Tell your story

Wholesale growers have a massive opportunity to connect with who they’re selling to and encourage retailers to market the faces behind those plants. Those wholesalers could tell the story of how those plants were grown and who cared for them. That connects the end customer to the full circle of a plant’s life.

— Brie Arthur, food gardening expert, author and PBS correspondent, March 2019

Cultivate your crew

If you hire the right person the right way and if you nurture the new hire, just like your plants, they will grow and flourish. Culture is critical to the success as well. It is the right environment that will facilitate the growth of the plant and the person alike. Feeding the plant means the right light, soil, nutrients and water. Feeding employees means nurturing, coaching, feedback and learning and development.

— Michael Maggiotto, Sr. Human Capital Advisor at BEST Human Capital & Advisory group, July 2019

Use the right rates

For plant pathogens, the keys to resistance management involve a series of issues. First and foremost, the cause of symptoms must be determined. Using the wrong product for a disease results in no control, which can be confused with resistance. Use of the correct product at the correct rate and interval are the best ways to make sure you do not provide pressure on the fungus or bacterium, resulting in the development of resistance. It is well-known that using lower than a lethal dose of a product targets the weakest or most sensitive individuals and builds the proportion of the population with a high level of resistance until it is the only thing present.

— Raymond Cloyd, professor and extension specialist in horticultural entomology/plant protection in the Department of Entomology at Kansas State University, and Dr. A.R. Chase, president of Chase Agricultural Consulting, March 2019

Perfect your scouting

There are a couple of things I think are really helpful. You should create a map of your facility — graph paper helps. And you should take that along with you as you scout, probably once a week. Some people forget to do that. I recommend using pen and paper for this because I’ve done it digitally or seen other people do it digitally. It doesn’t really stick, and they get lazy with it. Some other common pitfalls are moving too fast through the crop, misdiagnosing a disease or physiological disorder and misidentifying an insect pest. This is especially important when using biological control.

— Jeremy Jubenville, floriculture and greenhouse educator at Michigan State University, November 2019

Avoid water woes

The weather itself calls for a watering decision. On top of that, workers must decide what to do instead of watering. Workers may fear being perceived as if they are not working hard enough and the easiest way out is to grab a hose which may be WHY some workers overwater. Head growers must communicate with their staff to make sure they all agree about how weather patterns will affect daily tasks. If the staff member’s role is to water a section, but the crop doesn’t need it, then the staff should have a clear directive about what alternative activities to conduct.

— Rosa E. Raudales, assistant professor and greenhouse extension specialist at the University of Connecticut, September 2019

Be honest

You have to build trust with the customer. I’d rather tell them there is a problem or admit that I don’t have a plant that is right for their location than sell them something that is not going to make it. Even if we lose them in that moment and they go to someone else and the plant fails, they will come back because we told them the truth.

— Sal Gonzalez, sales manager at DM Color Express, April 2019

Update your applications

Today, we have to be proactive and think about what we’re doing. The chemicals are more expensive, and our society is more educated about what we’re doing on the fields, on their vegetables, on their fruits. People already question what we do here and ask how harmful the chemicals are, and now that we have education spreading around, we know that we cawnnot just go in and start the spraying calendar. We need to see what we have there and base it on what we see. That way, we do the right application the first time.

— Juan Ponce, head grower of propagation at Metrolina Greenhouses, January 2020

Cut down on waste

A lot of pathogens like a lot of water around or need water around to spread or become infectious. Weeds, of course, will thrive with more water. Insect pests usually feed more on lush, rapid growth that excess water creates. The more you irrigate, the more you’re washing off your pesticides, herbicides, and then you’re also flushing nutrients out.

— Tom Fernandez, horticulture professor, Michigan State University, May 2019

Stay positive

When you see a beautiful plant, whether it’s a finished product or perfectly uniform plugs being shipped to the customer, that’s the most enjoyable moment of a grower’s life, knowing these crops will make somebody happy.

— Artur Zych, head grower at Lennon Farm Greenhouses, October 2019

Check your inventory

When you find that certain items aren’t turning as much or as quickly as you need, don’t be afraid to cull them from the herd, especially if other growers in your market already offer the same item at a competitive price. Let them sell it. Wouldn’t you rather sell more of an item you can sell faster and for a higher price? You may be better off expanding production of your key top-selling items and removing slow turners from your production schedule. Being a good grower isn’t just about growing what you do grow well — it’s knowing when not to grow something. Good editing goes a long way.

