For those living in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region, the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) must carefully be tracked and monitored. The spotted lanternfly is an invasive species from China that first arrived in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in September 2014. Ever since its arrival, the spotted lanternfly population has steadily increased. The spotted lanternfly is a planthopper and prefers to feed on the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima). It also feeds on 70 other species of plants, including ornamental and hardwood trees, many that are important to the nursery trade.

According to the Penn State Extension spotted lanternfly resource page, the insect excretes honeydew (a sugary substance), which attracts insects such as bees and wasps. This buildup also promotes the growth for sooty mold, a fungi that can severely damage and weaken affected plants.

Economists at Penn State say the spotted lanternfly could cost Pennsylvania’s economy $324 million in damages, as many of the trees the insect feeds on are of high economic importance. And while the species is a planthopper, it still has the ability to travel long distances by attaching itself or its egg masses onto materials or automobiles.

Nursery Management charted the rise of the spotted lanternfly in our January 2019 issue (which readers can view here: bit.ly/SLFJan2019), and it’s time to revisit how much progress experts have made when it comes to controlling the pest. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) and researchers at Penn State Extension are doing their best to contain the insect and learn more about it to keep it from spreading.

Quarantine

The PDA has created a map charting the spread within the state, which can be found at bit.ly/PDASLFMap. As of March 2020, the PDA has expanded the quarantine zone. The map is color-coded to show areas of infestation, with existing quarantines marked as yellow, counties added in 2020 as light blue and infested areas in the counties added in 2020 as dark blue.

“I will say, my caveat there, is that those counties aren't completely infested — they're considered partially infested,” says Heather Leach, extension associate in the entomology department at Penn State.

Shannon Powers, press secretary for the PDA, also notes the bump in quarantined counties from 14 to 26.

“We previously had 14 quarantined counties in primarily Southeast and South-Central Pennsylvania. And those were counties where there was sort of a widespread established insect population, but very late in the season, we've done a lot of outreach all over the state and we've had reports of isolated insect populations,” says Powers.

The Pennsylvania quarantine affects vehicles, plants, wood and stone products, and outdoor household items.

Nursery growers, as well as all agricultural and non-agricultural businesses working within the quarantine, that move products, vehicles or other conveyances within or out of the quarantine are required to obtain a spotted lanternfly permit. Businesses located in spotted lanternfly infested areas of other states must also have a permit if traveling or transporting goods into Pennsylvania. To learn more about the permitting process, visit bit.ly/SLF_PA_permit.

“The map is very telling,” Powers says. “When you look at the map, you can really see this insect doesn't fly across three counties to get to a new place. It's absolutely traveling with people.”

Containment procedures

Powers stresses that containment, treeing specific areas and communication with the public is key to avoiding further spread. Collaboration is also necessary. The PDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Penn State Extension are working together to fight the insect. Penn State Extension does the research and educational outreach, while the USDA and the PDA do the control work.

“The strategy has been largely to remove the tree of heaven, the female tree of heaven, which is the preferred host for the insect. They prefer to feed on it and breed there and live there, and in doing so we leave a specific male tree,” Powers says. “And we treat that male tree with a systemic insecticide and also band the trees so that the systemic insecticide, the insects that are missed by the sticky band wrapped around the tree, feed on the tree and then die.”

Leach, who works closely with the PDA, says it uses a systemic insecticide called dinotefuran.

“This one is probably one of the best insecticides that we have available,” says Leach. “That active ingredient in particular has been the best performer for us in terms of residual activity and being reliable there.”

The tree of heaven is also an invasive species from China. Its removal is difficult because it grows in clumps and sends out shoots nearby to where it is planted. This makes for an easy and abundant launchpad for any incoming spotted lanternflies.

“We've used herbicide on the trees to kill them and physically remove the trees, although they're quite a challenge to remove. It's been a little bit of a perfect storm of an invasive species combination,” Powers says.

New research

Leach says they have a list of insecticides which controllers know are effective against the spotted lanternfly, but they are digging deeper to understand the predictability of the spotted lanternfly.

Early in the season, the insect prefers hosts like black walnut, rose bushes and tree of heaven. However, later in the season, researchers really start to see the problem when it comes to ornamental plants — both in nursery and urban settings — with movement onto maples, styrax, willows and other important nursery crops.

“We can kind of predict when that's going to come, and then when you should be putting on those control measures, so that's great. We're still at a point where we don't have very many options for management. That's where a lot of our research is focused right now, is trying to understand how we can disrupt that movement or disrupt some part of their behavior so that the growers, the operations have better success and better efficacy when they do control measures,” Leach says.

