I thought I’d start the newsletter off with a special holiday challenge. Admittedly, the challenge has nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but I wanted to see how many of you could get a turkey after successfully completing the challenge. It’s more of a bowling reference than a Thanksgiving one. When you get three consecutive strikes in bowling it’s called a turkey; therefore, if you answered this and the previous two challenges correctly for three in a row, I’m going to call it a turkey. Sound like fun? Let’s see if you can do it.

  

Consumers are crazy about fall mums, unfortunately the majority of them are not cold hardy. For the perennial enthusiast out there, the Mammoth series offers unrivaled cold hardiness to this class. How hardy are they? All the way to Zone 3. 

Mammoth Coral Daisy	Mammoth Lavender Daisy

Mammoth Red Daisy	Mammoth Yellow Quill

Can you believe it’s already the end of November? 2022 is nearly over and before you know it the New Year will be here. Shortly after that many of us growers will begin ramping up production and filling up the greenhouses for the spring sales season. Have you ever felt like you just weren’t quite ready for spring production? Let me reassure you that you’re not alone. The good news is there are plenty of things you can do now to prepare for next spring’s crops.

1. Make sure all your inputs are ordered. Supply chain issues are still causing product shortages and shipping delays that are affecting many industries including greenhouses. Make sure you order potting mixes, plastic trays and pots, fertilizers and production inputs well ahead of when you will need them. Consider ordering in your summer and fall crops as well and storing the materials if you can.
2. Get your preventative maintenance done. Now is a great time to schedule preventive maintenance for your boiler, irrigation and shading systems. Make sure that all motors and alarms are working before you need to rely on them. No one wants to find out that their temperature alarm failed on a cold February morning! 
3. Sanitize NOW, THEN plan your disease management program. When it comes to diseases, a good clean out of your spring crop propagation and growing areas is as close to a “silver bullet” solution as we are going to get. This includes:

• Scrub down your benches.
• Sanitize benches AND drip lines, where organic matter, biofilm and disease spores can accumulate.
• Use new plug trays.
• Control fungus gnats and shore flies, as they can spread disease spores.

  
Sanitizing benches and irrigation equipment is key to starting the spring season off right. Photo credit OMAFRA.

4. Monitor pH for optimal nutrient uptake. Keeping the pH of your crops in an ideal range can help with a host of issues. To avoid common nutritional issues such as iron deficiency, it’s best to keep crops at a pH in the range of 5.5 to 5.8.
5. Know your PGR Plan. This time of year, we get lots of questions about rooting hormones and other PGR products and rates for spring liners that are about to come in the door. If you do use PGRs in the production of your spring crops, it’s best to do some reading now, and have the right products on hand. (The article includes several resources on PGRs.)
6. Prevent pests where possible. Dips aren’t just for whitefly on poinsettia! Research from the BioControl Lab at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has demonstrated dips can be an important weapon for reducing thrips, whitefly and spider mites in spring crops. (Read the article for plant safety and efficacy information on several potential cutting dips.)
7. Plan your Bio Program. Advanced planning can help you decide where you’re spending your dollars, and where you can potentially cut back based on last year’s performance. It can also help you plan for contingency issues (i.e., what are you going to do if your planned biocontrol program isn’t working?). See the article for great information on biological controls for aphids, mites and thrips.

• ALWAYS follow the label.
• Avoid making applications when there are wind gusts or the wind is blowing more than 10 miles per hour.
• Use low pressure and large droplet sizes to reduce the potential for spray drift.
• Use a deflector around the spray nozzle (hooded sprayers) when making applications close to crops. 
• Avoid making applications just prior to rain events. This will prevent runoff into irrigation sources.
• To decrease volatilization, do not apply herbicides during or prior to hot, dry (low humidity) or completely still conditions.