Crop Profile: Nursery Ornamentals – 1 Crop Profile for Nursery Ornamentals in New York I. Profile Prepared By: Michael Helms /George Good / Eric Harrington Cornell University/PMEP 5123 Comstock Hall Ithaca, NY 14853 607-255-1866 II. Basic Commodity Information State Rank:............................. 22nd % U.S. Production: ............... approximately 2% Acres Planted: ....................... 10,000 to 12,000 Harvested:.............................. 5,000 to 6,000 Cash Value: ........................... $49,197,000 (1997 Census of Agriculture) Yearly Production Costs:..... There has never been a documented analysis of production costs associated with the nursery industry in New York State. It would be very difficult to do because of the variety of crops that are produced and the different production methods that are used to get crops to a salable size. Production Regions: Long Island NY (Suffolk County), Western NY (Erie and Cattaraugus counties), various nurseries scattered throughout state. Cultural Practices: Unfinished plants & propagation material – The propagation of plants is an important part of the production cycle. Depending on the plant species (or cultivar), plants may be propagated by seed, cuttings, division (as is the case with some herbaceous perennials), budding, grafting, and tissue culture. Many nurseries propagate much of what they grow; however, many others purchase propagated material from nurseries outside of the state. Currently, a great deal of this material is brought into New York State. “Bare-root” production of nursery material – Evergreen and deciduous seedlings, deciduous shrubs, and deciduous shade and flowering trees are commonly grown in-ground (meaning the roots are buried in the ground) until they are of salable size. Once they are large enough to sell, they are dug in a dormant condition without the soil attached to the roots (or bare-root), usually in the fall. If these bare-root plants are not replanted immediately after harvest, they are placed in cold storage where they are held in a dormant condition for a period up to four months, unless they are sold earlier. Bare-root plants are less costly to ship because each plant does not have the extra weight of soil around the roots. “Balled and burlapped” production of nursery material – Evergreen shrubs and trees (both narrow-and broad- leaved types) and larger-sized deciduous shrubs and trees are commonly grown in-ground (roots in the ground) until harvest. They are then dug with a ball of soil around the root system. Burlap is placed around the ball of soil to hold the soil in place for shipping. This practice prevents excessive drying of roots during shipment and in the period before planting. The additional weight of the soil ball increases the cost of shipment considerably, thus each unit is more expensive to handle as compared to plants handled bare-root. Containerized plants – A considerable portion of the plants grown and sold by New York nurseries are handled in containers. All plant types, including herbaceous perennials, can be grown in containers that are totally above ground. When handled this way, the plants can be shipped and transplanted at any time of the year, including the middle of summer. Because of these advantages, the number of plants produced in containers in New York State increases every year. Container culture does require more critical and careful management as compared to in-ground, field production systems. Growing media selection, irrigation, fertilization, and overwintering are all management concerns that are extremely important because of the growth limitations a container imposes on the plants grown in them. Technology is available to deal with these issues so the challenges presented by them can be overcome. “Pot-in-Pot” production technology – A new production approach has found its way into some New York State nurseries. It uses container culture as described in the previous section, only the container is placed below ground. Holes are dug in the ground the diameter and depth of which match the size of the containers being Version: 06-22-04 The Crop Profile/PMSP database, including this document, is supported by USDA NIFA. Crop Profile: Nursery Ornamentals – 2 used. A container is pushed into the hole that is dug. A second container is pushed, or “sleeved,” into the first. Growing media and a plant are then placed in the second container. The plants are cared for just as one would care for a container planting that is totally above ground. This system allows one to grow shade trees in containers and avoid the problem of the trees being blown over creating “blowdowns.” This is a common problem in container nurseries growing plants having large canopies. “Pot-in-pot” systems also facilitate the use of trickle irrigation systems, fertigation technology, and weed management systems. More winter protection of the root system is provided with this type of system than with above ground containers since the root system is below the ground and not exposed to winter conditions. Statistics regarding