Tag Archives: IPM
Meet the Team: WINTER UPDATE
At the Western Region International Plant Propagators Society (IPPS), the Pacific Northwest Insect Management Conference (PNWIMC), and the Orchard Pest and Disease Management Conference (OPDMC) last month, we presented cutting-edge research and advancements in our field. Our presentations at the Western Region IPPS and PNWIMC focused on the latest developments in sensor-controlled irrigation, and flatheaded borer management, respectively.
At the Orchard Pest and Disease Management Conference, we discussed the latest techniques in IPM for managing powdery mildew with biological fungicides applied by our laser-guided Intelligent Sprayer system. Through our presentations at these conferences, we aim to advance the knowledge and understanding of plant health in our field and to promote collaboration among professionals. By sharing our research and engaging in discussions with our peers, we strive to advance the science of horticultural production to support the growth and success of the horticulture in the Pacific Northwest region.
At NWREC, we have been working on our new hydroponic greenhouse project. However, since October we have encountered construction challenges in connecting the natural gas heaters, which has impacted the growth of crops such as lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. As a result, lettuce growth has been slow and plagued by Botrytis, and warmer-growing crops like tomatoes and cucumbers have fared even worse. We are working to resolve the permitting issues with the heaters as soon as possible and look forward to updating you on the progress of the greenhouse project in the coming year.
2022 Field Day Tour and Open House
August 23, 2022
Nackley Lab nursery production open house takes place August 23. 2023 from 11am – 2pm
Our event will be a part of the great Nursery related activities happening around the Willamette Valley as part of the Oregon Association of Nurseries Farwest Show, which will also feature Dr. Nackley, and Brian Hill, M.S. and many others from Oregon State and beyond.
The Nackley lab open house will feature research on our four themes: Irrigation science, pest management, plant health, and plant trials.
Free to all, no registration required.
Parking: follow signs to south side of the Cravo North Willamette Research and Extension Center and then follow signs walk 5 mins (west) to Nackley Lab Welcome Center.
Masks are welcome, not required, per University policy
The tour route will travel through fields with uneven terrain. Farm cart transport (e.g. gators) can be available for those who request assistance.
Schedule of Events
Field Tour
11 :00 -11:15 Station 1. Welcome, overview of the program and biostimulant research on Shade-Trees
11:15 – 11:30 Station 2. Plant-based irrigation scheduling: pressure bomb and infra-red thermography
11:30 – 11:45 Station 3. ET-based irrigation scheduling and Flatheaded borer research
11:45 – 12:00 Station 4. Cover cropping and Heat-stress prevention
12:00 – 12:15 Station 5. Boxwood blight control
12:15 – 12:30 Station 6. LiDAR “smart” air-blast sprayer and drone demonstration
12:30 – 1:00 Station 1. Open chat with research team, refreshments and grilled sides.
Open House
1:00 – 2:00 Self guided tour. Researchers will be at each of the six stations to answer questions. Sprayer demos will take place at station 6 every 15 mins.
Pest Management: The Enemy of My Enemy
There is an often-referenced but under-implemented army of spineless mercenaries wandering our nurseries in search of glory and fame.
Ok, that might be a bit melodramatic, but it’s not necessarily untrue. Natural enemies – that is, the natural enemies of PEST insects – are a naturally occurring force for good in production systems, feeding on every stage of many of our most economically important pests. Just as the pest insects invade when we supply an abundance of leafy hosts, the natural enemies of those pests respond to the abundance of prey. However, waiting and hoping these beneficial insects appear in sufficient numbers to manage a pest outbreak doesn’t always seem like a safe bet, which is why methods for enhancing the efficacy of natural enemies have become a staple in Integrated pest management strategies.
Utilizing natural enemies in crops has become increasingly popular as more species are available for mass releases from commercial suppliers – everything from the predatory mites that feed on the eggs and young of soft-bodied insects and other mites, to the above-pictured green lacewing, the juveniles of which not only appear as a tiny alligator, but feed just as voraciously (image right).
cr. Ralph Berry, OSU Entomology
Understanding both the pest and the natural enemies in your system is key to utilizing the natural enemies as a pest management resources. It’s important to target all stages of the pest insect, which means identify the natural enemies that attack the different stages and encouraging the natural enemy populations at the right time. There are three main strategies for encouraging natural enemies:
- Conservation. Conserving the natural enemies that already exist in the production zone includes providing habitat and alternate food resources, so that when they prey numbers decline, the natural enemies don’t leave the area. This could mean providing debris for overwintering or alternate host plants that will not only attract pest *away* from crops but give predators a continual food resource.
- Augmentation. Once you’ve identified the natural enemies in your system, you can temporarily boost the population size by augmenting with commercially available NEs to create more pressure on the pest population. This can be used to target adults during mating season to limit reproductive success, or used to target egg and juvenile stages to limit damage later in the season. Understanding pest biology will help make decisions on how and when to use this strategy. Combined with conservation strategies, this can provide long term suppression, potentially lasting more than a single season.
- Inundation. This strategy is similar to augmentation but is usually implemented in artificial settings, such as greenhouses, when natural enemy populations are usually low or non-existent. Introducing a natural enemy at a high density to control a pest population can provide rapid suppression, though in this strategy, it usually is less reasonable to expect the natural enemies to remain once pest numbers are low. This is usually implemented with the expectation that natural enemies will need to be reintroduced as need.
