Innovation in ornamental plant cultivars and native species

Boland, Todd, Conev, Rumen, Lesschaeve, Isabellle, Sullivan, Alan - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

A study of 20 native species planted for evaluation at three locations in Ontario and Newfoundland. In each location plant performance was evaluated in sun and shade, in different growth media and with different watering regimes. This study has identified several new or underused native Canadian plants which have proven potential as low maintenance ornamental …

Keywords: native species, native plants, low maintenance ornamental plants

Indoleamine Mediated Crop Resilient Ornamentals Production Systems

Saxena, Praveen -

The Canadian ornamental horticulture sector faces numerous challenges including climate change, plant health, plant protection, supply chain issues, and high energy consumption by greenhouses. Further, plants grown in greenhouses are most vulnerable to temperature and water fluctuations when initially transplanted outdoors potentially resulting in extended greenhouse use and increased energy consumption due to delayed transplanting …

Keywords:

Improving nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency of potted chrysanthemums grown in a subirrigation system

Shelp, Barry - University of Guelph

Regardless of the irrigation system used in greenhouse floricultural operations, nutrient delivery should be optimized so that a lower level of fertilizer is used over the crop cycle, thereby minimizing fertilizer costs and environmental impacts. This novel and innovative approach calls for a constant lower level of nutrients to be delivered during vegetative growth only, …

Keywords: nutrient delivery, nitrogen, phosphorous, sulphur, potassium, nutrient budget

Improved Biocontrol Strategies for Canadian Greenhouse Horticulture.

Brownbridge, Michael, Buitenhuis, R., Poleatewich, A. - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Keywords: mass trapping, thrips, lures

Impact of turfgrass fertilization on nutrient losses through runoff and leaching

Grégoire, Guillaume - Université Laval

“This research project evaluates the use of different types of turfgrass fertilizers and their impacts on nutrient runoff and leaching. The project compares nutrient losses from turfgrass fertilized with natural, synthetic and compost fertilizer sources to unfertilized turfgrass, as well as measuring the impact of cultural practices like aeration, clipping recycling, and overseeding. The project …

Keywords: turgrass fertilizer, nutrient runoff, leaching, soil fertility level

Impact of soil health BMPs on soil and water management in ornamental nurseries

Huber, Dr. Ann -

Trees sequester millions of tons CO2 per year in Canada.  However, tree production in nurseries can result in severe soil disturbance and organic carbon losses, erosion and nutrient losses to surface water, and degraded production fields.  In order to mitigate these effects and enhance its sustainability and resiliency, the sector needs Best Management Practices (BMPs) …

Keywords:

Identification des chancres sur les espèces ligneuses ornementales produites en pépinière

Tousignant, Marie-Édith - IQDHO

Un chancre est une plaie qui se forme sur les branches ou les troncs, lorsqu’un agent pathogène (champignons ou bactéries) infecte et colonise les tissus cambiaux, ou lorsque des facteurs abiotiques (ex : le froid) endommagent les tissus ligneux. En pépinière ornementales les chancres entrainent assurément des pertes. L’objectif général du projet était d’optimiser le …

Keywords: Pépinière, plante ligneuse, chancre, champignon, bactérie, identification, symptôme

Greening Canada’s highways: expanding nursery and landscape market opportunities

McGrath, Darby - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Based on earlier research results which pointed to the negative impact of compacted urban soils, this research project was designed to improve tree survivability in highway and urban environments. After five years of research and four years of direct testing, deep ripping and the addition of organic matter has been proven as a method of …

Keywords: compacted urban soils, deep ripping, soil remediation, soil bulk density, remediation calculator

Greenhouse Process Water Quality and Quantity Characterization Analysis

Huber, Dr. Ann -

A biweekly sampling program to determine the water quality of greenhouse process water (feed, leach and collection pond water) was conducted at 7 vegetable and 8 flower greenhouse operations. As well, a water use and management paper survey across a wider range of operations was conducted to determine the quantity of water being used for …

Keywords: water, leachate, volumes, recirculation, water treatment, water quality

Green roof technologies

Côte, Richard, Conev, Rumen, Goodyear, S. Norman, Mackenzie, Tracey, Morton, Jeff - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

The performance of 37 species under real-life green roof conditions was assessed by researchers in Ontario and Nova Scotia. Species invasiveness and winter survivability has also been evaluated. Positive results across many test species is providing green roof designers with a larger palette of green roof materials, in particular, a number of low maintenance plant …

Keywords: green roofs, species invasiveness, low maintenenance plant species

General summaries from plant consumer research

Grygorczyk, Alexandra - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Plant consumer trends

Keywords: consumer, plant trends, garden, indoor potted, gardening experience

Foxglove aphid biology and management in ornamental greenhouse production systems.