Matthew R. Helmus, a biodiversity and ecology assistant professor at Temple University, is looking at modeling for the spotted lanternfly to better understand higher risk pathways, where is it likely to spread and how fast it could happen.

“Then we also start to see spread towards the Chicago region, including Ohio, and Southwest Michigan. Part of the reason we start to see the Chicago area lighting up is because we have so much transportation and trade with that area, and lots of rail lines connecting that,” Leach says. “We expect to see spread towards that area, but then the model even picks up spread on the West Coast and even spread in the South. Based on some climate models, we do expect a lot of lanternfly to spread throughout a large part of the United States and even in the southern regions of Canada.”

Leach is optimistic in Penn State’s research efforts and says they recently gained funding for a four-year, $7.3 million specialty crop research initiative grant from the USDA. The grant was awarded to 10 institutions, including Penn State, Cornell, Rutgers and Virginia Tech.

“It's really bringing together this team of experts to focus on our specialty crops,” Leach says.

It is an honor to partner with Greenhouse Management and Nursery Management in supporting this “State of the Market” special report. It is an important time for ornamentals as the industry continues to embrace new solutions while adapting to the current environment.

For those readers who do not know me, I provide technical support for the greenhouse and nursery business at Bayer. I am fortunate to be a part of a small, yet highly experienced, group of ornamental specialists who strive to deliver best-in-class customer support. It is always a pleasure to interact with growers and learn more about the challenges and successes of their operations. The insights gleaned from those discussions are very often what drives innovation at Bayer as we continually work to address the evolving needs of the industry.

Pests don’t rest, even in a pandemic

During these unprecedented times, we know that our customers still have businesses to run and crops to protect. Pests aren’t deterred by social distancing. So, Bayer remains committed to providing customers with ongoing technical support, and we are adapting our approach accordingly. This includes leveraging virtual tools, like FaceTime and Microsoft Teams, to keep communication lines open. Whether for product support, technical and agronomic expertise, pest diagnoses, or just someone to talk to, you can count on us to be there when you need it most.

Adding value to minimize production costs

One of the fundamental challenges growers face is staying on budget, and to do this they must manage overall production costs. Therefore, when it comes to plant protection products, successful growers demand products that bring value to the operation and result in long-term cost savings in other areas. This includes products with broad-spectrum activity and long residual control, as well as plant and environmental safety. Bayer understands these demands and continues to deliver innovative products with these criteria in mind. We also offer value calculators for our products so that customers can calculate the broader cost-savings benefits of investing in Bayer solutions.

Complex challenges call for innovative solutions

Insects, weeds and diseases will always be factors for growers to manage. Working with customers, university researchers and our internal team of developmental scientists, we continually work to provide growers with valuable solutions, such as Broadform^® fungicide, Marengo^® herbicide and Altus^® insecticide to help them tackle their toughest challenges. Broadform, as the name implies, is an excellent rotational tool that manages a broad spectrum of diseases and protects plants from more than 50 pathogens. For weed control, no other herbicide lasts longer than Marengo. A powerful pre-emergence herbicide, Marengo demonstrates up to eight months of residual control of more than 90 weeds with a single application. And Altus provides plant protection from piercing-sucking insects with minimal impact on beneficial insects, including pollinators, and it has an excellent track record for plant safety. Growers can learn more about these and other innovative solutions for protecting ornamentals by visiting es.bayer.us/ornamentals.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you, Greenhouse Management and Nursery Management for sharing this important “State of the Market” report. Here’s to a year of embracing new challenges, implementing innovative solutions and growing beautiful, healthy plants!

Sincerely,

Aaron Palmateer, Ph.D. Senior Technical Service Representative, Ornamentals, Bayer

ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL INSTRUCTIONS
Bayer Environmental Science, a Division of Bayer CropScience LP, 5000 CentreGreen Way, Suite 400, Cary, NC 27513. For additional product information, call toll-free 1-800-331-2867. environmentalscience.bayer.us. Not all products are registered in all states. Bayer, the Bayer Cross, Altus, Broadform and Marengo are registered trademarks of Bayer. © 2020 Bayer CropScience LP.

RediRoot is a brand developed by NurserySource LLC, a product development company. We saw that growers of all kinds needed a competitively priced solution for the challenges created by traditional solid wall pots, namely circling and girdled roots. We created RediRoot with that in mind. Since 2007 when RediRoot was born we have expanded to a variety of products developed specifically with root development and the challenges commercial nurseries face in mind.