— Leslie F. Halleck, owner of Halleck Horticultural, September 2019

For almost every greenhouse operation in North America, spring is the busiest time of the year. The holiday season and increasingly earlier orders for poinsettias make winter busy, but it isn’t the same. The spring stands out because an entire growing cycle builds up and crescendos right around Mother’s Day. At no other point in the year is everything that makes greenhouse growing stressful — the long hours, the lack of labor, potential order changes — all coalescing at once like this.

“There’s a lot of different complexities in the spring,” says Plantpeddler owner Mike Gooder. “As an industry, we’ve allowed our peak around Mother’s Day to keep getting bigger and bigger, at least on the ornamental side.” Gooder notes that roughly half of Plantpeddler’s yearly wholesale profits come within the two weeks around Mother’s Day. Every year is different too. This year, for instance, Plantpeddler added on more greenhouse space and is thus overseeing a larger space than it ever has before.

“You’ve got to hit the crescendo with a lot of gusto,” he says. “You have to have your team prepared, understand the challenge and stay focused.”

Below, Gooder, Juan Ponce, head of propagation at Metrolina Greenhouses, and Mark Ruibal, vice president of growing operations at Ruibal’s Plants of Texas, share their tips for surviving the spring season.

Mike Gooder

Operation: Plantpeddler

Main crop: Young plants

Location: Cresco, Iowa

Title: Owner

Tips: Advice he received a long time ago from Joan Mazat, head of new product development at Ball Horticultural: “Put your blinders on, look straight ahead and do the most important task at hand. … I use the strategy of winning and [winning is doing] what’s most important now. … You really have to make sure the tasks that seem relevant are really, truly relevant to getting through the spring. Or are you getting distracted by things that aren’t driving revenue? And revenue is king when you’re looking at surviving the spring and maintaining the lifeblood of our business.”

Identify your weaknesses and learn from them: “We don’t see our own weaknesses so what we do is constantly evaluate. We take note on our thoughts and things that happen during the season so we can adjust going forward. … We try to identify our bottlenecks and where production is getting slowed down so we can speed things up. And that’s on the growing side, but more importantly on the shipping side of getting product out in a very narrow window. We are always trying to make fundamental improvements each season to capture more of the opportunity at peak.”

The power of lists: “I’m a lists person. Having good lists helps me prioritize what needs to get done over a set period [of time], whether it’s a week or a month or a day. Having good, thorough lists matters. Being able to set your priorities allows you to stay on task and not be distracted. And making sure you prioritize those items that can wait until after peak. We write them down, but for example, we tell non-staff to get the hell out of the greenhouse until June. And it’s for a reason: If we lose that hour of key time with key staff, we aren’t helping ourselves drive to the finish line.”

On coming out of peak and onto what’s next: “There used to be a time where we had these valleys where we had time to reflect and that gets tougher to do as business has increased. But with that intensity, you still have to recap and it’s really important to recap once you’ve gotten through a season and you review sales, production, all of the successes and failures. You want to do that while it’s still fresh. We try to get everyone together in the first part of June and we go through it and start setting up the following year’s program. After every peak season, we try to have a very clear idea of where we were successful and where we need to improve.”

Juan Ponce

Operation: Metrolina Greenhouses

Location: Huntersville, North Carolina

Main crops: Annuals and perennials

Title: Head of Propagation

Tips: Staying on track in a large facility means delegating: “This is a big, big facility and I’m just the head of one area — propagation. So I’ll be in the propagation area. For finished products or vegetables or perennials, they make their own decisions because those crops are different. … For propagation, we have procedures that are set in part with Ivan Tchakarov. Ivan is our head of growing and we meet weekly and prepare ahead with procedures and plans and everything. We look at what is going to keep us busiest and plan to make sure everything is planned ahead. That way, when spring comes, we have a course to follow.”

In-person communication helps: “The weekly meeting is very important because even when we have the procedures and protocols in front of us, things can change based on seed availability or anything else. We work with suppliers and we are dependent on them a lot of the time. … Weather can also impact us. Like right now, it’s cloudy and rainy [in North Carolina] and there’s not enough light. And if that’s not happening, that means we need to adjust. So when we meet every week, we do it so we can adjust based on what is happening so we know how ahead we are, how behind we are and what we need to do to get back on schedule to be sure plants are ready when they need to be.”