Brownbridge, Michael, Buitenhuis, R. - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Keywords: foxglove aphid IPM

Expand the adoption of precision plant based irrigation technologies to reduce water use in both greenhouse and nursery product

Ehret, David - AAFC - Agassiz

Evaluation of a modified version of the CropAssist system developed for greenhouse tomatoes on other ornamental plants. Two greenhouse species and two nursery species, each of which differed in daily water requirements, were monitored for periods of up to 30 consecutive days. Results indicated that the CropAssist system effectively measured water uptake automatically and continuously.

Keywords: CropAssist, load cells, automated watering

Evaluation of turf fertilization run-off impact and mitigation techniques

Desjardins, Yves, Duchemin, Marc, Grégoire, Guillaume - Université Laval

A comparison of the effect of four different maintenance programs on turfgrass quality, nutrient losses through runoff and leaching, and soil fertility level. Twelve plots evaluated five different maintenance regimes that included aerification, topdressing, weed control and fertilization. Results suggest that fertilized turf uses less water than unfertilized turf.

Keywords: nutrient loss, soil fertility, aerification, topdressing

Evaluation of the impacts of land application of greenhouse nutrient feedwater (GNF) under Ontario regulations

Huber, Dr. Ann, King, Don, Rudolph, Dr. David - Soil Resource Group, University of Waterloo

The project assessed the potential environmental impacts of land application of Greenhouse nutrient feedwater (GNF) under the Ontario Nutrient Management Act as a best management practice (BMP) through field infiltration experiments established at four greenhouse operations representing a cross section of the vegetable greenhouse sector near Leamington, Ontario. The results demonstrated that the majority of …

Keywords: greenhouse nutrient feedwater, GNF, irrigation, land application, nutrient management regulations, phosphrous, nutrients, bromide

Evaluation of plant pathogens and their removal from greenhouse irrigation water by cost effective bioremediation and filter technologies ABP 0031

Huber, Dr. Ann - Soil Resource Group

A comprehensive survey of plant pathogen populations (measured by DNA Multiscans) in irrigation water leachate and/or runoff from the range of Ontario flower and vegetable greenhouses and container nurseries was conducted to help assess the level of risk involved in operations switching to recirculating systems. The ability of several bioremediation technologies to remove plant pathogens …

Keywords: water treatment systems, plant pathogens, leachate, risk management, recirculation, Phytophthora, Pythium, Fusarium,

Evaluation of novel materials in post harvest storage of bare root nursery stock

Goyette, Bernard - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

A literature review on post harvest treatments of nursery stock has identified a significant lack of fundamental information about root storage and basic plant physiology. A set of small-scale experiments was undertaken to answer some of these basic questions and lay the groundwork for a future larger project.

Keywords: post harvest treatments, bare root storage

Evaluation of innovative water treatment technologies for reuse of nutrient solutions in the horticulture industry (SR9245)

Huber, Dr. Ann - Soil Resource Group

Five technologies were evaluated for their effectiveness at removing nutrients, non-nutrient components, and plant pathogens from irrigation runoff or leachate: a full scale constructed wetland system recently installed at a container nursery, and four pilot scale systems constructed at flower greenhouse: two denitrification woodchip bioreactors combined with phosphorus removal units, Phytolinks™ (floating wetlands), IrrigroTM irrigation …

Keywords: irrigation water treatment, recirculation, nutrients, biofilter, constructed wetlands, hollow fibre filter, Irrigro, Phytolinks, sustainability

Ethnic flowers

Grygorczyk, Alexandra - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Flower (potted and cut) needs of Asian-Canadians and Middle Eastern Canadian.

Keywords: consumer, Chinese, Filipino, South Asian, Indian, jasmine, plumeria, lotus, marigold

Edible ornamentals

Grygorczyk, Alexandra - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Industry workshop outlining current trends in the edible ornamentals category. Online consumer survey examining which edible ornamentals (in containers) Canadian gardeners are most interested in.

