In the first diagnostic challenge of the year, I’d like to look at a couple of things that could lead to significant issues and management costs in the future unless certain management strategies aren’t put into place before even starting new perennial crops. I think that’s a pretty big clue to start off with—now take a look at what I’m hinting towards:

I’m guessing this should be an easy challenge, however, it’s a two-fer: can you see both issues in this image? It's time for me to ask the big question, "What's happening here?"

Take your time, read the newsletter and I’ll have the great reveal before signing off.

I can’t believe January is nearly over and many greenhouses already have started planting crops for spring sales. Time sure flies, doesn’t it? As most of us are consumed with the spring that’s before us, it’s already time to be a visionary and look ahead towards Spring 2021. This is where the California Spring Trials come in. Each spring, several of the industry’s top genetics companies showcase their up-and-coming, jaw-dropping cultivars during the five-day event.

Perennial display at Pacific Plug & Liner in Watsonville, California, during the 2019 California Spring Trials.

This year, Spring Trials is being held at various sites across northern and central California from March 28 to April 2, 2020. New perennial introductions have had a strong presence at Spring Trials over the past few years and I don’t expect this year to be any different.

Danziger, Darwin Perennials, Dümmen Orange, Green Fuse Botanicals, Ernst Benary of America, J. Berry Nursery, Kieft Seed, Pacific Plug & Liner, PlantHaven, Skagit Horticulture, Syngenta Flowers, Southern Living, Terra Nova Nurseries and ThinkPlants are several of the companies I expect to see with new perennials on display. There’s likely a couple I missed, but I think you can see perennials will be well represented at the California Spring Trials. 

You can view the complete listing of participants, obtain relevant contacts, travel tips and more by visiting Ball Publishing's very own Spring Trials website: www.springtrials.com.

I’ve shared numerous introductions I’ve seen at the 2019 Spring Trials in several newsletters throughout the year, but here are a few more perennials I haven't passed along that I thought you'd like to see:

Buddleia Summer Bird Violet

Summer Bird Violet is one of several very dwarf buddleia from Benary. They're perfect for small containers to be used in small spaces such as patios, decks and the front of perennial borders. Like other cultivars of butterfly bush, the Summer Bird series is also great for attracting pollinators.

Dianthus Supra Scarlet

Supra Scarlet is one of seven cultivars in the Supra series of interspecific F1 hybrid dianthus from Hem. As you can see, Supra Scarlet has lots of flower power. It’s first-year flowering, easy to grow, a good garden performer and hardy to Zone 5.

Lavender stoechas Bandera Deep Purple

Bandera Deep Purple is a wonderful seed form of the popular Lavender stoechas, which up until recently was only available vegetatively. Our friends at Kieft Seed can be credited for bringing the first professional seed-quality series (yes, I’m referring to the Banderas) to the market. 

Bandera Deep Purple is compact, bushy (with no pinching) and is a prolific bloomer. It’s hardy to Zone 7, but fits in nicely with annual programs in colder locations.

At the top of the newsletter, I showed the  image on the left and asked you to identify the two issues you see. The image on the right shows you the bigger picture.

I didn’t play any tricks and hoping most of you easily identified the issues I showed. The two issues are weeds (bittercress) growing in seams of a groundmat and the other issue is algae growing on the ground mat. Perhaps these may seem normal and some of us are guilty of downplaying the significance the occurrence of algae and weeds can have on the crops we grow.

This image clearly shows how aggressively weeds can be if they're not taken care of.

Besides generating more weeds, weeds and algae are great vectors of insects, diseases and viruses. In the long run, it's less costly to remove these issues before starting crops than it is to manage these problems, and the diseases and insects they harbor during production.

One of the most effective strategies for preventing weeds and algae (not to mention insects and diseases) from becoming established is to start off with clean greenhouses and production sites.

I’m surprised by the number of sites I visit each year that don’t properly clean and weed their production facilities before setting down new crops. I strongly encourage you to not only sweep and wash the floors, but to consider using cleaners, disinfectants and herbicides to start off as clean as possible.

I can’t overemphasize the importance of starting off the growing season weed free. This usually entails a combination of methods, such as manually removing them, applying post-emergent herbicides like FireWorxx to kill existing weeds, and applying pre-emergent herbicides like Marengo for preventing future weeds from germinating. Please refer to product labels, as most pre-emergent herbicides aren't labeled for applications within enclosed structures.

When cleaning the floors, it’s also a good idea to use a cleaning agent such as Strip-It Pro and then apply a disinfectant such as KleenGrow. Using these steps when preparing production sites will go a long way towards preventing problems from quickly becoming established on new crops.