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This week we are going to talk a bit about the dreaded "cannabis aphid" and the best control measures we have found to combat this pest. Cannabis aphids are a tricky pest because they are able to reproduce extremely fast. An adult aphid can produce about 80 offspring in a week and each offspring will take about 7 days to become an adult itself. Aphid populations can increase very fast in ideal temperatures (spring through fall). These pests are able to disguise themselves well in a cannabis crop through camouflage and using the dense canopy to their advantage. Once the plant begins to flower the aphids will speed up reproduction and begin taking control of the plants. At flower stage in a cannabis crop there are very few chemical options to use and bios will not work well on a sticky plant. Even the approved chemicals may not be ideal to use because of risk to the developing buds. Controlling the cannabis aphid starts with prevention. This is the most important part of your bio program to combat this pest. Start your crop clean by making sure to dip all cuttings in a soap or oil product and begin applying preventative bios as soon as it's safe after the dip treatment. Once your crop has been planted out for its vegetative cycle continue to diligently apply preventative bios at the correct rates every week. Make sure to scout the crop weekly and if any aphids are found increase the bio rates and/or integrate bio safe chemical applications into your program. Getting to the flowering stage clean is the goal. Once the plant begins to flower stop the bio program and use plant safe chemical applications to control any aphid outbreaks that may be found.

Over the weekend we had some recored breaking temperatures for April and as a result we were expecting to find higher pest numbers in the greenhouses this week. Thrips numbers on the sticky cards were higher but more noticeable were the spider mite affected plants. Most of the plants previously flagged for spider mites had noticeable infestation due to the warm weather the week prior. In warm conditions spider mites can take over a small plant in less than two weeks. In the pictures below you can see a hydrangea plant that is fighting a spider mite infestation. The mites have moved from under the leaves to the new flower heads emerging. At this stage chemical intervention is needed in order to have a chance at saving the flowers that are about to emerge. Bios will not be able to catch up and control the pest infestation fast enough.

Let's talk about bios this week! We use the term "bios" to describe "bio controls" which are beneficial organisms that we use to control pests such as aphids, thrips, mites etc. With the right program bios can provide control and even eliminate pest infestations all while avoiding the use of chemicals or other control measures. In some cases bios work best with other control measures (such as manual removal of pests or chemical application to plants before release of bios) because IPM is all about integrating multiple tactics to combat and control pests and disease. Instead of trying to find just ONE solution to control your pest problems think about a MULTI FACTOR approach and use your resources and contact points to create a program that works for your facility (every facility will be different). The picture attached shows aphids on a pansy in different stages as they become parasitized by the beneficial wasp "aphidius colemani". This wasp is released into the greenhouse and will search and find aphid colonies all on it's own! It's nice to know that bios can be working in your greenhouse even when you aren't there.

Happy Easter Friday! Check out what we found while scouting this week! Soft Brown Scale on Birds of Paradise: Like aphids, scale is a sap-sucking insect that will secrete honeydew and leave a sticky mess all over the crops it is affecting. This pest can be difficult because it is often hard to find as it blends in to the plant well and does not really look like an insect. Unless you've seen it and dealt with it before you may not know that it is a pest until it becomes obvious. It can be difficult to treat as it is able to spread fast and remain inconspicuous. Two-spotted spider mite affecting Hydrangea blooms: Spider mites in hydrangea can be tricky because they often remain unseen, building up their populations under the leaves while leaving minimal damage on top for scouts to see. When the plant begins to bloom they are drawn to this area and can quickly populate the entire bloom - leaving the plant unable to be sold. To avoid loss it is important to; a) treat all plants with preventative bio controls before spider mites appear. b) routinely scout the crop, flagging TSSM hotspots to alert workers and provide heavier treatments to affected plants c) ensure your scouts are trained to find TSSM infestations at the earliest stage possible

Hello everyone! Lets talk about aphids this week; Aphids are here and affecting the following plants: Easter Lily, Calibrachoa, Saliva, Chrysanthemum, Hydrangea, Ipomea, Bougainvillea and Mandevilla. Tips on how to find aphids early: Focus scouting to plant species that are most susceptible to aphids Look closely at new growing points and under the leaves Look for aphid "exoskeletons", the skins that the aphids will shed as they grow. These skins are white and often appear on top of leaves and around the area where you will find aphids. Honeydew: sugary waste that aphids produce. Although we try to find aphid hotspots before much honeydew is present, this substance can be a dead giveaway of aphids present (appearing on the leaves as shiny, sticky droplets). Maintain a routine scouting program, making sure to check back corners of rooms as this is often where we find hotspots. Build up scouting experience! With more experience the aphids will become predictable and the scout can stay a step ahead by knowing where to look, what plants to check first and how to treat them effectively throughout the season.

Happy Friday everyone! Here's what we saw this week; Update on the Cyclamen with (suspected) fusarium... the grower treated the cyclamen in the affected house with a senator drench and a week later we can see evidence of almost completely dead roots starting to come back (picture attached). This is a reminder for us as scouts to never forget about the roots of a plant, as this is always great indicator as to what is going on. We found aphids this week on certain crops such as Chrysanthemums, Salvia, Pansies, Hydrangea and Fuchsia plants. It is still early on in the season to find aphids and many farms are still clean at this point in the year. The places we find aphids currently have been dealing with this pest for months already and/or its a susceptible room/area of the greenhouse. Something we find interesting as scouts who travel to many different farms is how pests will find their "perfect" area in a greenhouse or house and can almost always be found in that same area. Spending many seasons at the same farm provides so much insight into what will happen the coming year, it's almost like having a playbook!

Good morning everyone, it's week 11 and spring is almost officially upon us! That means pest pressures are going to start increasing and many greenhouses are reaching full capacity with new spring crops. Here are some of the mains things we observed this week in the field; Fusarium wilt in Cyclamen is suspected at one of our clients. Over the past few weeks the cyclamen in this house have been showing the following signs: wilting (cyclamen typically have very stiff/hard foliage) of leaves and flowers, dieback of some shoots and necrotic (dying) spots on the leaves. We also noticed distortion of the flowers that is similar to thrips damage. The plants looked generally unwell as if they had been experiencing heat stress. On the plants that were farther along the roots were brown and soft/breaking apart easily and the plant was heavy with water because it had not been able to keep up. After a colleague broke open a corm and showed us the red striping inside (indicating fusarium) the grower knew what to treat for.