Get Tips on Disease Management With a Biological Approach

Posted by Brian Sparks|February 12, 2024

The upcoming BioSolutions Conference and Expo, which takes place March 4-6, 2024, in Visalia, CA, will feature two greenhouse-specific educational presentations highlighting the latest research in disease control.

“Fungicide resistance of Botrytis spores is pervasive across the horticulture world, i.e., if you spray fungicides, you have fungicide-resistant spores,’ says James Faust, Professor of Floriculture Physiology at Clemson University, of his talk on Biorational Products for Botrytis Control in Floriculture Production. “Biorational products provide an alternative to addressing the fungicide resistance issue; however, there are currently more unknowns than knowns about how to properly use biorationals. We will explore what we currently know about using these alternative products successfully.”

Plant diseases are also one of the most important problems faced by the cut flower industry.

“The availability of environmentally sound, broad-spectrum, effective disease management options that can be integrated in sustainable farming is a high priority for this growing industry,” says Francesca Peduto-Hand, Associate Professor of Ornamental Crops Pathology at The Ohio State University. Hand’s talk will give attendees a chance to learn more about applying anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) – already proven effective in high tunnel vegetable production – to cut flower production. Hand will:

Review the use of ASD for its potential to reduce soilborne disease damage in cut flower production
Offer a better understanding of pathogen biology and favorable conditions for disease development
Provide additional resources for disease management in cut flower operations

Registration for the BioSolutions Conference is open – click here to learn more.