plant, in Report 134. Downy mildew can leave plants unmarketable, so the researchers have proposed an integrated pest management program to help growers produce high-quality coleus crops that are untouched by downy mildew.The gerbera daisy industry in the U.S. is booming, as highlighted in Report 135, but powdery mildew on gerberas threatens profits. Leah Granke, Ph.D., from Michigan State University and Mary Hausbeck, Ph.D, examine the effects of environmental factors…

Grow with AFE Resources!

AFE has a wealth of resources available to help students and established industry professionals alike. Did you know that AFE offers more than 150 online research reports for free to the industry? These research reports focus on important industry issues, like:Detecting and managing pests and diseases.Refining watering and nutrition practices.Notably improving plant and flower quality.Providing total management systems for air and soil borne floriculture crop diseases.You can use this website to find other tools too, like an extensive and continuously updated Impatiens downy mildew resource list.Additionally, AFE’s intern scholarship programs give the industry the opportunity to host pre-screened, competent students with a passion for production. While receiving knowledgeable students, you’ll be giving back by providing the hands-on experience necessary to…

Using Multiple Pesticides: Ensuring Positive Effects

Using multiple pesticides together to prevent a broader spectrum of pests is common in the floriculture industry, but it can be difficult confirming those pesticide mixtures are beneficial and safe for plants. Researchers A.L. Willmott, R.A. Cloyd and K.Y. Zhu from Kansas State University aim to better inform the industry about pesticide mixtures in a research report recently released by AFE.“This research will help keep growers from using mixtures that are a waste of time and money and will result in crop damage,” Cloyd said. “This will help them determine which combinations to use, and they may not have to make as many applications.”Cloyd said that pesticides were once broad and “killed just about everything,” but pesticides produced since the 2000s…

New Research Inspires Profitability and Sustainability

A research report released by AFE addresses how the floriculture industry can use efficient irrigation practices to increase profitability and sustainability in a time when concerns about water scarcity, runoff regulations and the high cost of fertilizer are commonplace. Researchers Alem Peter, Paul Thomas and Marc van Iersel from the University of Georgia and Stephanie Burnett from the University of Maine examined how fertilizer and water levels affect growth. While the research focuses on petunias, it is translatable to almost any greenhouse plant.“By implementing more efficient irrigation practices, growers can reduce the amount of fertilizer they need to apply, and that is going to help their bottom line as well as the environment,” van Iersel, the lead researcher, said. He…

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