Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the environment. With droughts, floods, fires, heat waves and other extremes, a lack of control can be completely paralyzing. Maud Powell, a professor of practice in the Small Farms Extension program at Oregon State Universi...

Not all scientific research is done in a sterile lab setting or in carefully planted test plots. Some of it is done on plates, with forks and knives. A group from Washington State University Extension – Laura Schulz, Jordan White and Carol Miles – shared their results from a study titled “Finding th...

The American palate is ever expanding, and that’s thanks in large part to the wide variety of immigrants who now call the U.S. home. In bringing the flavors of the “old country” with them, they provide new flavors and even health benefits with crops not usually seen in American fields or farm stands...

“The only way to have insect- and disease-free boxwoods is to use Buxus plasticus,” Joe Boggs joked. (Only a plastic boxwood – Buxus taxonomically – could truly be problem-free.) Boggs is an assistant professor with Ohio State University (OSU) Extension specializing in entomology. OSU, the Ohio Gree...

Here’s a topic that’s as colorful as it is crucial for nursery production: the potential of colored shade materials to control hydrangea growth. Dr. Eric Stallknecht, assistant professor and greenhouse production specialist at Virginia Tech, led a vibrant discussion on whether different shade colors...

Due to the desired growth habits of Cannabis sativa, lighting may be more critical for this crop than many others. Even before it became legal again, growers were working on fine-tuning their lighting set-ups to achieve the perfect plant-to-flower ratio. Both public universities and private research...

The horticulture industry isn’t just about growing plants. Some of the real power players are behind the scenes – the decision-makers who control contracts, greenlight vendors and determine who gets the deal and who gets the door. In her high-energy session “Winning Business: How Decision Makers Cho...

A Ph.D. student in the department of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation and an affiliate of the Invasive Species Collaborative at Virginia Tech, Harrison Miles has considerable experience with invasive species. One troublesome invasive he’s studying is the spotted lanternfly (SLF). Althou...

Life moves at a lightning pace these days, and the same can be said of the horticulture industry. Plant varieties are always being tweaked and improved, different methods of growing are tested, new technology is being developed – and pests and diseases are always a threat. That’s why attending a col...