I’m sending this out again because it is really helpful and it probably got lost in the last email.  Sorry for the double post.

Touchless Transactions: E-commerce Guidance for Rural Business Managers Considering Online Sales

https://ruralengagement.org/2020/04/22/touchless-transactions-e-commerce-guidance-for-rural-business-managers-considering-online-sales/

I especially like the photo with the mask and the note “Behind every mask is a smile that’s happy to help)

(and of course, I learned there is a mask emoji)

Yeah – this one is IPM related!

Two articles on weed management in greenhouses from Michigan State

Non-chemical – https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/weed-management-strategies-in-greenhouses-part-1

(I should really make sure you read Part 1 before I give you Part 2)

Chemical – https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/weed-management-strategies-in-greenhouses-part-2

European pepper moth has been found in NC greenhouses. It has a wide host range and is easy to miss until you have significant damage.  We don’t see it in NY that often but it has been found in our greenhouses.

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/leps/european_pepper_moth.htm

Nutrient issues can show up during cool weather in the spring as water and nutrients are taken up more slowly.  Don’t forget to check the roots as well as foliage color and vigor. UMass has an update with some typical symptoms and their causes and the way to do a pour through test for media pH and EC. https://ag.umass.edu/greenhouse-floriculture/greenhouse-updates-apr-16-2020

Great growing!

Oh, gosh, did you miss me?  I don’t know whether to be happy or sad that there isn’t much news – kind of like Ithaca’s weather of snow and sun alternately and at the same time.

There was an Ag and Markets update today but no changes for Horticulture.

USDA Coronavirus and H-2A Resources page – don’t forget to check USDA loans as well as SBA loans to see which ones you qualify for.

https://www.farmers.gov/

Farmers and those whose place of employment closed as a result of COVID-19 are eligible (others, too).

Application for unemployment caused by COVID is supposed to be easier now.

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/nys-department-labor-launches-new-streamlined-application-new-yorkers-apply-pandemic

Scroll down for a link to the application page and a fact sheet on the program, plus links for the same information in a variety of languages.

Surface disinfectants from e-GRO with links to and information from the EPA list

http://e-gro.org/pdf/E507.pdf?utm_source=e-Gro+Edible+Alert+April+16&utm_campaign=156374678&utm_medium=email

***These are for hard, non-porous surfaces.  Neither you or your plants are hard, non-porous surfaces so please don’t use these in place of hand sanitizer! (and, yes, people have asked)

Options other than Paycheck Protection Loans from the National Association of Landscape Professionals

https://www.landscapeprofessionals.org/lp/Coronavirus/SBA_Financial_Assistance_Programs.aspx

I’m so impressed with how you are all keeping on! Let me know if I can help.

Ralstonia solanacearum Race 3 Biovar 2 is a bacterium that causes a serious wilt disease in geraniums, tomato, eggplant, pepper and potato.  It causes wilting and leaf yellowing and necrosis and often comes in on cuttings.  It can spread by water movement – most specifically bottom watering.  The symptoms will appear more quickly with warmer temperatures (for example 13 days at 81/68F day/night).

So far it has only been found in one greenhouse – not in the northeast – and a single cultivar and trace backs and trace forwards are in progress as it is a federally regulated disease.

Some things you can be doing:

• Check your geranium crop
• Isolate new shipments of geraniums – even separating cultivars and suppliers – and work in those blocks, washing hands between them
• Keep geraniums away from vegetable transplants

For photos of the different stages and a comparison with Xanthomonas on geranium, go to:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/plant-pest-and-disease-programs/pests-and-diseases/plant-disease/sa_ralstonia/ct_geraniums

For the announcement from the USDA, https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2020/sa-04/ralstonia-greenhouse-geraniums

Information presented here from UMass Greenhouse Updates https://ag.umass.edu/greenhouse-floriculture/greenhouse-updates-apr-22-2020

These were written for Indiana but most apply equally well in NYS and elsewhere.

Green Industry Businesses Share Protocols to Maximize the Health and Safety During the Covid-19 Pandemic

https://www.purduelandscapereport.org/article/green-industry-businesses-share-protocols-to-maximize-the-health-and-safety-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

WooHoo – Back on line. My brand new internet cable was pulled off the house and broken – taking some downspout with it.  Now it is back up, a foot higher (now the phone line is the lowest) and they put the downspout back up, too!

Thanks, Spectrum (hint – call at 7:30 on Sunday morning 4 minute wait vs 2 hours on Saturday)

So what’s going on with the weather – besides the 2 inches of snow yesterday at my house…

April 19                 Forecast for April 24

Champlain           5                              5

Geneva                14                           14

Riverhead           31                           31                           (this is Riverhead MCV as LIHREC doesn’t seem to be online – I’ll ask)

No new things to scout for.  You can always find the previous email archived athttps://blogs.cornell.edu/ornamentalcropsipm/

4/11/20

4/3/20

3/27/20

3/20/20

3/14/20

3/6/20

I’ll try to remember to put GDD in the subject so it is easier to search for them.