savage garden

On Wednesday, December 17th, please join Greg Bryant , Technical Lead at Beneficial Insectary, for an hour-long exploration of what nematodes can do, if you treat them right. To attend, please continue reading and click on the registration link in the webinar poster or at the end of the post. Description: Who: Greg Bryant, Technical Lead at Beneficial Insectary What: Nematodes can be a valuable component for many Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs, but proper utilization is critical for success. This presentation will provide guidance on proper quality control practices and application techniques, along with how to avoid common mistakes that can lead to poor results. Note, this presentation was given live at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference in October 2025. This webinar is hoping to reach those that weren’t able to attend in person . When: Wednesday, December 17th, 12-1pm Where: on Zoom. Please register for this Webinar by using this link: https://us06web.z...

Fig. 1. Two-spot cotton leafhopper. Photo by A. Revynthi, University of Florida. Just when we think we have Thrips parvispinus under control, a new pest is threatening tropical ornamentals. The two-spot cotton leafhopper ( Amrasca biguttula ) is mainly a pest of – you guessed it, COTTON – but also attacks hibiscus . Growers in Ontario should be aware of this pest if importing hibiscus cuttings from the Southern U.S ., where this pest has currently invaded. There’s been lots of good information shared on this pest recently. Read on for a summary relevant to ornamental growers, including what to look for , effective pesticides and what actions you should take NOW. The Pest: A pest alert was first put out by Florida Department of Agriculture in 2023 . Since then, Two-spot cotton leafhopper (or TSCL from now on, because I’m not typing that out forever) was first found in the mainland U.S. in the summer of 2025, according to a publication by several researchers in that region ....

Background Purpose Materials and Methods DLI Data DLI and PPFD data Excel sheet Tell us what YOU want Background We mounted a daily light integral (DLI) meter on the border of Leamington and Kingsville, Ontario, in 2024, and another DLI meter at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (VRIC) in Vineland, Ontario, in 2025 to give greenhouse producers in those areas access to publicly available light data. The Vineland data is available on this blog. If you are interested in the Leamington-Kingville data, you can download the excel sheet at the bottom of this post or visit the  ONGreenhouseVegetables blog for more details. Daily light integral (DLI) data is important to greenhouse production because it measures the amount of light that is available to the crop. This data can be used to adjust the growing environment, such as irrigation and carbon dioxide levels, to optimize photosynthesis and crop yield. DLI  is the total amount of light within the pho...

As December winds down, thoughts are now turning to spring crops. This can include spring bedding crops or nursery plants coming out of their winter sleep. Both of these can bring onslaughts of pests like thrips, fungus gnats, shore flies and even weevils. Nematodes are an important natural enemy in fighting these pests, and are often the gateway into using more biocontrol. But are you using them to the best of their abilities? Please join Greg Bryant , Technical Lead at Beneficial Insectary, for an hour-long exploration of what nematodes can do, if you treat them right. To attend, please continue reading and click on the registration link in the webinar poster or at the end of the post. Description: Who: Greg Bryant, Technical Lead at Beneficial Insectary What: Nematodes can be a valuable component for many Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs, but proper utilization is critical for success. This presentation will provide guidance on proper quality control practices a...