“How-to” Video of the Week: Checking the Quality of Predatory Mite Sachets
In this week’s “how-to” video, we’ll continue exploring how to assess the quality of the biocontrol agents you receive.
This video focuses on a staple of thrips control – predatory mite sachets. These can be a bit trickier to assess than loose product, but it’s important to use the right technique to avoid underestimating the quality of sachets (something even I’ve been guilty of).
Keep reading to find the link to the video and additional resources.
Video Description
All videos were made by the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, in collaboration with the Ontario Ministry of Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA), and are applicable to both greenhouse floriculture and vegetable crops.
Disclaimer: the appearance of any products in these videos does not constitute endorsement by OMAFA or the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. Videos contain current information as of the initial release date. Some products or procedures that were not available or widely used at the time of filming were not included in these videos. Any products featured in the videos may currently be unavailable or discontinued.
Title: Quality Assurance of Slow Release Predatory Mite Sachets
Initial Release Date: 2020
Details: This video is a simple how-to-guide to quality checking predatory mites received in sachet form using walk-out counts. This technique is considered the “gold standard” for assessing mite sachets.
More information related to this video:
- You can find the Quality Assurance Guide by the Vineland, Research and Innovation Centre here: https://www.vinelandresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Grower-Guide.pdf
- Learn more about biocontrol product quality standards used by the industry here: https://anbp.org/about/quality-assurance/
Just a reminder that purpose of these videos and the quality control guide is to help you learn more about what a “normal” emergence rate looks like, week-to-week, and to determine if any problems may have occurred with a particular product or shipment. Always work with your biocontrol supplier if you feel there is a potential issue. Remember that issues on-farm can affect product quality, too, such as improper storage.
Refer to this blog post on factors that can affect predatory mite sachets as a great example where quality assessments and working with the supplier helped us solve a mystery!
You can also watch the video on how to assess loose predatory mites, along with other predators sold in bulk, by clicking checking out this post.
Acknowledgements:
These videos were funded by the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance (previously the OMAFA-U of G Partnership). This is a collaboration between the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Agribusiness and the University of Guelph to advance research and innovation that contributes to the success of the province’s agri-food sector and promotes rural economic development. Videos were made as part of the KTT Funding Program stream.
Funding was also received by the Canadian Greenhouse Conference.
We sincerely thank those that contributed to the making of these videos, including: Dr. Rose Buitenhuis (Vineland), Jesse DeHaan (Vineland), Dr. Sarah Jandricic (OMAFA), Laxmi Khadka (Vineland), Cara McCreary (OMAFA), Caitlin MacDonald (Vineland), Ashley Summerfield (Vineland) and Taro Saito (Vineland).
We also thank Omni Media for video production.
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