the impact of this system in the state are not available, but as a production system, it is making headway relative to the other production systems described. General Comments – Regardless of the system used, plants have to be irrigated, fertilized, and pruned. Pest must be managed. The variety of insects, weeds, and diseases that can potentially plague nursery plants is immense, as demonstrated in this crop profile. Commodity Destination(s): 40% - Shipped to markets within New York State 60% - Shipped to markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Upper Midwest states. III. Woody Ornamentals: Deciduous Shade and Flowering Trees Examples include apple, ash, beech, birch, butternut, cherry, dogwood, elm, flowering fruits, hackberry, hawthorn, hickory, honeylocust, linden, black locust, London plane tree, magnolia, maples, mountain ash Pest Information: Insects Abbreviations used: GDD= growing degree days; PPI = plant phonological indicator A. Most Common 1. Aphids (various species) Type of Pest: Insect Frequency of Occurrence: Annually Damage Caused: Unthrifty plant, honeydew and sooty mold present, distorted or pale green foliage, reduced shoot growth. % Acres Affected: Pest Life Cycles: A woolly aphid common to beech is the beech blight aphid, Grylloprociphilus imbricator (Fitch) that feeds primarily on the bark of twigs and small branches. The beech blight aphid looks much like the woolly alder aphid, although greater quantities of snow white down are attached to G. imbricator. Harnamelistes spinosus (Shimer) also has no accepted common name, but it might well be called the spiny witch-hazel gall aphid. This aphid has a complex and most interesting life history; it alternates between two host plants of ornamental interest: witch-hazel (Hamamelis spp.) and birch (Betula spp.). H. spinosus may survive the winter in two ways: as an egg, laid on witch-hazel twigs or as a hibernating female, sometimes called a "pupa," on a birch tree. In the spring, after winter dormancy, the egg hatches. The resulting aphid develops into what is called a stem mother whose feeding results in the formation of a bud gall on the host. Affected plant buds become green to reddish oblong galls that are about 18 mm long and are covered with long, sharp spines. Each gall is hollow and contains many reddish young aphids, the offspring of the stem mother. An exit hole at the base of the gall allows the mature aphids to emerge and fly to their secondary host, birch. While spring development occurs on witch-hazel, changes take place in the overwintering aphid on birch. The hibernating female, or "pupa," becomes active at about the time birch leaf buds are opening. It moves from the bark to the new leaves where it gives birth to young aphids. The insect's growth and reproduction is extremely rapid with the leaves of an infested host soon showing symptomatic corrugations. The undersides of leaves within the corrugated folds fill with aphids and white granular material. Winged migrants develop on the leaves and seek out witch-hazel to lay their eggs and complete the life cycle. All of these activities occur before the end of June. H. spinosus is transcontinental but primarily a northern species. Injury ranges from premature leaf drop to dead twigs and branches. There is competition in some areas between the birch leafminer, Fenusa pusilia, and this aphid. Where both occur, the birch leafminer dominates and thereby reduces the aphid population. Version: 06-22-04 Crop Profile: Nursery Ornamentals – 3 In the aphid genera Betulaphis, Calaphis, Callipterinella, and Euceraphis there are numerous species that feed on the underside of birch foliage. Most are European introductions that now are broadly spread over Canada and the United States. Because birch trees do not flush or senesce their leaves simultaneously, these aphids find fresh foliage throughout most of the growing season, which allows for many generations. Calaphis betulaecolens (Fitch), a common large green aphid, often develops into large populations that produce honeydew in quantities that smuts much of the foliage. During the dormant season dark-colored egg clusters may be found, usually at branch crotches, on trees heavily infested during the previous growing season. All common species of birch are suitable hosts for this pest. It is not a serious pest of forest birch but is frequently a problem on shade and specimen trees. In the spring and early summer Callipterinelia calliptera (Hartig), Betulaphis brevipilosa (Borner), and Euceraphis betulae (Koch) utilize catkins as well as foliage as a food source. E. betulae utilizes secondary and main veins as feeding sites and in autumn, preferring senescing leaves. If disturbed, it readily drops from its feeding site. The rosy apple aphid, Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini), alternates hosts. Its primary hosts are Malus species where the egg overwinters on the bark. Newly hatched nymphs move to newly developing foliage and often establish huge colonies of pink to purplish aphids on the undersides of leaves.