Posts

Dip, cool or steam? Clean Start treatments for Thrips parvispinus

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This post written by Ashley Summerfield (M.Sc.), Senior Research Technician in the Biocontrol Lab at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. They say that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure” and nowhere is this truer than in IPM. Reducing the incoming number of invading pests will inevitably improve the success of any pest management strategy . This post covers recent research advances made by Vineland Research on treatments of propagative plant material to help control Thrips parvisipinus . This includes effects of treatments on all thrips life stages, including eggs, as well as potential phytotoxicity of treatments on tropical plants. This post also includes a link to the recent webinar on starting clean for Parvi recorded by Flowers Canada Growers , if you prefer that format! Advances in “Clean Start” for Thrips parvispinus Recently, researchers at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, AFFC and OMAFA recorded a 3-pa...

REMINDER: Thrips parvispinus behavior webinar TOMORROW at 12 EST. Plus, don’t miss the 3rd webinar in this series on Parvispinus July 23.

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Flowers Canada Growers (FCG) has recently been hosting a webinar series on Thrips parvispinus . This series goes over what we’ve uncovered about this pest here in Ontario during a joint project by the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agri-business (OMAFA) The next webinar will be tomorrow, July 16th at 12 EST, and will go over interesting behaviors and ecology we’ve learned about Parvi that could help us better manage this pest. The last webinar will be held next week on July 23rd, also at noon EST. This presentation will look at progress that’s been made towards biocontrol of this invasive pests. Read on for more details and how to watch the webinars! Flowers Canada Growers Webinar Series on Thrips parvispinus Webinar 2: “Getting to Know Parvispinus To Better Manage This Pest” – July 16th, 12pm EST Click HERE to ...

June, 2026 DLI Report

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(Originally published on  ONgreenhousevegetables.ca on June 14, 2026 by Greenhouse Floriculture Summer Student Kendra van der Wier ) Welcome to the Vineland DLI report for June 2026! Here in Vineland, June has been a sunny and very hot month! In June 2026, Vineland received 53% more light in June than in April! (May 2026 data was not available). Read on for detailed graphs and more information. Only looking for certain information? Use the table of contents to navigate between sections: Data Summary – Leamington & Vineland Monthly Radio Report Background Objectives Materials and Methods DLI Data Data Summary – Leamington & Vineland DLI data were available for two and half weeks in June for Leamington-Kingsville. The average DLI for the month of June 2026 for Leamington-Kingsville was 61 moles/m2/day. The maximum DLI was 73.1 recorded on June 7th, and the minimum DLI was 38.9 recorded on June 21st. DLI data were available for ...

Upcoming Webinar: Getting to Know Thrips parvispinus

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Flowers Canada Growers (FCG) has recently been hosting a webinar series on Thrips parvispinus . This series goes over what we’ve uncovered about this pest here in Ontario during a joint project by the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agri-business (OMAFA) The first webinar covered the Start Clean approach for cuttings infested with Parvispinus (that recording will be made available shortly). The next webinar will be held on Thurs, July 16th , and will go over interesting behaviors and ecology we’ve learned about Parvi that could help us better manage this pest. Read on for more details. Flowers Canada Growers Webinar Series What: “Getting to Know Parvispinus To Better Manage This Pest” Biocontrol programs developed for western flower thrips do not appear to be effective against Thrips parvispinus . This webinar will examine what ...

Fourth Intake of Agricultural Stewardship Initiative Cost-Share Funding Program Opens July 8, 2026

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This post was originally published on ONgreenhousevegetables.ca on  June 22, 2026   by  Averie Mastronardi The governments of Ontario and Canada are investing an additional $12 million through the Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (ASI) to help farmers adopt practical improvements that increase efficiency, reduce costs and build long-term resilience. This initiative delivers on the government’s plan to protect Ontario’s farmers and agri-food sector by making strategic investments in cutting-edge solutions needed to support modern farming and help the sector remain resilient and competitive in the global marketplace. Read on for program details and key dates. Background Program Details Key Dates Background As part of the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Initiative, the Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (ASI), provides cost-share funding to support farmers to accelerate the adoption of best management practices (BMPs) supporting soil health, water q...

Effective Mass Trapping For Summer Thrips, Part 2: Colour, Placement and Duration

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Yellow or blue – that is the question. Photo by A. Summerfield. Part 1 last week covered WHY to trap and WHEN to it’s best to put up your cards. This post goes over trap colour and placement to optimize thrips catches while reducing effects on natural enemies. Although I’ve talked about this in older posts, I’ve put this data in context of what we know now, in terms of the various thrips species that invade Niagara greenhouses . I’ll also be sharing some data on card duration . If that isn’t exciting enough for you, next week’s Part 3 will discuss whether or not using lures is worth it to increase thrips catches . Choosing the Right Trap Colour Western Flower Thrips – It’s Complicated Onion Thrips Know What They Want Will Mass Trapping Cards Trap My Bios? Optimal Trap Placement – What Kind of Greenhouse do You Have? How Long are Sticky Cards Sticky? Summary: Using Cards Effectively Choosing the Right...