savage garden

Anyone following this blog for the last few years knows I like to remind y’all to make sure you treat your plants for Japanese beetle before May 15! This is because NO pesticides are allowed when Japanese beetle (JB) pupae are present (generally, May 15-June 15 in Ontario),which has gotten some growers into a pickle during spring shipping in the past. Note that if you’re a nursery crop grower also treating for boxtree moth, you may surpass the maximum allowed applications or rate of Acelepryn per year if you also need to treat for JB . In that case, it might be better to time your treatments for JB in order to use intercept (imidacloprid) instead. So make sure to check out the pesticide timing chart in the JB Infographic in the full post. This year, I’ve updated the JB Decision Tree and Infographic to include shipping requirements to different areas in the United States . So, if you or your staff need more clarification on any of these points, make ...

An overcast day in Niagara Falls, Canada. Photo by A Glimpse of Canada . (Originally published on  ONgreenhousevegetables.ca on April 14, 2026  by  Fadi Al-Daoud ) Welcome to the Vineland DLI report for March, 2026! So far, March looks like it’s off to a bit of a dreary start in Niagara , with the average DLI in Vineland only a smidge above February. Read on for the detailed data report and more information about our DLI data collection project. Only looking for certain information? Use the table of contents to navigate between sections: Summary Background Objectives Materials and Methods DLI Data DLI and PPFD data Excel sheet Summary DLI values for only the first three weeks of March were available for Leamington-Kingsville. The average DLI for the month of ­­­­­March, 2026 for Leamington-Kingsville was 24 moles/m 2 /day. The maximum DLI was 41 recorded on March 9 th , and the minimum DLI was 5 recorded on March 5 th . The average DLI for the mont...

An on-farm trial comparing different brands, types and colours of sticky traps done by OMAFA. This is a guest post written by Jessie deHaan (M.Sc.; Research Technician, Biological Crop Protection at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre). Now that it’s halfway through spring bedding plant season, you may be considering changing some of your current IPM or production practices for next year that just aren’t working as well as they could. Conducting on-farm trials is an easy way to evaluate how well a new product, process or technology will work in your operation. Before making any large-scale changes, it is important to test things on a small scale first . Read on to learn how you would go implementing a small on-farm trial to get you results that are meaningful. The Basics of On-Farm Trials Because this is a long post, we’ve put in this table of contents so you can quickly refer back to a section if you’re setting up your own trial in the future! The Basics of On-Far...

OSCIA is offering a free two-part webinar will explore practical steps growers can take to strengthen biosecurity in greenhouse and plant production operations. A technical expert will highlight key practices that help reduce risk and protect plant health. Participants will also learn about potential cost-share opportunities and will receive a Greenhouse Biosecurity workbook  to help develop a biosecurity plan. Workshop details Tuesday, March 24, 2026 – 7:00 to 9:00 PM Tuesday, March 31, 2026 – 7:00 to 9:00 PM Participation in both sessions is required . Growers can register here: https://workshops.osciaportal.org/workshop/registration/48?workshopEventId=2225 To help with planning, we encourage participants to register by March 17 . Questions can be directed to Jenn Nash, East Central Region Field Representative. You can reach her at 705-991-3909 or jnash@ontariosoilcrop.org

Last week, I posted an updated IPM plan for Mandevilla that balances Thrips parvispinus (“Parvi”) control while taking into consideration other pests , as well as costs . The last post covered propagation in detail , including biocontrols and chemicals. This week I’ll be going over the best way to balance control of Thrips parvispinus (“Parvi”) and two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) in production. I’ll provide a working Parvi spray program that gives you high-quality plants by sale, but also makes sure spider mites don’t walk away with your crop (or your wallet!). New IPM Program Incorporating TSSM Control TSSM in Early Production: The Perfect Time for Biocontrol TSSM and Parvi Control After Spacing: Microbials to the Rescue? Spring Nights Bring More Mites: And Biocontrol Again? Crop Clean Up for TSSM: The Big Guns Take Home Messages From Part 2 New IPM Program Incorporating TSSM Control If you missed it in the last post, the PDF below contains the proposed new IPM...