A Visit from Koppert Biological Systems
As a gardener, I am always on the lookout for products that will help me grow beautiful flowers, delicious vegetables and fruits, and maintain my large collection of tropical plants.
Over the summer, I had Koppert Biological Control visit my Bedford, New York farm to inspect my gardens and greenhouses and to create a plan for keeping potentially harmful pests away from my plants using beneficial organisms. Koppert, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, focuses on utilizing natural, safe solutions to improve crop health, resilience and production among growers and large scale farms around the world. It was a very thorough, informational and interesting visit.
Enjoy these photos.
-
- Jeremy Webber is a consultant and field expert for Koppert Biological Systems, which is based out of The Netherlands. Ryan has been working closely with him to develop a preventative treatment plan for the farm.
-
- Biological control is the use of beneficial insects to suppress the activities of damaging ones. Back in July, Jeremy spent several hours assessing the condition of all the vegetable, fruit and ornamental plants.
-
- Jeremy is extremely thorough – he looked at many leaves up close for anything that may harm these specimens. Citrus plants are susceptible to various insects such as aphids and whiteflies.
-
- This is what my vegetable greenhouse looks like now – very lush, green and productive.
-
- Last summer, Jeremy could only inspect the last few plants left in this structure as all our major crops were already well established outdoors.
-
- He took a sample of leaves and examined them closely.
-
- Jeremy always brings a portable magnifying glass, which helps him see and identify even the smallest abnormalities in the leaves. Whitefly is also a common vegetable plant pest.
-
- Next, Ryan and Jeremy walked into my smallest greenhouse adjacent to my main greenhouse and across from my flower cutting garden. Here, I usually keep topiaries and seedlings and a group of tropical plants.
-
- Once again, Jeremy removed a leaf from one of these beautiful specimens and took a close look. A lot of these small plant pests congregate on the undersides of leaves, so it is important to examine everything as carefully as possible.
-
- When using beneficial insects, it is also important to ensure that the insects will thrive in the climate provided, so double-check the temperature and humidity needs for a given beneficial insect before starting a program like this one.
-
- The next stop – the main greenhouse to see all my tropical plants. Another tip – always inspect new plants – many pest infestations originate from new plants brought into the growing area.
-
- Jeremy looked at the ferns for scale, leaf spots, molds and mildews. It is very difficult to keep all these plants completely free of diseases, but preventative and early care against these conditions can go a long way.
-
- The last stop was the outdoor vegetable garden – also completely chemical free. I share all of these with my daughter and grandchildren, so it is vitally important to keep these crops organic and safe.
-
- I just love how our cabbages looked – we had a very good growing season last year.
-
- All the cabbages were healthy, but Jeremy examined samples from nearly every crop, just to be certain.
-
- Remember our lettuces? These lettuces were so delicious.
-
- Lettuce crops are susceptible to aphids, loppers, certain beetles and worms – thankfully, Jeremy did not find any.
-
- This was the kale – another good grower down here in the garden.
-
- We were also very successful in growing potatoes. Potatoes can fall victim to wireworms, potato beetles, leafhoppers and certain soil insects. Our potatoes are consistently healthy and free of any harmful insects.
-
- And here was our eggplant crop in July. Though not as large as previous seasons, we still had a good number of delicious and beautiful eggplants.
-
- Tomato plants often draw whitefly, which we did find on our plants, but overall, Jeremy gave us a very good report. Tomorrow, I will share with you what beneficial insects we’ve released at the farm, and how they have done to maintain all my precious specimens.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