Maintaining sanitation: “This time of the year, we talk about staying clean a lot. We have procedures for sanitation established. Before the spring comes, in December, we review everything that’s in there and train the new members of the team to make sure they are up to speed. There [are] procedures from receiving that make sure everything looks normal when it comes in. Then, on the sticking line, there’s checking things and using gloves and separating suppliers as well as varieties to prevent any issues from spreading if there are any. Then, when they go to the greenhouses, they stay separated. … We have a lot of algae issues and also deal with things like fungus gnats, so we have to use chemicals. And getting rid of algae is the best way to get rid of fungus gnats. … We have to be comprehensive at all times.”

Matt Ruibal

Operation: Ruibal’s Plants of Texas

Location: Dallas, Texas

Main crop: Bedding plants

Title: Vice President of Growing Operations

Tips: Timing is everything: “[The most challenging thing] is probably getting the plants ready when they are supposed to and just getting them shipped out. Weather is always an issue too. … You have to have backup plans, get a system in place and stick with it, and pre-book and pre-schedule everything you can as far as deliveries and shipments go.”

A good backup plan means having time to enact it: “If a landscaper calls us and says they need 500 flats of pentas for the week of the 10th, hopefully we’ll have enough time before that, but also if the crop is growing too fast, we can switch them to a different crop and push the customer a week one way or the other. Logistically, we have everything pre-scheduled, but things can change and that’s where you really feel the time constraints. … I don’t contract grow anything for anyone other than myself, but I encourage landscapers to call me and say, ‘Hey, we are going to need X number of flats for the next 12 weeks,’ so we can have that color or that plant on hold for them.”

Use technology to limit mistakes: “We have a custom-built computer program that allows me to enter information right when it goes into the computer. So, for example, it allows me to enter in that I’ll have X number of flats of pentas ready in six weeks. Once that’s in the pipeline and a grower calls, I can call and see exactly what crop I can pull from and put on hold for that customer. And when sales looks at inventory, they then know it’s not available. …“I’m sure there are vendors that do that, but James Perrin built that for us. We’ve been using that for 10 years and he twists and tweaks it for us. Before, there was a lot of paper and pen and a lot of marking with tape to note that things were sold which was a nightmare. … It would be so much chaos [without the program], it’s not even funny.”

Mealybugs are easily recognized by their white, mealy-appearing waxy secretions covering their body. The citrus mealybug, (Planococcus citri) and longtailed mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus) are two of the more common species. Less common and more difficult to control is the Madeira mealybug (Phenacoccus madeirensis). There are even mealybugs that feed upon plant roots!

As growers know, they are one of the most difficult greenhouse pests to control. Mealybugs’ wide host range, high reproductive potential, waxy coating, tendency to hide in protected locations, ease of spread and ability to survive on greenhouse benches, in cracks and crevices without live plant material for two weeks, all make them very challenging to eradicate.

In general, mealybugs feed upon tropical and foliage plants, spring annuals, orchids and herbaceous perennials. Some especially mealybug-prone plants include begonia, citrus, coleus, croton, dracaena, hoya, English ivy, ficus, fuchsia, stephanotis, schefflera, hibiscus, mandevilla, jade plants, palms, prayer plants and gardenia, as well as many other foliage plants. They tend to be a problem when plants are grown and maintained for long periods.

Scouting for mealybugs

As only the short-lived winged males fly, do not rely on yellow sticky cards to detect mealybugs. Look for white flecks or cottony residues along the leaf midribs, on leaf or stem axils, on stem tips, on the underside of leaves and near the base of plants. When scouting, visit infested areas last. Adult females may crawl off plants and be found in brick crevices and under benches where they lay eggs. Honeydew, sooty mold and the presence of ants may also be an indication of an infestation.