Of these strategies, augmentation is the most ideal place to start – harnessing the natural enemies already occurring in your production zone. In 2021, the Nackley Lab released the pocket guide to Common Natural Enemies in Nursery Crops and Garden Pests (image right, click to download) to aid in identification and to help with decision-making when it comes to using natural enemies in pest management strategies. With color images showing distinguishing characteristics, commonly mistaken species and information on scouting for these natural enemies, it can help you get started with natural enemies in your crop.
Pest Management: Springtime, the calm before the grape growing season storm
In early spring in western Oregon many orchard crops are breaking bud, bulbs are showing off in gardens and perennials are bursting into spring glory. Wine grapes, however, are late to break bud, with average dates at our research vineyard in Corvallis of about mid-April each year. The month period between mid-March to mid-April is a good time to check off a number of tasks before vines break bud and attention needs to turn to managing vine growth.
Controlling weeds is easiest to do when everything is growing slower such as in winter and early spring.
If there are any weeds below vines that have established over winter, control these with herbicides such as glufosinate, glyphosate, or paraquat. After existing weeds have been managed, applying a pre-emergent herbicide helps prevent future weeds from establishing by creating a protective layer of herbicide in the soil. Products such as Casoron and Goal work well, with Casoron being a granule and Goal being a liquid product. For some pre-emergent herbicides, precipitation is needed after application to wash the product into the soil for maximum efficacy. Always carefully read the product label before making an application of any pesticide.
Before vines get growing is a great time to go through the vineyard and remove or destroy vines with galls or cankers. Look for growths such as crown gall at the base of vines or open cuts on cordons or vine trunks. Crown gall can girdle vines, starving the vine of nutrients and water, and is particularly harmful to young vines. Vines infected with crown gall or with open cankers should be removed and burned or transported away from the site and destroyed. Care should be taken when removing vines with crown gall as it can be spread on tools.
Prevention of trunk diseases is key to vineyard longevity, and extended wet periods in spring are perfect conditions for trunk disease pathogens to establish. The pathogens that cause trunk diseases release spores during extended wet periods, and spores are then spread by rain and wind to open pruning cuts. Consider applying protective fungicide applications to cover recently opened pruning wounds to prevent infection. A chemical free way to prevent infection by these pathogens is called double or delayed pruning. A pruning cut is made to vines leaving longer stubs than needed. Later in the season when rains have stopped a second cut is made to the desired length to allow the vines to heal without rain and thus decreasing the chance of infection by trunk pathogens.
Once the grapes get growing it’s hard to keep up so inventory pesticides, PPE and other inputs and place orders for anything that is needed. Calibrate your sprayer, make sure your tractor is functioning well, and order any extra parts that might be needed for the season. A little preparation goes a long way in a successful season, best of luck to all in 2022!
Left: Crown gall makes disorganized, bumpy growths typically located at the base of vines. Remove all affected vines (including as much roots as possible) and destroy, while trying not to contaminate other adjacent vines. Decontaminate tools with 10% bleach or 70% ethanol.
People: The Serious Bees-ness of Bugs
Melissa Scherr
Melissa is Greek for “honey bee”, but I’m pretty sure my parents hadn’t given me the name expecting I’d take it quite so literally. Though when I’m hand-pollinating my corn in the summer to make sure I get well-fertilized, full cobs I thoroughly enjoy the irony. Even as a kid, one of my favorite hobbies was flipping over paving stones to capture worms and “rolly pollies” and other small insects in the unused canning jars in the garage… much to the horror of my parents when canning season came back around. Though I don’t think I was the only kid doing things like that, I have noticed that the Entomology community isn’t as big as it would be if all the kids grew up to become insect specialists.
Becoming an entomologist wasn’t exactly the dream I had growing up, either, and in all honesty, I didn’t even know it was a career path until college. In fact, I’d started university in the music program with a scholarship for Vocal Performance but not really knowing what I wanted for myself as a career. The biggest mistake of that career was testing into General Biology for Majors, because in my first term of classes I knew Biology was where I belonged. I finished my first year at college taking the minimum required credits to maintain my scholarship while doubling down on my biology, chemistry, and math courses. I began my second year as a biology major.
With my limited exposure to careers in science, I began exploring specialties through the courses I took at Oregon State University during my undergrad years. I took an Aquatic Entomology class that finally lit up all the ideas and passion that I felt for science, and it didn’t take long for me to decide that insects and ecology were going to be my path. I became fascinated with the interaction between insects and their environments, the way they could be used as living indicators, and tracked to understand weather patterns and the ecologies of other organisms.
From there, my desire to understand the way insects behave in response to changes in the environment evolved and I began to examine insects in changing landscapes of the Pacific Northwest: insect community aggregation in timber lands, pollinators in degraded and then restored landscapes, and channeled river systems in agricultural lands.
Working in Nursery production is very similar. In every ecosystem, the part of this job I enjoy the most is the new mystery and the strange way insects have adapted to life with humans in our tiny corner of the world. There are more questions than answers, and insects find a way to surprise and amaze me in every project – sometimes not in the best of ways, like when they disappear the same year a major grant is funded – but always in ways that make my job interesting and compelling. I plan to always be found crawling through the foliage, shaking leaves and scratching the soil, searching for tiny answers.