The following is a good article on care of plants in a retail setting from the New England Greenhouse Update.
Plants on display in your garden center or farm stand require regular, gentle watering to maintain high quality. Watering should be completed during the daylight hours, to allow plants to dry before dark. The drying will help prevent foliar diseases. If plants are to be watered by hand, be sure to furnish sufficient time and personnel to water thoroughly. Anything less, and plant quality will decline rapidly.
Place hanging baskets in areas beside the aisles, not over aisles where water and fertilizer will drip onto customers and create a hazard.
Keep plants and surrounding areas in order and clean even during the busiest times. Removing dead and injured plants and spent flowers are essential at least twice a day even during the busy season. Customers get turned off when plants look bad and high ethylene concentrations from decaying plant tissue will causes premature loss of foliage and flowers. A skilled employee isn’t necessary for these jobs, but a competent one is. Employees should carry pruning shears and wear work aprons with large pockets where they can keep dead flowers and debris from plants in the sales area until they can find a waste can.
Plants in hanging baskets and planters will stay in those containers throughout the summer and will need to be fertilized in a retail operation. Depending on the plants, options include fertilizing on a weekly basis, using 400 ppm N or 200 ppm N at every watering or topdressing with a controlled- release fertilizer according to directions. Retailers should communicate with their wholesale growers to make sure controlled-release fertilizer has not already been applied prior to shipping.
Potted plants and bedding plants left over after the busy weekend will also need fertilizing, especially if they have been irrigated and spot watered with only plain water for several days. Inspect the root health and if healthy, fertilize, using 200 ppm N. Poor root health may indicate a need for a fungicide application.
Article by Paul Lopes, University of Massachusetts and Tina Smith, University of Massachusetts in the current New England Greenhouse Update http://www.negreenhouseupdate.info/greenhouse_update/index.php
Showing posts with label retail sales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retail sales. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Greenhouse and Nursery - Pest Management in Retail Yards
The following is a good article on pest management in retail yards from the New England Greenhouse Update website.
Integrated pest management practices such as inspecting incoming plants, weekly monitoring, sound cultural practices, pest identification and problem diagnosis are just as important for retail greenhouses as production greenhouses.
Inspecting incoming plants is the most important method to prevent problems from developing in retail operations. If at all possible, do not accept plant shipments with serious insects or diseases with wide host ranges, and are difficult to treat. If you find isolated evidence of some insect activity, for example, aphids, and decide to keep the shipment, identify an isolated, quarantine area in which to keep the plants. Treat immediately and hold the plants in this area until you are sure that they are healthy, salable and free of pest problems.
Retail greenhouses have many challenges for managing pests that are different from production greenhouses. Retail greenhouses are open to the public long hours, often 7 days a week, making the timing of pesticide treatments difficult. Retailers purchase plants from many different suppliers, making it difficult to track past pest treatments. It is difficult to get good spray coverage with large, finished plants, ready for sale. Plants in bloom or with tender growth are more susceptible to spray injury.
So, choosing an insecticide or fungicide is much more difficult. Here are a few questions to ask before selecting a material:
-Do I really need to treat?
-Is it cost effective? Is it more cost effective to toss out only a few infected plants?
-Is the product effective? How fast acting?
-What is the Re-entry Interval (REI)? Is it under 12 hrs?
-Will it damage blooms?
-Will it leave an unsightly residue? Wettable powders tend to leave residue.
-Will it leave an odor?
-What crops are listed on the label?
-Does it come in a container size appropriate for my needs?
-What is the active ingredient? How does it work? What is its mode of action? Is it in a different chemical class than other products that I have on hand?
-What is the labeled rate? Can it be used in small quantities such as 1 or 5
gallons?
For more information, including a listing of some selected insecticides and fungicides for retailers, see the fact sheet: Pest Management for Retail Greenhouses and Garden Centers at the following web site:
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/greenhs/htms/o6IPMRetailGreenhouseGardenCenter.pdf
Information from Leanne Pundt, University of Connecticut and Tina Smith, University of Massachusetts in the New England Greenhouse Update website: http://www.negreenhouseupdate.info/greenhouse_update/index.php
Integrated pest management practices such as inspecting incoming plants, weekly monitoring, sound cultural practices, pest identification and problem diagnosis are just as important for retail greenhouses as production greenhouses.
Inspecting incoming plants is the most important method to prevent problems from developing in retail operations. If at all possible, do not accept plant shipments with serious insects or diseases with wide host ranges, and are difficult to treat. If you find isolated evidence of some insect activity, for example, aphids, and decide to keep the shipment, identify an isolated, quarantine area in which to keep the plants. Treat immediately and hold the plants in this area until you are sure that they are healthy, salable and free of pest problems.
Retail greenhouses have many challenges for managing pests that are different from production greenhouses. Retail greenhouses are open to the public long hours, often 7 days a week, making the timing of pesticide treatments difficult. Retailers purchase plants from many different suppliers, making it difficult to track past pest treatments. It is difficult to get good spray coverage with large, finished plants, ready for sale. Plants in bloom or with tender growth are more susceptible to spray injury.
So, choosing an insecticide or fungicide is much more difficult. Here are a few questions to ask before selecting a material:
-Do I really need to treat?
-Is it cost effective? Is it more cost effective to toss out only a few infected plants?
-Is the product effective? How fast acting?
-What is the Re-entry Interval (REI)? Is it under 12 hrs?
-Will it damage blooms?
-Will it leave an unsightly residue? Wettable powders tend to leave residue.
-Will it leave an odor?
-What crops are listed on the label?
-Does it come in a container size appropriate for my needs?
-What is the active ingredient? How does it work? What is its mode of action? Is it in a different chemical class than other products that I have on hand?
-What is the labeled rate? Can it be used in small quantities such as 1 or 5
gallons?
For more information, including a listing of some selected insecticides and fungicides for retailers, see the fact sheet: Pest Management for Retail Greenhouses and Garden Centers at the following web site:
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/greenhs/htms/o6IPMRetailGreenhouseGardenCenter.pdf
Information from Leanne Pundt, University of Connecticut and Tina Smith, University of Massachusetts in the New England Greenhouse Update website: http://www.negreenhouseupdate.info/greenhouse_update/index.php
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