Southeastern nursery growers now have a new best friend when fighting pests and diseases. A new book, available in hard copy and iBook format for iPads, is now available, thanks to the Southern Nursery IPM Working Group.

The book—IPM for Select Deciduous Trees in Southeastern US Nursery Production—is a compilation of information about IPM for the major tree genera in nursery crop production in the southeast. The 320-page iBook covers sustainable management for insects, mites, disease, and weeds for the top-selling deciduous trees, as well as propagation and production information, genus by genus. The book demonstrates how each aspect of production can impact pest problems and management. Each chapter is centered on one crop, so answers to pest problems with “birch” or “dogwood” are easy to find.

The iBook includes movies illustrating techniques like grafting, hand-digging, and more as well as a custom glossary for terms specific to nursery production and pest management. While this resource is invaluable to nursery growers, landscapers, arborists, garden center owners, students and educators will also find it useful.

IPM for Select Deciduous Trees in Southeastern US Nursery Production was written by university Extension specialists in nursery production, plant pathology, entomology and weed science with partial support by the Southern Region IPM Center in Raleigh, NC.

Authors include extension specialists from the Southern Nursery IPM Working Group:

• Craig Adkins, NC State University
• S. Kris Braman, University of Georgia
• Matthew Chappell, University of Georgia
• Juang-Horng Chong, Clemson University
• Jeffrey Derr, Virginia Tech
• Winston Dunwell, University of Kentucky
• Steven Frank, NC State University
• Amy Fulcher, University of Tennessee
• Frank Hale, University of Tennessee
• William Klingeman, University of Tennessee
• Gary Knox, University of Florida
• Anthony LeBude, NC State University
• Joseph Neal, NC State University
• Mathews Paret, University of Florida
• Nicole Ward, University of Kentucky
• Sarah White, Clemson University
• Jean Williams-Woodward, University of Georgia
• Alan Windham, University of Tennessee
• Jill Sidebottom, NC State University, guest author

To download the book to iTunes, search for IPM for Select Deciduous Trees in Southeastern US Nursery Production. To view or download the iBook chapter by chapter, go to http://wiki.bugwood.org/SNIPM.

The iBook is formatted specifically for the iPad but can be downloaded as a pdf for viewing on any device. You can also view the book online from a computer or print it by chapter at the web address above. To request the book in hard copy, contact one of the authors or editors Amy Fulcher afulcher@utk.edu or Sarah Whiteswhite4@clemson.edu for one of the limited print editions.

The National IPM Webinar series is coordinated by Kelly Ivors and Steve Frank in the departments of Plant Pathology and Entomology at North Carolina State University. The webinar series is designed to provide timely information to the green industry through monthly seminars on the production and maintenance of ornamental plants.  We recently put together a new website for the series.

Webinars are typically scheduled for the first Thursday of each month starting at 11 am EST.  Announcements are sent out via a listserve.  You can sign up for the list serve by going to http://go.ncsu.edu/IPM_webinar_signup. To participate in a webinar click on the link sent out via the list serve.

If you have missed our recent webinars on Box Blight, Ambrosia beetles, Downy Mildew, or Japanese maple scale check out our new IPM Webinar Archives page.

By: Kelly Ivors, North Carolina State University

Ever wondered what to use to sanitize those tools? Well here ya go!

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

Bodie Pennisi, Extension Horticulture Specialist, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223      bpennisi@uga.edu
Paul Thomas, Extension Horticulture Specialist, 224 Hoke Smith Building, Athens, GA 30602    pathomas@uga.edu

This manual has been put together based upon consultation with Extension specialists and industry consultants with a great body of experience. Hundreds of greenhouse problems, and our experience with hundreds of business owners (as well as their responses to problems and the outcomes) have provided much insight into the best ways to handle problems, especially large scale losses. Based upon this experience, we recommend that each business owner decide in advance of implementation: 1) Who will be in charge of developing the records and documents required to maintain the information required for this system to work, and 2) Which management person will be given the ultimate responsibility/accountability for overseeing the diagnostic process, reporting the findings, implementing the recommendations from the owner/board, and finally, documenting the outcomes.

In general, the owners of most businesses (even small businesses with only five or more full time employees) are the least efficient people to handle the duties of record keeping, and absolutely the worst possible choice for handling the responsibilities of problem diagnosis. Ignoring the obvious impact an owner inquest has on employee morale, a major point to consider is how spending time on problem diagnosis might affect ongoing business. Most owners cannot afford to drop everything and dive into a production problem, although their emotions and attachments tell them to do so. The owner should be the one receiving the reports, taking recommendations from the staff, and formulating a response to the problem(s) based upon facts and recommendations. The likelihood the diagnosis will be carried out in a consistent manner increases dramatically by making this work a formal part of a manager’s duties, or by hiring a qualified consultant, rather than the owner taking on the work. This strategy also keeps the owner out of the emotional stresses problem diagnosis can generate. By keeping a clear mind and some distance from the problem diagnosis process, rational and effective decisions are more easily made. Owners will also find reading this document a bit easier if they decide in advance this is not work they will have to incorporate into their busy schedules. We respectfully offer this advice as perhaps the most important issue to be considered within this document.

For the full manual (publication) – visit:

Diagnostics System for Crop History and Disorders in Greenhouses and Nurseries – UGA Extension Publication B 1273