underwor
ArboristSite Operative
Plant Health Care Concepts in Action (Just not in Trees Yet!)
PHC is a system that focuses on using all types of methods to help nature keep plants healthy. It looks at ways to short circuit the Disease/Insect/Disorder Triangle and give the plant the advantage. It has often been hard to sell as it is based on Integrated Management and most consumers are not knowledgeable enough to realize that managing pests is far more efficient in the long run than eliminating them. This is an example, in fairly easy to follow terms, of the advantages to managing a pest rather than eliminating it.
I just watched a segment of Prairie Farm Report about a midge tolerant wheat variety (Unity AC) that is blended 90-10 with a refuge variety (Waskada). This keeps enough of the target midges in the system to breed and maintain the tolerance of the target variety. It works by releasing a phenol as soon as the midge starts to feed. This phenol does not kill the midge, it just tastes bad and causes them to stop feeding and starve to death.
Here are a couple of links to online sites explaining the concept from the Midge Tolerant Wheat Sterwardship Team : More links are available at these sites. http://www.midgetolerantwheat.ca/wheat/solution.aspx http://www.midgetolerantwheat.ca/farmers/how-it-works.aspx
The farmers are allowed to save seed for one year, if they agree to buy new seed every other year. If this is not followed, the amount of refuge seed decreases in the mix and the chance of a resistant midge population increase quickly. If the plan is followed tolerance should be maintained for about 90 years before the change occurs.
This is one of those concepts that we need to get firmly implanted in the modern consumer if we are to be able to elevate PHC to the level it deserves in our arsenal to promote good plant care. It points out how much better the ag field has been at educating its people on some of these issues. Granted there are fewer farmers to educate than landscape maintenance customers and there is a bottom line financial incentive that is not as yet recognized among the landscape customer, but it does point out where a lot of our efforts should be directed.
“Professor” Bob
PHC is a system that focuses on using all types of methods to help nature keep plants healthy. It looks at ways to short circuit the Disease/Insect/Disorder Triangle and give the plant the advantage. It has often been hard to sell as it is based on Integrated Management and most consumers are not knowledgeable enough to realize that managing pests is far more efficient in the long run than eliminating them. This is an example, in fairly easy to follow terms, of the advantages to managing a pest rather than eliminating it.
I just watched a segment of Prairie Farm Report about a midge tolerant wheat variety (Unity AC) that is blended 90-10 with a refuge variety (Waskada). This keeps enough of the target midges in the system to breed and maintain the tolerance of the target variety. It works by releasing a phenol as soon as the midge starts to feed. This phenol does not kill the midge, it just tastes bad and causes them to stop feeding and starve to death.
Here are a couple of links to online sites explaining the concept from the Midge Tolerant Wheat Sterwardship Team : More links are available at these sites. http://www.midgetolerantwheat.ca/wheat/solution.aspx http://www.midgetolerantwheat.ca/farmers/how-it-works.aspx
The farmers are allowed to save seed for one year, if they agree to buy new seed every other year. If this is not followed, the amount of refuge seed decreases in the mix and the chance of a resistant midge population increase quickly. If the plan is followed tolerance should be maintained for about 90 years before the change occurs.
This is one of those concepts that we need to get firmly implanted in the modern consumer if we are to be able to elevate PHC to the level it deserves in our arsenal to promote good plant care. It points out how much better the ag field has been at educating its people on some of these issues. Granted there are fewer farmers to educate than landscape maintenance customers and there is a bottom line financial incentive that is not as yet recognized among the landscape customer, but it does point out where a lot of our efforts should be directed.
“Professor” Bob