RediRooted

At a time when resources are spread thin around issues like labor and shipping, we wanted to give back. With that in mind, we created RediRooted- a movement to tell your customers just some of what you do to help them grow better, faster, healthier plants and trees.

• RediRoot customers accrue marketing credit with every purchase to be used towards banners, ads, postcards, flyers, sale sheets, or nearly anything else they may want assistance with.
• Customized to the customer’s specifications!
• Reach out to grow@rediroot.com for more information.

“RediRooted” is a term we fondly offer to growers who have embraced the RediRoot system. We understand the challenges and benefits of switching from solid wall pots to slotted wall containers and are committed to helping nurseries with the transition process of becoming RediRooted.

Bouldin Nursery & Greenhouse is a family-owned and operated nursery specializing in growing quality container liners. The nursery uses RediRoot Commercial Air-Pruning Containers to improve the root system and success rate of their tree liners.

“We rely on RediRoot to help us grow the best possible container liners and give our customers the greatest chance for success with a liner that will take off with new growth,” says Carl Bouldin.

Located at the base of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia is Native Forest Nursery. Since 2008 Native Forest has specialized in growing native hardwood trees and shrubs for the conservation, mitigation, restoration, and nursery industries. Native uses RediRoot to avoid circling roots in their container plants.

“Our work is all about root production,” says Chad Casselman. “Root health, volume, and architecture dictate the degree of success in every project we are involved with. With so many factors beyond our control such as weather, site conditions and planting quality, we want to do everything we can to stack the deck in our customer’s favor. We know that when we finish our plants in RediRoot that we are sending our customers the best root systems money can buy.”

We listen to the challenges of our RediRooted customers and take them to heart. Their feedback is invaluable and we use it to continually improve our root development products and services to meet their needs. Chris Murphey, our Nursery Specialist based out of Tennessee, has over 30 years of experience in the nursery industry. He is fluent in trees, and loves to visit his customers and potential customers to get his eyes and ears on how each individual nursery operates. Personal visits allow him to get a clear picture of where and how RediRoot can help with their individual needs and how they can transition smoothly.

Our full line of root development products includes:

RediRoot Aeration Containers #1-25, RediRoot Aeration Propagation Systems, RediRoot 10x20 Aeration Propagation Trays, RediRoot Veiled Fiberglass Tree Stakes, RediRoot Fabric Aeration Containers #1-1000, RediRoot Gro-N-Go Liners, and RediRoot BREATHE Decorative Aeration Planters.

For more: www.rediroot.com

Whether it’s from Victory Gardens 2.0, houseplants or home landscapes, the public has found peace in plants. This isn’t a new concept, of course, as the notion of horticultural therapy has roots in ancient Mesopotamia, according to an article in Psychiatry Investigation. Therapeutic benefits of gardens were introduced in the U.S. by Benjamin Rush, the “Father of American Psychiatry.” According to the same article, in 1812 he revealed how garden settings held curative benefits for people with mental illness.

Gardening and being in nature provide “profound health benefits,” according to the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH).

© AlexRaths | iStock

“Research shows there are perceived and actual benefits to spending time in natural spaces compared to urban spaces, such as reduced mental fatigue, improved mood and reduced stress. In one study, people who had walked in nature for 40 minutes, reported more positive emotions and less anger, compared with those walking in an urban area, or even sitting quietly listening to music,” reports AIPH. The group also explains that “gardening gives people a creative way to change their stress and frustration into something beautiful that offers comfort and joy. The natural rhythms of a garden and of plants work as a counterpart against stress. There is silence and peace in the garden. A garden stimulates creativity and there is the satisfaction and pride in growing things.”

Millions of people who were sheltering in place experienced this phenomenon. Some used houseplants, some grew food and others planted flowers. The sale of seeds skyrocketed. Garden centers reported having record sales weeks, despite having to sell products curbside. The “chore” of gardening or landscaping seemed to disappear. We were forced to slow down, which allowed us to appreciate the exfoliating bark of the crape myrtle, the sweet perfume of the lilac or the colorful fall of the bearded iris. We heard the birdsongs and the rustle of leaves from a gentle breeze. We smelled the earth when we got down on our hands and knees and dug a hole for that new plant. We appreciated nature and it helped relieve the burden of the pandemic.

Now that states are “opening” and people are returning to work, will that comfort and creativity brought on by gardening continue? Can we as an industry help the public retain those profound health benefits? We must. It’s imperative. Not only because it keeps growers, suppliers, retailers, truckers, etc. in business, but also because the public needs to heal. The breakneck pace of society needs to decelerate. People need the peace that our products can deliver.