Citrus mealybugs (Planococcus citri) females are small, (less than 1/8 of an inch long), with a faint purplish stripe running down their back. They also have short, waxy filaments around the margin of their oval body, with a slightly longer pair of filaments at their rear. They produce cottony egg masses and females can lay up to 600 eggs! Longtailed mealybugs (Pseudococcus longispinus) have distinctive long tails (about ¾ or more of their body length), hence their common name. Longtailed mealybugs give birth to live young. Madeira mealybugs have three rows of white waxy tufts down their back. Check out Dr. Lance Osborne’s University of Florida mealybug website for helpful photos and descriptions (mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/lso/mealybugs.htm). Send samples to an extension entomologist for identification of species to help give you more information to prepare your plan of attack.

Critical cultural controls

Always begin with cultural controls! Adult females can live from 10 to 19 days without a host plant and crawlers can continue to emerge for up to 45 days afterward, according to Dr. Casey Sclar (executive director of the American Public Gardens Association). Inspect incoming plants and avoid overfeeding plants, especially with high nitrogen fertilizers. Using a forceful jet of high-pressure water twice a week helps remove mealybugs from their hiding places, especially when you have small infestations. Females can lay their eggs under pots, on greenhouse benches and in plant debris! Power wash and sanitize your greenhouse benches between crops. If feasible, keep the greenhouse fallow or empty for two weeks. Do not re-use infested pots, for they can hide under the lip of pots or trays. Regularly remove plant debris, too. Of course, you do not have any alternative hosts (weeds or pet plants) in your greenhouse, do you? Keeping temperatures on the low side helps slow down their development. Throwing out heavily infested plants is very often the best option.

Biological control agents

Whether biological control agents can be used depends upon what mealybug species you have. Both adults and larvae of the mealybug destroyer (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) feed upon mealybugs that lay eggs, so they are not effective against the longtailed mealybugs. “Crypts” like it warm, above 70° F, with 70-80% RH where there are high mealybug densities. Their larvae feed on all mealybug life stages, but they do not move very far. It is helpful to release both larvae and adults, especially from April to October, according to Dr. Sarah Jandricic, Greenhouse Floriculture IPM Specialist, OMAFRA. Use cardboard release boxes available from your biological control supplier. (See Floriculture IPM for Mealybug at bit.ly/mealybug-ipm.) Repeated releases of green lacewing (Chrysoperla sp.) eggs or larvae may also help suppress mealybugs. Be sure to control ants so they do not eat the lacewing eggs off the cards.

Insecticides for mealybugs

Chemical control is difficult because of the mealybug’s tendency to hide in protected locations and form dense colonies. Overlapping generations occur so that all life stages are present (eggs, crawlers and adults). Contact insecticides will kill young, immature crawlers (provided there is good coverage). However, as eggs hatch, repeated applications are needed. The waxy covering on the adult mealybug makes it very difficult for insecticides to be effective. However, the immature crawlers do not have this waxy covering, so consider the use of insect growth regulators such as azadirachtin (Azatin O etc.), buprofezin (Talus) (MOA 16) and kinoprene (Enstar) (MOA 7A). Horticultural oils (SuffOil- X, Ultra-Pure Oil) are standbys, provided you can obtain good coverage. Some growers report good results using pyrifluquinazon (Rycar) (MOA 9B) in rotation with buprofezin (Talus). Read labels carefully for plant safety precautions and follow all resistance management guidelines. Adding a spreader sticker such as Capsil may help improve needed coverage, if the label allows.

Systemic insecticides applied as a drench may not work as well as the same products applied as a spray. Researchers at Kansas State University (Raymond Cloyd, Nathan Herrick and Amy Raudenbush in 2018, bit.ly/systemic-insecticides) reported less than 50% mortality when using the systemic insecticides azadirachtin, dinotefuran, flonicamid, imidacloprid, spirotetramat and thiamethoxam against citrus mealybugs, whether products were applied preventively or curatively as growing medium drenches.

Systemic insecticides may also be applied as foliar sprays, including dinotefuran (Safari), thiamethoxam (Flagship), imidacloprid (Marathon) and acetamiprid (Tristar) (MOA 4A). Some neonic alternatives include flonicamid (Aria) (MOA 29) and flupyradifurone (Altus) (MOA 4D) as foliar sprays. Spirotetramat (Kontos) (MOA 23) has been reported to give excellent control of root mealybugs by foliar or drench applications. The recently introduced Pradia (cyclaniliprole and flonicamid) (MOA 28 & 29) has been reported to work well against longtailed and Madeira mealybugs. How well insecticides work depends upon the mealybug species you are dealing with. See Scale and Mealybug Efficacy - 2019 (bit.ly/scale-mealybug-efficacy) by the IR-4 Ornamental Horticulture project.

