RNGR.net is sponsored by the USDA Forest Service and Southern Regional Extension Forestry and is a colloborative effort between these two agencies.

U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Forest Service Southern Regional Extension Forestry Southern Regional Extension Forestry

Growing Insect-Free Plants with New Technology

Gill, S., Schuster, C., Rosenkranz, G., and Shrewsbury, P. International Plant Propagators' Society, combined proceedings 2006, 56:330-339. 2007.

Funding from Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA) and the Northeast IPM Group (NEIPM) enabled us to build a portable hot water immersion system that is economical and relatively easy to construct and operate by plant propagators. The system involves an instant hot water heater that rapidly heats water to the proper temperature and recirculates the water around plant cuttings. Propagation plant material is placed in treatment mesh baskets and placed in a recirculating hot-water system. Growers are likely to adopt methods that are practical and easy to use — criteria that this system meets. We tested multiple temperatures and treatment times for 13 species of woody plant and herbaceous plant material and a couple of greenhouse species. We established threshold temperatures at which cuttings of these species can be treated without suffering injury. We also evaluated the impact of hot water treatment on four different insect and mite populations on plant cuttings taken.


Download this file:

PDF document Download this file — PDF document, 273Kb

Details

Author(s): Stanton Gill, Chuck Schuster, Virginia Rosenkranz, Paula Shrewsbury, Suzanne Klick

Section: Pest Management