Latest New England Greenhouse Floriculture Guide to Debut
The 2015-2016 edition of the New England Greenhouse Floriculture Guide will be available at the 2014 Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo, Nov. 5 to 6, 2014, at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, Mass.
The guide includes information about insect and mite management, disease prevention and management, weed control, and plant growth regulation. The Guide is updated every two years to ensure it provides up-to-date information about crop management methods and products.
The new edition presents several new features. The disease management section has been rewritten into a new format, making it easier to use. A discussion of neonicotinoid insecticides and their potential impact on nontarget insects such as bees has been added to help growers make informed decisions about pest management products.
Several newly registered plant growth regulator products have been added to the 2015-2016 edition, and a ll product registration numbers, REIs, application rates and application guidelines have been updated.
The pest and problem identification website, maintained by guide contributors Leanne Pundt of University of Connecticut and Tina Smith of University of Massachusetts, has been expanded to include emerging pest problems. This resource provides photographs and descriptions of cultural problems, diseases, insects, mites, nutritional disorders, weeds and algae. It also presents photos of biological control agents, and symptom look-alikes.
The guide is a comprehensive manual whose recommendations reflect an integrated and sustainable pest management approach. The guide can help users get started implementing biocontrols, eliminate weeds under benches, maintain thrifty plants, and also learn which PGRs might help achieve added height control.
The guide is updated every two years by floriculture faculty and staff from the six New England state universities, and is published by New England Floriculture Inc.
The 2015-2016 edition of the guide will be available to attendees of the New England Greenhouse Conference at a special conference price of $30 per copy. After the conference, it will be available for $40 per copy via the Northeast Greenhouse Conference website (www.negreenhouse.org), and from the Extension publication offices of the Universities of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.