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| Greenhouse Alert newsletter | ||||
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| No. 1, December 2007 |
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This month's articles  The 2008 edition of the Greenhouse CAT Alert Managing greenhouse insects |
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| The 2008 edition of the Greenhouse CAT Alert Seasons greetings from the Floriculture Area of Expertise Team at Michigan State University. As many of you are opening up your greenhouses for spring production, we are starting our eighth year of the Greenhouse Alert electronic newsletter. From now until mid-May, we will periodically release short articles on timely topics that greenhouse growers are facing in Michigan and beyond. MSU Extension educators with floriculture expertise and MSU faculty in Horticulture, Plant Pathology, and Entomology will post articles on cultural practices and pest management strategies for growing greenhouse crops. Previous issues can be accessed via the Internet at: www.ipm.msu.edu/greenhouseAlert.htm. We welcome your participation by sending us suggestions for article topics. Please send your comments by email to: catalert@msu.edu. Please also visit the MSU Floriculture Area of Expertise Team website (www.hrt.msu.edu/florAoE/) for additional research-based information on a variety of production, marketing, and pest management topics. In addition, find contact information for team members and news about upcoming educational opportunities in the state. |
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| Managing greenhouse insects Starting clean Do not carry-over insects from one crop to another. Keep thrips numbers down to less than 10 per card per week in the fall and winter on poinsettias and Dracaena. Avoid keeping houseplants or allowing weeds to grow in the greenhouse. When each batch of media arrives for a new crop, check it for fungus gnats by filling a one gallon zip-lock bag half-full with moist soil. If fungus gnat adults emerge within two weeks, consider applying a fungus gnat treatment at planting time. Check incoming plant material carefully. If insects are found, treat them with an appropriate product listed below to start with as clean a crop as possible. |
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| Scouting Monitor thrips and whiteflies with yellow sticky cards. Change cards once per week. Use at least one card per house or one per 2,000 square feet. Check the first plants to flower for thrips. For spider mites and aphids, check susceptible plants like marigold (mites) and pepper (aphids), weekly. Potato wedges can be stuck in soil and checked 24 hours later for fungus gnat larvae. Systemic insecticides If yellow sticky cards or scouting indicates an increase in aphids, mites, thrips, fungus gnats or whiteflies, apply the following materials once per week until populations decrease to acceptable levels. Thrips: Avid, Mesurol, Orthene 97, Safari, Sanmite, Tristar, and Conserve. (Note: some thrips populations may be resistant to Conserve.) Aphids: Aria, Azatin, BotaniGard, Celero, Decathlon, Discus, Distance, Endeavor, Enstar II, Flagship, Marathon, Ornazin, Orthene 97, Precision, Safari, Talstar, Tristar. Whiteflies: Azatin, BotaniGard, Celero, Decathlon, Distance, Endeavor, Enstar, Flagship, Marathon, Ornazin, Orthene 97, Precision, Safari, Sanmite, Talus, Judo, Tame, Tristar (Note: many populations of silverleaf whitefly are resistant to Marathon, and some may also be resistant to Flagship, Tristar, Safari, Distance and Talus.) Mites: Akari, Avid, Floramite, Hexygon, Judo, Ovation, ProMite, Pylon, Sanmite, Shuttle, Tetrasan. Broad mites: Avid, Akari, Judo, Pylon, SanMite. Fungus gnats: Azatin XL, Adept (not on poinsettias), Distance, Marathon, and (drenches) (perhaps other nicotinoids; not yet tested), Mesurol. Mealybugs: Aria, Celero, Flagship, Orthene, Safari, Talus and Tristar. |
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