Our Ranunculus and Anemones benefit from the climate of Sanremo and the Riviera, which are the best possible conditions for their growth!
However, in our greenhouses temperature, humidity, light, spacing and fertilization are factors which are under control and regulated according to the needs of the crop.
Unfortunately, these conditions are also optimal for most pathogens and parasites that attack the crops. The need to maintain an ideal environment for the crop also creates conditions that favour the biological cycles of parasites, which continue for much longer periods than would happen under ordinary conditions.
Among the insects that commonly attack cut flowers we find the thrips, present in greenhouses especially in warm environments. The damage can appear in various ways, such as discolouration and suction bites on open flowers and petals; deformation of buds and dots on flowers due to oviposition. Following their trophic activity, silvery necrotic spots appear on the plant that can compromise the plant’s ability to photosynthesise; they are also vectors of viruses.
In order to avoid these problems from arising, here at La Marca Flowers we use monitoring as a defense strategy.
Among the monitoring tools, chromotropic traps are certainly among the most widespread and easy to use. Blue adhesive panels have an attractive action and if placed near the flower allow an effective capture for several days.
Every two or three days we check the traps and keep a count of the individuals captured so this gives us an indication of the attack pressure.
It is very important to underline that we do not only deal with monitoring, because it is a support tool and not a definitive solution. In fact, we combine monitoring with careful observation of the crop, in order to identify any early outbreaks and have continuous visibility of the degree of susceptibility of the crop.
As always, we invite you to visit our Gallery in order to stay up to date. For any doubt or clarification please do not hesitate to contact us, we remain at your complete disposal.