It always seems like managing mealybugs is a never-ending battle, for there is no silver bullet, but with a good plan of attack, and knowing what species you have, you can succeed.

Consult and follow pesticide labels for registered uses: local restrictions may apply. No discrimination is intended for any products not listed. If any information is inconsistent with the label, then follow the label.

The author is an extension educator at UConn Extension specializing in Greenhouse IPM. She can be reached at leanne.pundt@uconn.edu

Pesticides (insecticides, miticides, fungicides and bactericides) are used to manage arthropod (insect and mite) pests and diseases (fungi and bacteria) in greenhouse production systems. In general, pesticides are easy and convenient to apply, and effective (in terms of control or management). A number of factors affiliated with greenhouses favor pest population growth, including environment (e.g. temperature, relative humidity and photoperiod), cultural practices (e.g., watering and fertility) and continuous food source (many plants in the greenhouse spaced close together). Consequently, greenhouse producers apply pesticides to prevent or minimize plant damage. However, relying continually on pesticides promotes the development of resistance in insect/mite pest and plant pathogen populations.

This is the fourth article in a series of six scheduled for publication in Greenhouse Management associated with pesticide resistance and resistance management of arthropod pests and diseases. Three articles were published in 2019. In this article, we discuss the importance of developing pesticide rotation programs to mitigate insect and mite pest, and plant pathogen populations developing resistance.

Arthropod pests

Pesticide rotation is the temporal (time) alternation of pesticides with different modes of action. If the same mode of action is used repeatedly, this will result in increased selection pressure on an arthropod pest population, which enhances the rate (speed) of resistance development. Consequently, reducing selection pressure by using pesticides with discrete modes of action can increase the longevity and preserve the effectiveness of pesticides.

What is mode of action? Mode of action is how a pesticide, such as an insecticide or miticide, negatively affects the metabolic or physiological processes of an insect or mite pest. The Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC) has grouped insecticides and miticides based on mode of action using number and letter designations (irac-online.org), which will help in developing sound rotation programs against insect and mite pest populations in greenhouse production systems. Also, be sure to rotate common names (active ingredient), not trade or brand names, since some products have different trade names but contain the same active ingredient.

Exclusive reliance on one or more pesticides, in this case, insecticides or miticides with similar modes of action to suppress a particular pest population, will result in selection pressure placed on that pest population, which will increase the rate of resistance development. Therefore, always rotate pesticides with different modes of action. For example, use one pesticide for the duration of one generation of an insect or mite pest population (approximately two to three weeks), then rotate or switch to another pesticide with a completely different mode of action. Do not rotate pesticides with different modes of action within a single pest generation. As part of a resistance management strategy, many pesticides contain label information that is designed to assist greenhouse producers in developing sound rotation programs. The label indicates that one or two applications can be made before a pesticide with a different mode of action must be used.

Do not use pesticides with site-specific modes of action exclusively. Pesticides with site-specific modes of action target a single mechanism or biological pathway in insects and mites. Consequently, these pesticide types are more susceptible to pests developing resistance. However, pesticides with multi-site modes of action are less susceptible to pest populations developing resistance. Pesticides with multi-site modes of action include: insecticidal soap (potassium salts of fatty acids), horticultural (petroleum, mineral, or neem-based) oils, selective feeding blockers and entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana and Isaria fumosorosea).

Furthermore, be sure to rotate insect growth regulators with different modes of action because certain insect pests (e.g. aphids and whiteflies) have developed resistance to a number of insect growth regulators. There are three modes of action associated with insect growth regulators: chitin synthesis inhibitors (buprofezin, diflubenzuron and novaluron), juvenile hormone mimics (kinoprene and pyriproxyfen) and ecdysone receptor agonists/antagonists (azadirachtin and methoxyfenozide).

