Virtual Education on March 21, 2024: Pest, Plagues & Pollinators
Hosted in conjunction with Region 7

March 21, 2024  |  9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Each presentation will be one hour including time for questions and discussion.

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Segment 1: 
Timing Pesticide Applications to Protect Beneficials and Pollinators
Mina Vescera, Nursery-Landscape Specialist, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.  

In this presentation, you will gain an improved understanding of insect habitats, habits, and daily rhythms in order to better time potentially harmful applications of pesticides so the least exposure to beneficials and pollinators will occur.  You’ll learn about the influence of environmental conditions on insect activity (weather, sun, etc.), about physical practices such as mowing, and about the influence of product formulation on potential harmful effects to pollinators. Lastly, you’ll learn how to recognize beneficial insects in all life stages, to improve your scouting and beneficial or pollinator inventory prior to making a treatment. 

Segment 2:
Interesting Boring Insects, and Other Fascinating Landscape Pests
Dan Gilrein, Extension Entomologist, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
10:00 – 11:00 a.m. 

Hardly a barrier, wood is actually an attractive home for many insects, some of which can be quite destructive and even kill plants.  This presentation will cover some of the more important wood-boring insect pests we encounter in landscapes including flatheaded, roundheaded and clearwing borers. Other important invasive and troublesome species we’ve encountered or expect to, including invasive pests, will also be discussed. We’ll also review management options and what the Birds and Bees Protection Act will mean for managing landscape pests. 

Segment 3:
Stay Poised for Plant Disease Management
Margery Daughtrey, Senior Extension Associate, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 

Many different pathogens can disrupt plant health in a nursery or landscape if you aren’t paying careful attention.  Learn what to scout for and what IPM measures to use when dealing with significant disease problems including boxwood blight, powdery mildew, rusts, Phytophthora root rot, Diplodia tip blight and anthracnoses. Margery will also discuss current knowledge on beech leaf disease and its management and teach you to recognize some indicators of tree decay.

REGISTER TODAY!