News
From the Field: Laura Barth’s Column Kick-Off
September 19, 2024
I’m writing this to you from beautiful Boulder, Colorado, where I had the opportunity to participate in the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG) Regional Conference and meet many cut flower growers in the Colorado area and beyond (perhaps some of you reading this article!). One of my favorite parts of being the Research Coordinator for AFE is talking with growers – both in person and virtually. That’s why I’m excited to introduce this new column in Growing Further, where I can talk to you directly about the latest AFE (and industry) updates and resources for growers, and you can get to know me a little bit better as well. Everything AFE does is supported by the industry for the industry, and I hope that you’ll feel free to reach out to me and let me know how AFE can best serve you.
I want to start this column by thanking all of you who have been coming to our Grow Pro webinars! This year has been incredibly exciting for Grow Pro as we continue to break records for registrations and attendance. Our August webinar from Dr. Rose Buitenhuis on Integrated Control of Thrips saw our highest attendance yet, which shows how important Thrips management remains for your operations. If you missed it, the webinar is posted to our YouTube channel, you can watch it here. There were so many questions that she also recorded an additional Q & A video, which you can find here.
Speaking of thrips, AFE has been working hard to put all of our Thrips and Botrytis Resources in your hands. In my intro, I mentioned the ASCFG Regional Conference. AFE-funded researchers Dr. Jim Faust and Dr. Francesca Hand gave talks on disease management solutions and biocontrol for Botrytis management in cut flower production. The sessions were recorded and we’ll be sharing them with you soon!
Additionally, I recorded a webinar for GPN Magazine as part of their Plant Health Management Series, discussing the thrips resources available in our Thrips and Botrytis Research Library. I’ll be recording another session on Botrytis in October, so keep an eye out for that. Also, don’t miss the latest Botrytis updates from our Thrips and Botrytis Campaign in the September issue of GrowerTalks. We’ll have another article on Thrips for the October issue, so be sure to check that out as well!
Lastly, I wanted to talk a little about guardian plants for thrips management. In previous editions of this newsletter we’ve shared research from Dr. Margaret Skinner of the University of Vermont on the use of guardian plants for Western flower thrips management, as well as research from our friends at ONFloriculture about banker plants for managing Thrips parvispinus. This raises the question: what’s the difference between guardian plants and banker plants? I recently had an insightful conversation with Carol Glenister, an entomologist at IPM Laboratories, Inc., who worked with Dr. Skinner on guardian plant research. Carol shared an article from GrowerTalks where she explains the differences between guardian plants, banker plants, habitat plants, indicator plants, and trap plants, and the different ways they can be used for pest management. The article is from 2007 but is just as relevant today as it was then. You can read it here. She also gave me a brochure about guardian plants to share with you – you can view it here.
Next week I’ll be attending the AmericanHort Plug and Cutting Conference in Orlando, FL where I’ll get to enjoy some fantastic tours and educational sessions, as well as have the opportunity to network with growers and professionals in the industry. Please let me know if you’ll be there! I would love to connect with you in person.
Keep growing,
Laura
