Pest Management Strategic Plan for Container and Field-Produced Nursery Crops Based on a workshop held July 30-31, 2009 at the North Carolina Research and Education Center, Mills River, NC Workshop sponsored by a grant from the Southern Region IPM Center and coordinated by the Southern Nursery Integrated Pest Management Working Group (SNIPM) PMSP Authors: Craig Adkins, Greg Armel, Matthew Chappell, J.C. Chong, Steven Frank, Amy Fulcher, Frank Hale, William Klingeman III, Kelly Ivors, Anthony LeBude, Joe Neal, Andrew Senesac, Sarah White, Jean Williams-Woodward, Alan Windham Editor and contact: Amy Fulcher University of Kentucky Department of Horticulture N318 Ag Science North Lexington, KY 40546-0091 859-257-1273 [email protected] Table of Contents Workshop Participants .................................................................................................................................. 5 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 9 About the Workshop ................................................................................................................................. 9 Workshop Agenda .................................................................................................................................... 9 Overall Priorities ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Research Priorities .................................................................................................................................. 12 Extension Priorities ................................................................................................................................. 12 Regulatory Priorities ............................................................................................................................... 13 Background ................................................................................................................................................. 14 Pre-Meeting Survey Results ................................................................................................................... 14 Table 1. Pre-meeting ranking of insects by a focus group of ten nursery crop growers (two growers per state, GA, KY, NC, SC, TN). .................................................................................................................. 14 Table 2. Pre-meeting ranking of diseases by a focus group of ten nursery crop growers (two growers per state, GA, KY, NC, SC, TN). ........................................................................................................... 15 Table 3. Pre-meeting ranking of field and container weeds by a focus group of ten nursery crop growers (two growers per state, GA, KY, NC, SC, TN). ..................................................................................... 16 Nursery Crop Production ............................................................................................................................ 17 Introduction to Nursery Crop Production ............................................................................................... 17 Table 4. Number of producers, total acreage and value of nursery crops for five southern states. ....... 19 Field Production ...................................................................................................................................... 20 Land/Soil Preparation ..................................................................................................................... 21 Planting ........................................................................................................................................... 22 Fertilization ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Irrigation ......................................................................................................................................... 24 Container Production .............................................................................................................................. 28 Substrates ........................................................................................................................................ 28 Irrigation ......................................................................................................................................... 30 Irrigation: Frequency and uniformity .............................................................................................. 30 Irrigation: Water quality retention basins and recycling ................................................................. 31 Fertilization ..................................................................................................................................... 36 2 Calendar of Worker Activities in Field Nursery ..................................................................................... 37 Nursery Crop Production Literature Cited .............................................................................................. 43 Key Pest Profiles and Critical Issues: Insect Pests ..................................................................................... 46 Entomology Extension Priorities ................................................................................................................ 81 Entomology Research Priorities.................................................................................................................. 82 Arthropod Priorities .................................................................................................................................... 83 Table 5. Arthropods ranked by growers and university representatives on difficulty to control and prevalence. .............................................................................................................................................. 83 Table 6. Efficacy of chemicals for selected insect control ...................................................................... 84 Entomology Literature Cited .................................................................................................................. 86 Entomology General References ............................................................................................................ 86 Key Pest Profiles and Critical Issues: Diseases .......................................................................................... 87 General Disease Control Practices for Nursery Ornamentals ................................................................. 87 Cultural Control Practices ....................................................................................................................... 87 Table 7. Products or treatments used for sanitizing tools, equipment, pots, flats, and surfaces. ............ 89 Disease Resistance .................................................................................................................................. 91 Chemical Control .................................................................................................................................... 91 Plant Profiles for Select Diseases for Container and Field Nurseries ......................................................... 93 Table 8. Chemicals recommended for Phytophthora and Pythium root rot control. ............................ 110 Emerging Diseases ................................................................................................................................ 113 Plant Pathology Extension Priorities......................................................................................................... 114 Plant Pathology Research Priorities .......................................................................................................... 114 Disease Priorities ...................................................................................................................................... 115 Table 9. Diseases ranked by growers and university representatives by importance (10 being most important, 1 being least important). ...................................................................................................... 115 Table 10. Relative effectiveness of various chemicals for disease control in woody ornamentals. ..... 116 Plant Pathology Literature Cited ........................................................................................................... 118 General References ............................................................................................................................... 118 Key Pest Profiles and Critical Issues: Weedy Plants, Liverworts and Algae ............................................ 119 Weed Overview .................................................................................................................................... 119 Plant Profiles for Select Weeds1 for Container and Field Nurseries ......................................................... 120 Select Broadleaf Weeds ........................................................................................................................ 120 Select Broadleaf Weed Profiles ...........................................................................................................