Elsewhere In The News 



EPA Pesticide Line 



The Environmental Protection 

 Agency (EPA) has established a toll- 

 free number for pesticide information. 

 The number is 1-800-858-PEST. The 

 service, operating from the Texas Tech 

 University (Lubbock) School of Medi- 

 cine, operates 24 hours a day, seven 

 days a week. 



There were no computerized mes- 

 sages. Friendly, down-to-earth people 

 told me that information given was "a 

 little bitof everything'-safety , toxicity, 

 regulations. They do not tell you what 

 works on what — they don't give infor- 

 mation on pest control. 



Butthcy arc busy — they've had over 

 36,000 calls this year ("it slows down 

 around ChrisUnas"). The calls come 

 from all over the United States, with the 

 largest numbers coming from New 

 York, California, Massachusetts, and 

 Texas. 



Oils Face Uncertain Future 



Horticultural oils could face an un- 

 certain future in EPA reregistration proc- 

 ess, AAN learned recently. Concern 

 over potential data requirements for 

 these highly refined oil products, which 

 are critical cornerstones of nursery inte- 

 grated pest management programs, has 

 prompted major horticultural oil pro- 

 ducers to form an "oils task force" to co- 

 operatively develop data necessary for 

 reregistration. AAN will continue to 

 monitor the situation. 



Does Roclcwool-a mended 

 Media Improve Growth? 



North Carolina State University 

 scientists tested plant response and 

 nutrient uptake of seven plant species in 

 media with and without rockwool. A 

 mixof20percentrockwool; lOpercent 

 peatmoss; 20 percent vermiculite; 45 

 percent pine bark; 5 percent perlite re- 

 sulted in significantly better growth on 

 impatiens, marigold and petunia than 

 plants grown in either of two commer- 

 cial media. Chrysanthemum, geranium 

 and poinsettia growth was better in the 



commercial media in one half of the 

 trials. Differences in growth weren't 

 related to plant nutrient composition. 



Blue roses-why not? 



Calgene Pacific, a California bio- 

 tech company, is currently working on 

 inserting the blueness gene from petu- 

 nias into a red rose. Apparently, cut 

 flowers with unusual colors are very 

 successful in Japan. A Japanese food 

 and beverage company, Suntory Ltd., is 

 funding the project to make the inser- 

 tion of a variety of genes routine. 



Argus Develops 

 Computerized System 



After 12 years of research and field 

 experience, Argus Control Systems 

 Ltd., White Rock, British Columbia, 

 has developed a high performance com- 

 puterized greenhousecontrol, alarm and 

 data logging system specifically for 

 North American growers, greenhouses 

 and climatic conditions. Standard fea- 

 tures in the climate, irrigation and nu- 

 trient programs provide substantial im- 

 provements in crop quality and yield, 

 while simultaneously achieving sav- 

 ings in energy, water and fertilizer use, 

 says Alec Mackenzie, manager. 



The Argus Computer Control Sys- 

 tem is a distributed control system pro- 

 viding high reliability and easy instal- 

 lation and maintenance. It consists of 

 one or more central computers situated 

 in the greenhouse or in the home and in- 

 dividual controllers in the greenhouse. 

 When not being used to view green- 

 house operations, the IBM-compatible 

 computers can be used to operate other 

 software programs. Its modular design 

 minimizes installation costs and allows 

 easy expansion, while offering resis- 

 tance to major failures, as each system 

 operates individually. Many service 

 problems can be carried out by the 

 greenhouse staff by a simple board re- 

 placement 



Government research stations, edu- 

 cational institutes, commercial fioric- 

 ul tural, vegetable, nursery and tree seed- 

 5 



ling producers in the United States and 

 Canada are using the Argus Computer 

 Control System. Argus can provide 

 complete turnkey installations, orassist 

 growers in installing the system in new 

 or existing facilities. Formore informa- 

 tion call (604) 538-3531. 



New In sectary to Open 



In a matter of months, depending on 

 the success of trials and the production 

 of a new parasite for sweetpotato 

 whitefiy, floral growers may have a 

 new weapon for one of the industry's 

 most common and difficult-to-control 

 pests. American Insectaries, Escandido, 

 California, is preparing to produce 

 sweetpotato whitefiy parasites of 

 Eretmocerus genus, although three para- 

 sites are presently under study. 



The eretmocerus parasite was im- 

 ported from the Middle East and re- 

 leased into the wilds of California 6 

 years ago. Since then, Jim Davis, 

 American Insectaries president, along 

 with several entomologists, have been 

 monitoring the success of the release. 

 Earlier this summer, they returned to 

 the monitoring area and collected speci- 

 mens from the original release site and 

 are presently field trialing the parasite 

 in commercial fioriculture-producing 

 greenhouses, as well as in other agricul- 

 tural areas. 



"Eretmocerus parasites have great 

 potential for all of agriculture," Jim 

 says. "Sweetpotato whitefiy is a wide- 

 spread pest that's difficult to control. 

 Encarsia formosa will parasitize the 

 nympha 2 stage of sweetpotato whitefiy, 

 but sweetpotato whitefiy is not the para- 

 site's primary host, making control 

 difficult. I feel eretmocerus will be a 

 better control agent, and our initial stud- 

 ies look very promising." 



-Grower Talks Magazine 



