Articles
GREENHOUSE PEST MANAGEMENT IN THE USA: INNOVATIONS FOR MEETING THE CHALLENGES
Horticultural methods for greenhouse vegetable production in the United States depend on many factors, leading to a tremendous diversity in the operations.
The unifying factors leading to success in the community and to profitability include ownership of the property, keeping expenses low, customer loyalty and the ability to achieve good prices.
New trends include the continuing loss of registered pesticides, new microbial products for suppression of diseases, and the perception by suburban neighbors that greenhouses are possible polluters of the environment.
We in Cooperative Extension try to reach growers with new information and direct clients to purchase high quality seed, to take advantage of improvements in technology available commercially, and to learn from the work of specialists in other regions.
A current emphasis is on the importance of monitoring pH and electrical conductivity (EC) of water and nutrient solutions, and on nutrient analysis in the foliage as it changes over the season.
Several diseases and insect pests continue to be a challenge to the crop, and the best growers anticipate problems and adapt methods accordingly.
Highly successful growers enlarge upon local advantages in the market place such as attaining organic certification, selling retail along with other crops, and employing a labor force that can also accomplish other tasks at the operation.
In New York we see growers who build new greenhouses for tomato and cucumber crops to diversify instead of expanding their dairy, field vegetable farm, or peach orchard.
There is a steep learning curve as the growers discover that you should not suspend New Guinea Impatiens over your tomato crop, that pests migrate into the greenhouse from the field, that greenhouses must be disinfested between crops.
Considering all the risks associated with greenhouse production, growers persevere because of the ability to raise valuable produce, the appreciation given them by their community, and the independence the life style offers.