A great resource- and it looks like the late spring freeze link may be in need of dusting off this year!

http://plantsciences.utk.edu/pdf/managing_storm_disaster_damage_in_landscapes_nurseries.pdf 

Soil Testing Lab at Kansas State University – YouTube.

Kansas State University just released this video on how our soil testing lab works. I’m sure it is a similar process at all soil testing labs, but I thought you might find it interesting. There are quite a few people working in the lab, so for a very small investment in your local university soil testing lab (ours is $6 to $10.50 per sample depending on what you want to know), you can get excellent results very quickly.

The soil testing lab can also do analyses on water samples, plant tissue and soil-less media. For more information, contact your local university soil testing lab.

Matthew Chappell, Assistant Professor and Extension Horticulturist – Nursery Production, Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
Gary W. Knox, Extension Specialist and Professor, Department of Environmental Horticulture, North Florida Research and Education Center, Quincy, Florida.

Each year, one of the first questions both seasoned and new nursery producers, managers and owners asks is, “What plants should be propagated and/or grown in the upcoming season(s)?” Answering this question requires a complex equation of inputs ranging from the type of nursery operation that exists to physical location and market trends. For this reason, the answer to this question varies for each person or business. This publication describes several important factors that must be considered to properly assess which ornamental crops should be grown and which market niches exist that may dictate crop selection.

Get the entire publication here:

http://www.caes.uga.edu/Publications/pubDetail.cfm?pk_id=7992

Noel R. Gollehon, Senior Economist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Dept of Agriculture

This webinar analyzed the complexities of irrigation practices through data analysis and graphical representation of trends to educate, identify efficiencies and improvements, and provide an accurate representation of the irrigation “story.” Key take-aways included –

An analytical approach to agricultural irrigation that reveals the underlying drivers shaping current trends.

Improved irrigation methods from a farm and basin-wide perspective, resulting implications and unintended consequences.

Improved water management practices and application technologies with the potential for real change.

Additional information on myths regarding consumption versus use and return.

Accessing the archived webinar is pretty straightforward – and it is a free webinar that you can watch any time. Just click the link below.

Todd Hurt, UGA Center for Urban Agriculture Training Coordinator

Bodie Pennisi, UGA Extension Horticulture/Landscape Specialist

To watch archived presentations – click on the title for the month.

Visit http://ugaurbanag.com/webinars for more details.

Robert H. Stamps, professor of environmental horticulture and Extension cut foliage specialist, Mid-Florida Research and Education Center

Benghal dayflower (Commelina benghalensis L.), an increasingly problematic weed, is also known as jio, tropical spiderwort, hairy wandering jew, and Indian dayflower, among other names. It is an herbaceous monocot (flowering plant that produces one seed leaf and has fibrous roots, leaves with parallel veins, and flower parts occurring in multiples of three) that is native to Asia and tropical Africa. It was first collected in the continental United States in 1928, and in 1983, it was designated a “noxious weed” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Faden 1993). Benghal dayflower is also listed as a noxious weed by at least nine states, including Florida. This listing means that “it is unlawful to introduce, multiply, possess, move, or release any… noxious weed, or invasive plant regulated by the department [in Florida, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services] or the USDA …” (Florida Administrative Code Rule 5B-57.004).

For the rest of the article – visit:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep350

This posting officially begins the Spring 2012 season for SourceGeorgia. We hope you will find posting your availability links here will drive additional business your way. Remember, posting availability on this page is open to Georgia growers. Posting requests for plants is open to anyone who runs a commercial landscape, garden center or mail order business in North America. If you have any questions about policy, or need help linking/setting up web postings, feel free to email us. Hortprod@uga.edu for Matt, or Pathomas@uga.edu, for Paul.

Visit the page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SourceGeorgia-Ornamentals/196258363731202

By: Steve Frank – Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University; and

Kelly Ivors – Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University

The National IPM Webinar series was started in 2011 by Dr. Scott Ludwig at Texas A&M but is now run by Drs. Kelly Ivors and Steve Frank at NC State.  The webinar series is designed to provide timely information to the green industry through monthly seminars on the production and maintenance of ornamental plants.  The webinar series invites extension specialists from around the county to speak on topics important to the nursery greenhouse, and landscape industry with particular emphasis on issues relevant to the Southeast.  This provides an opportunity for green industry professionals to learn in-depth information from the specialists conducting research on a particular pest or horticultural issue.