Keywords: consumer, consumer segments, container gardening, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, edible flowers, saskatoon berry, lingonberry

Edible flowers

Bowen, Amy, Grygorczyk, Alexandra - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Consumer interest and taste preferences in edible flowers

Keywords: consumer, edible flowers, pansy, marigold, mint, dianthus, nasturtium, petunia, impatiens

Eco‐integrated green walls for indoor gardening and commercial buildings

Dorais, Martine, Ménard, Claudine - AAFC

This project by AAFC scientists looked at providing new commercial opportunities for the Canadian ornamental industry through the development of innovative and low maintenance indoor gardening eco-wall systems for home, residential and public buildings. The research included an evaluation of LED lighting systems and tested five distinctively different wall module systems, several growing medium, fertilization …

Keywords: eco-wall systems, photosynthetic, bioactive health compounds, bio-stimulants/Si

Dynamic greenhouse climate control to conserve energy and improve crop quality

Dixon, Mike, Hao, Xiuming, Zheng, Youbin - AAFC

Conserving energy is a top priority for flower greenhouse operators. With this objective in mind, Dr. Xiuming Hao with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada developed and assessed greenhouse heating and climate control strategies that would conserve energy without sacrificing timely production and maximum plant quality.

Keywords: Temprature Integration Strategy, temperature reduction, energy savings

Development of water treatment best management practices for the greenhouse and nursery industries on Ontario; hybrid treatment systems

Huber, Dr. Ann, West, Dr. Jeanine - PhytoServ, Soil Resource Group

This project was intended to provide guidance on innovative water treatment technologies for the horticulture sector in Ontario. The scope of the project included: installation of 2 portable hybrid treatment systems (HTS) to test the operational parameters needed to treat (i.e. clean) floriculture greenhouse and nursery wastewater so that it can be either safely discharged …

Keywords: hybrid treatment systems, pilot plants, woodchip denitrification bioreactor, nutrient removal, nitrogen, phosphorus, slag, gravel, wollastonite, filter sand, guidance document

Development of communication tools to support the adoption of pest management innovations by Ontario flower growers

Brownbridge, Michael, Buitenhuis, R., Murphy, G. - OMAFRA, Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Keywords: www.greenhouseIPM.org

Development and marketing of new hardy woody plant varieties based primarily on native Newfoundland flora

Boland, Todd - Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden

This project was designed to meet industry demand for more native landscape plants as such plants are often better adapted to Canadian growing conditions. Nine new woody Newfoundland plant selections were provided to seven of Canada’s largest commercial plant propagating nurseries for evaluation.  Unrooted cuttings/scions of the trial plants were supplied to the trialing nurseries …

Keywords: Salix candida 'Iceberg Alley'

Developing low-cost tools for in-house tracking of microbial water quality in the horticulture industry

Huber, Dr. Ann - Soil Resource Group

Rapid and standard 3M Petrifilm methods were compared (Aerobic Plate Count for bacteria (AC), Rapid Yeast and Mold (RYM), and E.coli and Total Coliform (Ec/TC)), as well as diluents and incubation times and temperatures. Other methods tested included LaMotte BioPaddles, Biosan SaniCheck YM, ColiTag and AgDia strips to select the ‘best’ method for on-site monitoring. …

Keywords: water quality monitoring, in-house method, Petrifilm, DNA multiscan, phytopathogens, risk management

Developing an IPM strategy for the control of foxglove aphids

Buitenhuis, R. - Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Keywords: foxglove aphid IPM

Demonstration of energy-saving dehumidification in Ontario greenhouses (GRET)

Han, Dr. Jingjing, Huber, Dr. Ann, West, Dr. Jeanine - Flowers Canada, Soil Resource Group

Four dehumidification technologies were tested at three different facilities over a three year period: commercial mechanical refrigeration dehumidifier (MRD), chemical liquid desiccant dehumidifier (LDD), air-to-air heat recovery ventilation system (HRV), and finally a prototype called energy recovery ventilation (ERV), which is a combination of liquid desiccant approach (wet mode) and an air-to-air heat exchanger (dry …

Keywords: dehumidification, energy savings, energy use efficiency, heat exchange, plant health, air quality monitoring

Développement de moyens d’intervention pour inhiber et contrôler la production de cônes dans la production d’arbre de Noël – Projet no. 16-4-20

Lemaire, Émilie - IQDHO

La présence de cônes femelles dans les arbres de Noël est fortement dommageable pour la rentabilité de cette production. Les frais encourus pour éliminer manuellement les cônes sont très élevés. Quatre régulateurs de croissance ont été comparés à un témoin traité à l’eau. Les produits commerciaux étaient : Apogee, MaxCel, Fruitone, Bonzi, appliqués en pulvérisation …

Keywords: Arbre de Noël, Abies fraseri, cônes, régulateurs de croissance, Apogee, MaxCel, Fruitone, Bonzi, Injection, tronc, pulvérisation