Nursery Crop Production
Sustainable Nursery Crop Production
Federal regulations and regional irrigation restrictions have caused nursery producers to become more aware of and manage more judiciously their use of water, fertilizers and pesticides.
The nursery industry as a whole, however, still relies on synthetic fertilizers and imported substrate components. In 1998, container nurseries typically spent about 12% of their supply budget on fertilizers, and substrate costs were nearly 20% of the supply budget.
New container nursery production strategies could offer environmental sustainability as well as profitability if inputs of synthetic fertilizers and imported substrate components could be reduced. Gary Knox and Russ Mizell are part of a collaborative effort involving research into organic and other alternative methods of containerized production of landscape plants.
Evaluation of Plants for the Nursery and Landscape Industry
Consumers and landscape professionals are demanding new or improved landscape plants, including native wildflowers and grasses. Nurseries are scrambling to discover, develop, release and promote such plants. In the rush to market new plants, few efforts have been made to evaluate plants for adaptability to Florida, ornamental characteristics in north Florida, and potential for invading Florida's natural areas.
Gary Knox is cooperating on research and extension projects being conducted to screen and evaluate primarily nonnative species and cultivars for their ornamental attributes and potential adaptability to Florida's nursery and landscape industries. Similar cooperative work is being conducted by Jeff Norcini involving native wildflowers and grasses. In addition, Sandra Wilson (UF/IFAS, Indian River Research & Education Center) and Gary Knox are evaluating the potential invasiveness of several nonnative woody and herbaceous species.
Integrated Pest Management of Arthropod Pests
Insect and mites are very important pests of most nursery-grown plants, and as a result nursery growers incur significant expenses to manage them. Pest management programs in research and extension are aimed at developing the necessary biology, ecology and management information to support "green" industry needs.
 Indication of Asiatic Ambrosia Beetle attack. |
The granulate ambrosia beetle, Xylosandrus crassiusculus, is an invasive species that is a major pest of woody landscape trees in spring. Questions concerning the behavior, biology and management of this species are being addressed with several innovative techniques.
American sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, is an important shade tree in the landscape due to its rapid growth. It is attacked by many diseases and insects. Sycamore lace bug, Corythucha ciliata, is an important pest whose feeding damage causes the leaves to turn brown. Sycamore lace bug populations reach high numbers in late July and August in north Florida/south Georgia and make the trees very unsightly. We are presently evaluating the potential for host plant resistance in sycamores with various lineages. We are also investigating the vectors of sycamore leaf scorch caused by the bacterium, X. fastidiosa.
Current projects are aimed at developing alternative pests management tools and include, improved monitoring methods and controls for the Asiatic Ambrosia Beetle Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky), the evaluation of sycamore cultivars for sycamore lace bug resistance and the augmentation of biological control through behavioral manipulations of natural enemies. We have developed a primary source of nursery IPM information that is available through the Woody Bug online database.
More Information
For more information on Nursery Crop Production, contact Gary Knox or Russ Mizell.