A Time to Plan and Reflect

With 2011 almost over and 2012 just around the corner, it is that time to go through and do some yearend house cleaning. Whether it is figuring out your yearend monetary moves for tax purposes, or just going through your file cabinets and cleaning out old unnecessary files. We all have tidying up to do. In addition, it is time to reflect on the year and make your plans and budget for the year 2012.

2011 was a year of holding on to what you can. Talking to other growers and wholesalers not much change happened in comparison to 2010. They were either slightly up, slightly down or the same. 2012 doesn't look much better, with the government in turmoil and the lack of confidence by the consumers. It is time to continue to be lean and mean and get poised for when the market does rebound. We have two great seminars coming up discussing just this. "Lean 101" is a seminar that we are offering on January 12th, and then later in the year we will have a more in depth course for getting your business Lean and Mean. Be sure to check out the flyers for more details.

Recapping 2011 for the association, we had some wonderful social gatherings starting off with the Holiday/Casino Night, Spring Meeting, Golf Tournament, Annual Dinner and finishing up with our Fall LPGA meeting. These were wonderful opportunities to network with other industry professionals and share thoughts and ideas. We also had great educational programs sprinkled throughout the year focusing on Lean Manufacturing, Web traffic, CPR and Collections 101. For 2012 we look forward to another year of fabulous programs and events. To start off this coming year join us for Holiday/Casino Night, which will be held at the Crossings on January 27th. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous new year.

Another beautiful day in southern California! And what adds to that beauty was hearing a shopping mother tell her daughter that they "just had to pick out some of the extraordinary flowers for their home." Those flowers where on a hectic and busy corner isle at my local Costco. Yes! Not just poinsettias, but flowers and greens to brighten the Holiday home. It makes spending too much on gifts seem doable. There will be a tomorrow after all.

Tomorrow will not be free of pests. New ones arrive in our marvelous state on average about two a year, or so some say. I think perhaps a lot more. There is regular commerce and people coming and going, crossing our borders with plants and foods and wood and who knows what. We must be on guard.

The present trend in pesticide development is less general and more exact. We want to control one bug at a time, or one weed, or disease. (See, that way we can sell more pesticides!) The days of generalist are slipping away. Well, not totally. There are incredible improvements in our pesticides, take the neonicotinoids for example, (Marathon, Flagship, Safari, and others). They are generalists, in that they control many pests that feed on certain plant parts, and only control those pests. Or the strobilurins, (Heritage, Cygnus, Insignia, Compass O) that control various plant diseases from the ground up. It is still an exacting trend, and precise control of certain pests vs. any insect is significant.

I am found of IGRs, Insect Growth Regulators. They can be soft chemistries, and have broad effect on various unwelcomed insects. Enstar from Wellmark International is one of the oldest in this group that I remember. It had a problem on some crops and got a bad reputation of burning plants. They now have a new formulation, an AQ - meaning that it is based on water rather than alcohol or gasoline. Enstar AQ is labeled for use on ornamentals in greenhouses and shade houses, not outdoors. Doesn't show phytotoxicity on most varieties of bracking poinsettias. The REI is only 4 hours, and label says it offers long residual control of whiteflies, thrips, aphids, soft-bodied and armored scales, mealybugs, leaf miners, glassy-winged sharpshooters and fungus gnats. I wonder if we use IGRs often enough many new invasives might not enjoy our beautiful state long.

Yes, beautiful days will fill our hearts with expectations for a beautiful and abundant New Year. Please, let it be so.

Biological Control in Ornamental Plant Production

Well that point here is that natural enemies of most of the common pests are right out there in the natural environment waiting to attack the bad guys, and when pesticide applications cease, the good guys always appear. This means that with a little coaxing, the beneficial organisms can be of a benefit to some ornamental plant producers. There is more and more evidence of it as research progresses. In addition, there are a lot more organics/biologicals available that are compatible with the use of natural enemies.

There are difficulties with the use of natural enemies in ornamental production, which means that they are not meant for every producer. For instance, a propagator that is shipping product out of state or from off shore, cannot have even a small number of pests, which tend to survive when using beneficials, nor can there be the presence of the natural enemy. Additionally, there are crops that cannot support any damage at all thereby negating the use of natural enemies for pest control.

There are however, enough examples of good biological control in certain segments of ornamental plant production across the country, that it made sense to bring some experts in and have a symposium and a discussion about the issue.

On January 18, 2012 at the San Marcos Community Center, we will be presenting the first Biological Control in Ornamental Plant Production Symposium sponsored by the University of California Nursery and Floriculture Alliance, CANGC, Natural Industries, Syngenta Bioline and CPS. We are going to bring in a couple of scientists and growers from back east to speak that have experience using beneficials. In addition, the local suppliers will be showing off some of their products using our microscopes and other equipment. I hope you will take the time to come by and look. It should be quite a day.

Speakers include: Dr. Lance Osborne from the University of Florida; Graeme Murphy from Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, Greenhouse Floriculture IPM Specialist from Vineland, Ontario, Canada; Julie Graesch product development specialist, Becker Underwood; Dr. Edwin Lewis, University of California Davis; Brian Spencer, General Manager, Applied Bio-nomics Ltd.; Christine Champagne, Grower Direct Farms, Somers Connecticut; and Jack Graham, Dramm and Echter, Encinitas, CA. Each will present examples of successful use of biological control in ornamental plant production. In addition, some of the challenges faced when using beneficials will be discussed.

I hope you will come and consider educating yourself on how to use beneficials effectively. You can find all the information on how to attend at the following web site:

UC Cooperative Extension San Diego

San Diego County Sheriff's Department

Agriculture Related Crimes from   

November 16^th through December 22^nd, 2011