Get Online

You have to be smarter than ever these days to keep up with the all the new pests and diseases in our industry. Not only is there a constant influx of new problems from distant lands, but these pests are also developing resistance to many of our current tools. How do you keep up with the current information while everyone is so busy? Answer: you can turn to the Internet. There is so much great information available on the Internet these days, but caveat emptor: anyone can put up a website. There is no Internet police making sure what is posted is true or accurate, so try and stick with the reputable sites such as university pages or other reliable sources.

Books online
With the digital era now well established, more books are being published digitally. There is something to be said for holding real paper in your hands, but think of the possibilities of carrying your library with you on a tablet computer. Another great thing about electronic books is there are a lot of useful ones that are free online. You simply download the PDF to your device and then you can read, just like a paper copy.

Greenhouse IPM –Manual with an Emphasis on Biocontrols – Don’t think that because this mentions ‘greenhouse’ in the title that nursery growers will not find this useful. There is solid information on principles of IPM, pesticide compatibility and pest identification. http://extension.psu.edu/ipm/program/greenhouse/greenhouse-manual

Manage Insects on Your Farm: A Guide to Ecological Strategies – Again don’t let the title fool you. Nurseries are farms and this book can give you tools such as how to increase your farm biodiversity and how to encourage beneficial insects. www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Manage-Insects-on-Your-Farm

Beneficials on Farmland: Identification and Management Guidelines – Need to learn your good bugs? This book helps with ID and how to encourage the good guys in your production facility. www.hgca.com/publications/documents/cropresearch/Beneficials.pdf

Pest Thrips of the United States – Excellent guide to the thrips of economic importance done in flashcard format. www.ncipmc.org/alerts/chili_thrips_deck.pdf

Woody Ornamental Insect, Mite, and Disease Management – A book summarizing many of the pests that nursery growers may find in northern climates. From Penn State. http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/PDFs/agrs025.pdf

Controlling Weeds in Nursery and Landscape Plantings – Weeds are a big problem in nursery production. This book teaches you the management skills you need to control them. http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uj236.pdf

Field Guide to Stink Bugs – It’s important to know how to identify the brown marmorated stink bug, as well as some of the beneficial stink bugs. This pocket guide will give you help with ID. http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/444/444-356/444-356_pdf.pdf

Websites for ID
With everyone equipped with a camera these days (it would seem if you carry a phone you have a camera) more people are snapping photos of insects. But what to do with all these images? Put them online of course. A few websites have started collecting and organizing these images, which have turned out to be a great tool to identify pest issues.

Bugwood is one site that is very professional and well organized. Its goal “is to serve a lead role in development, consolidation and dissemination of information and programs focused on invasive species, forest health, natural resource and agricultural management through technology development, program implementation, training, applied research and public awareness at the state, regional, national and international levels.” www.bugwood.org

BugGuide – This is probably the largest collection of insect images online. It has a great search engine where you can put in a description on the insect and the site returns with insect photos for you to try and match up the insect. http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

University sites
University of Maryland, Commercial Horticulture – This site is updated regularly and has a lot of useful and practical information. You can see weekly IPM alerts for nursery and greenhouses. It has loads of factsheets that can be saved right to your computer. It also has a section for ongoing research. www.ipmnet.umd.edu/

Oregon State University, Pacific Northwest Nursery IPM – This website focuses on providing educational materials and links for the identification and management of pests in commercial nursery production in the Pacific Northwest. It’s probably best known for its snail and slug information. You can also sign up for their email alerts. http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nurspest/

University of California, IPM Online – This site has guidelines for pest monitoring techniques, pesticides, and nonpesticide alternatives for managing pests in the floriculture and ornamental nursery industry. http://ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/selectnewpest.floriculture.html

Cornell, IPM Program – This website has publications that provide weed, insect and disease management information, as well as both chemical and non-chemical controls. www.nysipm.cornell.edu/guidelines.asp

Pest Threats – A website loaded with images of exotic pest and disease problems that are a threat to the United States. http://pestthreats.umd.edu/

Facebook
Even Facebook can provide a lot of current industry information. It can also be a place to post images to help with a diagnosis and network with other industry professionals. To find these pages just go to Facebook and search for their names.

UT Extension, SoilPlantPestCenter. Keeping up with insect and disease issues in Tennessee.

IR4, IR4OrnHort. The goal of the IR-4 Ornamental Horticulture Program is to find pest management and plant growth regulator solutions for the ornamental horticulture industry.

PNW Plant Disease Management – Help and information on disease of the Pacific Northwest.

University of Illinois Plant Clinic, UofIPlantClinic – Information on pests and problems in Illinois.

Online tutorials
With the cost of travel going up, and with the difficulties many growers have getting away from their crops, more online classes and lectures are becoming popular and readily available. These resources can either be like attending a lecture or like an interactive tutorial.

UF/IFAS Bug Tutorials – 30 tutorials are available free online for free. They cover beneficial insects as well as foliar nematodes. There are two specific courses for ornamentals. Florida growers can apply for CEU’s. http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/pests/software/det_bugs.htm

NPDN First Detector – This site has several free e-learning modules on topics like chilli thrips, emerald ash borer and redbay ambrosia beetle/laurel wilt disease. New for 2012: the Sentinel Plant Network introductory modules; a Protect U.S. thousand cankers disease module; and a series of NPDN introductory entomology modules. www.firstdetector.org

National IPM Webinar series – Coordinated by North Carolina State University: Extension specialists from around the country speak on topics important to the nursery, greenhouse and landscape industry. They last about 40 minutes, plus audience Q&A. Sign up for notifications of upcoming webinars at http://ecoipm.com/ipm-webinar/

University of California – This online training program has several different courses including “Pesticide Application Equipment and Calibration.” There are also courses for retail nursery and garden center employees. http://ipm.ucdavis.edu/training/index.html

Apps
IPMPro - This app simplifies nursery and landscape pest control with location specific text-like alerts of emerging pests. It also provides images for ID and pesticide recommendations. IPMPro has a built-in pesticide application record keeping feature that quickly records and sends your pesticide application information to you by email. This one is not free, it’s $24.99 but you get a lot of useful tools. http://ipmproapp.com/

BioBest – Standing in your chemical shed looking at the wall of pesticides but not sure what’s compatible with your biocontrol program? You won’t have to wonder if you download the free app from BioBest. It’s great when you’re not near your computer. www.biobest.be