SCOUTING NURSERY STOCK

Inspectors with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture regularly inspect nursery stock for plant pest problems, and discuss problems found with the nursery. However, to minimize risk and be able to quickly respond to pest problems, nurseries are encouraged to implement a regular scouting program for plant pests

Plant pests can cause serious injury to nursery stock, and result in significant negative economic impacts. Those impacts can be direct and indirect, and quickly add up. Examples include economic loss because plants were destroyed or sold at a reduced rate due to lower quality, loss of customers because plants weren’t available, damage to reputation when low quality plants were distributed, added chemical treatment expenses, added personnel expense to manage the plant pests, and on and on.

Implementing a scouting program in your nursery can help reduce losses due to plant pests, and minimize economic losses. The purpose of a nursery scouting program is to:

• Minimize the risk of plant pests (insects, diseases, nematodes, etc.) being introduced or established in the nursery operation.

• Ensure the nursery stock distributed is healthy.

A scouting program does not need to be complex. A basic program may include:

• Regularly observing (inspecting) nursery stock for signs and symptoms of damage that indicate a possible pest or environmental problem.

• If signs/symptoms are noticed, inspect more closely. Can you ID the problem?

• Send specimens off to a diagnostic lab for confirmation of the pest if necessary.

• Based on pest ID, develop a treatment plan and follow it.

• Keep records on origin of plants, and all pests found and treatments made

Train other staff to scout for pests and report potential problems to a designated person. The more eyes you have watching for problems, the more likely problems are found early.

There are many opportunities for scouting the nursery stock:

• Inspect all plant deliveries for pests upon arrival, and have a plan for determining when a shipment will be accepted and treated, or rejected.

• When taking cuttings, inspect parent plants to make sure you aren’t also propagating a plant pest.

• For field grown nursery stock, inspect regularly, and keep the biology of individual plant pests in mind. For example, scout for bagworms soon after expected emergence when treatment is a viable option.

• Prior to digging field stock, inspect plants to avoid delivering a pest to customers.

• Watering or pruning nursery stock also provides a great opportunity to inspect nursery stock.

• Scout fields/greenhouses in the fall and rogue out nursery stock that is not likely to recover, including deer rubbed trees, dead plants, or plants that will require more treatment than the value of the plant, or have not responded to previous treatments.

A nursery scouting program is a series of simple steps, and many nurseries are already doing some of these activities. By developing and implementing a proactive plan for scouting plant pests, and training staff on their roles, nurseries can be more efficient in their efforts and improve the quality of their stock, while helping to reduce losses.