Shine in '09 webinar series

Texas AgriLife Extension Service has been sponsoring a series of three webinars around the topic of "High Performance Management to Survive Turbulent Times". There is one remaining open webinar coming up on May 12 titled: Marketing Green! If you're not familiar, a webinar is like attending a live seminar but everything is done on your computer using an internet connection. You will watch a slideshow and listen to a speaker in real-time. Questions can be asked by typing them.
The two previous webinars in the series focused on 'Action Points to Survive the Downturn' and 'Differentiating by being Sustainable' (this last webinar will be on April 14th but is already filled up). Check their website to hear a recording of the previous sessions and see the answers to questions that were asked.

Would you be interested in having CSU Extension develop a series of webinars targeted to the greenhouse and nursery industry in our state? If so, what would you be interested in learning about? You can take the poll below and/or leave a comment if you have a specific topic idea in mind (like, "thrips management in perennial stock plants"). Select all topics that you are interested in!

What topic ideas would you like to see CSU Extension address through a webinar format?
	Sustainable Practices
	Marketing Ideas
	Insect Management
	Disease Management
	Labor Issues
	Water Issues
pollcode.com free polls

Point source pollution from greenhouses and nurseries

Here is a link to an interesting article just published in the Journal of Extension titled, The Use of a Non-Point Source Pollution Self-Assessment for Greenhouse and Nursery Operators in California. Raises some good points on greenhouses conducting their own monitoring for excessive fertilization waste and other pollution source points coming from greenhouse and nursery operations.
Want to learn more about pollution prevention? Check out this article from CSU Extension, Pollution Prevention in Colorado Commercial Greenhouses!

Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) on Houstonia

It has been interested to see the wide range of symptoms that can be caused by virus. We received plugs of Houstonia caerulea into the diagnostic lab last week with leaf spots and dieback on the flower stalks. The spots themselves had a orange brown color. The root systems looked great-white, healthy looking, not pot-bound.
We incubated a few plugs in a moist chamber and plated the leaf spots onto CMA and PDA. No fungal growth and no sporulation ever occurred. There was also never any bacterial growth or streaming noted. Running out of possibilities , I decided to test with an AgDia combo strip for CMV, INSV, TSWV and TMV. The Houstonia tested postive for Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV)! I reran the test to confirm and again it was positive. I haven't been able to find a record of Houstonia being a host for CMV, yet (I'll admit I haven't done a concise search). The symptoms are interesting-with bright orange speckles on the leaf tissue and stems. (Click on any photo for a larger version.)

Close-up of foliage-note orange speckling.

This is the base of the stem, which also showed the orange speckling.

CMV is spread by aphids but also by mechanical transmission-meaning that workers can spread the virus when taking cuttings or otherwise moving infected plant sap.

Free Phytophthora online course

Are you interested in learning more about the disease Phytophthora and how it can affect your nursery?
Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Agriculture have developed a FREE online course to help you identify and manage Phytophthora diseases in nurseries. This FREE course is also now offered in Spanish! The course is divided into three modules which take 60-90 mins each to complete.

If you're interested in receiving certification, OSU offers a Certificate of Mastery on Phytophthora from Oregon State University Extended Campus ($100 charge and online exam). But the information contained in the course is offered FREE! This is a great resource for nursery growers and I encourage you to check it out!

ProGreen 2009: Intro to Biocontrol of Insects in Greenhouses

Here is another presentation given at ProGreen 2009: An introduction to biological control of insects in the greenhouse.

Introduction Biocontrol Insects For Greenhouses

View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: greenhouse plants)

ProGreen 2009: Intro to Greenhouse Diseases

Did you miss a seminar at ProGreen 2009? Check out the Intro to Greenhouse Diseases given as part of the Certified Greenhouse Grower track!

Plant Disease Talk at ProGreen2009

View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: disease plants)

Upcoming Pest Management Conference, Feb 19-21

Are you interested in learning more about the newest greenhouse insect and disease management strategies? Consider attending the 25th Annual Pest Management Conference in San Jose, California, Feb 19-21. The conference is presented by the Society of American Florists (SAF) and Greenhouse Grower. The lineup of speakers look great!
For more information or to register visit www.pestconference.org