I went to Shady Maple Smorgasbord on Thursday, January 27 and learned all about how to manage a greenhouse. Some key speakers included Krystal Snyder of Penn State Extension, Steve Bogash a representative of Marrone Bio Innovations, SinClair Adam of Penn State extension, Dale Bradshaw of Florikan, and Justin Leavitt a representative of Biobee. At the event, I learned about the effects of Covid 19 on the greenhouse industry. I was shocked to learn that one greenhouse already has their 2023 inventory ordered as you never know what will happen to the supply chain. One thing that has come about as a result of the pandemic is new customers. So they have had to educate the new buyers on how to keep their plants alive.
Additionally, I learned about Chemsweep which is a program that collects unused or unwanted pesticides from farmers at no cost. The program is meant to help farmers have less of an impact on the environment. At the event, I learned about 2 other agriculture events, Cultivate and the Northeast Greenhouse Conference. Many of the people at the event were getting their licenses and training required for their jobs. Most of the people that I met were in sales which surprised me as I thought that there would be more growers.
Rick Yates of Griffin Greenhouse gave a wonderful presentation about insect and mite control. I was informed that some of the basil that I have been growing in the greenhouse might have Chilli Thrips. Krystal Snyder informed me that you shouldn’t leave water in trays as that creates root rot. I did this over Thanksgiving break so the plants wouldn't die but I guess I won’t be doing that anymore.
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