However, it is important to understand that the rotation of pesticides assumes that the frequency of individuals resistant to one pesticide will decrease during the application of another pesticide — with a different mode of action. In addition, rotation programs will need to be adjusted during the growing season. For example, as temperatures increase in late spring through early fall, the development time or the duration of the life cycle (egg to adult) of insect and mite pests will be reduced. High temperatures (>75° F or 24° C) will shorten the development time, thus leading to overlapping generations. The simultaneous presence of different life stages (eggs, larvae/nymphs, pupae and adults) warrants more frequent pesticide applications and rotations. Therefore, rotation programs will need to be modified by decreasing the frequency of switching pesticides with different modes of action. However, during the winter, the cool temperatures (<65° F or 18° C) and shorter day lengths (<12 hours) will extend the development time, thus reducing the frequency of rotating pesticides.

Plant pathogens

Rotation is one way to reduce the chances of fungicide or bactericide resistance developing in plant pathogen populations. The alternative is using pre-mixes or tank-mixing. However, pre-mixes and tank-mixing only work when both active ingredients are effective against a particular plant pathogen. A combination of fungicides in the Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC) groups 7 and 11 can be effective against some diseases, such as powdery mildew, Fusarium and rust. In other cases, like the combination of etridiazole and thiophanate methyl (Banrot), where both active ingredients are not effective on “anything,” this is an additive mixture with a broad-spectrum of control.

Tests on fruit and vegetable crops have indicated that rotation or tank-mixing are equally effective in delaying resistance development. Many greenhouse growers seem to prefer using pre-mixes (formulations from the manufacturer that contain multiple active ingredients) because there are so many effective pre-mixes commercially available.

One drawback of tank-mixing is the expense of incorporating two fungicides into a tank for resistance management, which is more controversial than simply rotating fungicides with different modes of action. Using pre-mixes may be preferred because the manufacturer has already determined chemical compatibility.

It is also important to utilize biopesticides (beneficial fungi and bacteria) in a resistance management program. Many biological control agents have more than one mode of action. For example, Trichoderma harzianum T-22 demonstrates the following: systemic acquired resistance (SAR) where the biological control agent triggers the plant’s defensive system, which helps to ward off diseases; promote changes in the soil biological profile that negatively affect plant pathogens; direct parasitism of pathogenic fungi and inhabiting spaces on plant roots that crowds out the plant pathogen. These different modes of action make resistance development much less likely than using a single mode of action fungicide with specific targeted effects.

Bacteria present an interesting challenge in ornamental production since there are few conventional modes of action that are effective on bacteria. Interestingly, in many cases, some biopesticides provide equivalent control as conventional bactericides. These include Bacillus spp. and several plant extracts. If products (such as those with Bacillus spp.) synthesize many chemicals during production, they may not have to be alive, which would influence their effectiveness. In addition, they may be tolerant of copper and can actually be tank-mixed.

Many greenhouse growers seem to prefer using pre-mixes (formulations from the manufacturer that contain multiple active ingredients) because there are so many effective pre-mixes commercially available.

Would you want to use two biological control agents in a tank-mixture? I do not think so, since they are living organisms and there is the possibility they will compete with or even attack other biological control agents. Always follow manufacturer labels carefully concerning mixing or rotating biopesticides (especially biological control agents).

As with Raymond’s discussion above regarding frequent rotations using different modes of action due to multiple life stages present, this is also good strategy for plant pathogens. In this case, the reason is not different live stages, but the very short life cycles associated with bacteria and many fungi (hours to days).

Additionally, the fact that “individuals” are in general all similar genetically (due to asexual reproduction=clones) means that once resistance develops in a small portion of the population, resistance can spread throughout a population very rapidly. Furthermore, resistance to a fungicide or bactericide can result in lack of vigor in the plant pathogen. In other words, plant pathogens pay a price for developing resistance. Consequently, they will not survive as well as the original population and eventually, if the fungicide or bactericide is no longer used, the original plant pathogen population can revert back to being susceptible. The end result is that plant pathogens are no longer resistant to the active ingredient, thus allowing the active ingredient of the fungicide or bactericide to be used again.

In conclusion, resistance management is a strategy designed to preserve the effectiveness of currently available pesticides. Therefore, it is important to develop rotation programs that include an assortment of pesticides with different modes of action when managing insect and mite pests and plant pathogens. In addition, biopesticides should be included in rotation programs, especially if they demonstrate effectiveness by themselves.

Raymond A. Cloyd is a professor and extension specialist in horticultural entomology/plant protection at Kansas State University. You can reach him at rcloyd@ksu.edu.

A. R. Chase is president of Chase Agricultural Consulting. You can reach her at archase@chaseresearch.net.