The webinars are live presentations in which the presenter speaks while showing power point slides on screen.  The webinars last about 40 minutes then audience members can ask questions through a microphone (if they have one) or by typing their question.  The webinars are presented on a level that is instructive to growers, extension agents, and even specialists that need to learn about a particular topic.  Since just one topic is covered, specialists have the time to cover topics more thoroughly than in other extension outlets.  In addition, since the presenters are active researchers, the audience may hear about efficacy data or other management information that is not published and thus would not be available to specialists who normally give presentations in their state.

In the inaugural webinar held January 5, 2012 Kelly Ivors discussed the new boxwood disease Box Blight on which she is the US expert (http://go.ncsu.edu/box_blight_webinar).  Kelly had nearly 300 people participate in her seminar and 2400 more access the webinar since then.  The February webinar was about new research in the management of ambrosia beetles given by Steve Frank (http://go.ncsu.edu/ambrosia_beetle_webinar).  Both webinars were attended by growers, industry personnel, county extension agents, and extension specialists.  The March Webinar titled “‘Bark with a Bite’ Bark handling and what to watch out for”will be presented by Dr. Ted Bilderback March 8th at 11 am EST.

Webinars are typically scheduled for the first Thursday of each month starting at 11 am EST.  Announcements are sent out via a listserve.  This is not a discussion list. It is only used to send out information about  the webinar series.  You can sign up for the list serve by going to http://go.ncsu.edu/IPM_webinar_signup.  Simply enter your email address in the field at the bottom of the screen and click subscribe. Past webinars are posted online with audio so you can watch them at your convenience.  Links will be sent out via the list serve prior to each session.

To participate in a webinar click on the link sent out via the list serve (e.g. http://go.ncsu.edu/box_blight_webinar).  You will be able to enter the session starting at 10 am EST on the day it occurs.  This allows time for trouble shooting if necessary but the actual webinar will not start until 11 am EST.  You do not need any special software just an up-to-date browser and internet connection.  In order to test that your system requirements are acceptable, visit the Configuration Room linked on http://go.ncsu.edu/elluminate_config.

This new series provides a great opportunity to get up-to-date and timely information relevant to improving IPM in your business.  I hope you will consider joining webinar sessions that are pertinent to your business or accessing online at your convenience.  These webinars could also make good tools for training employees.  Due to budget cuts and new technology the nature of extension is changing.  At North Carolina State University we are staying ahead of the curve so you can too.

The IPM Webinar Series received initial sponsorship from many state organizations including:

.           Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association

.           Louisiana Nursery and Landscape Association

.           North Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association

.           North Carolina Commercial Flower Growers Association

.           Northeast Texas Nursery Growers Association

.           South Carolina Greenhouse Growers Association

.           South Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association

.           Southeast Texas Nursery Growers Association

.           Texas Nursery and Landscape Association

.           The Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association

.           Virginia Flower Growers Association

Why not make us your homepage and learn something (almost) everyday!

Here’s how…

Mozilla Firefox

If you like to keep things simple, here’s how to set your home page in three easy steps.

1. Open the web site you want to set as your home page. If you want a blank home page, open a new tab.
2. Click the icon to the left of the web address, drag it to the Home button, and release.

   

3. Click Yes to set this as your home page.

Try it out: Click the Home button and your new home page will load in the current tab. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Internet Explorer.
2. Navigate to the webpage you would like to set as the home page.
3. Click the arrow to the right of the Home button , and then clickAdd or Change Home Page.
4. In the Add or Change Home Page dialog box, do one of the following:
   • To make the current webpage your only home page, click Use this webpage as your only home page.
   • To start a home page tab set or to add the current webpage to your set of home page tabs, click Add this webpage to your home page tabs.
   • To replace your existing home page or home page tab set with the webpages you currently have open, click Use the current tab set as your home page. This option will only be available if you have more than one tab open in Internet Explorer.
5. Click Yes to save your changes.

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