All the latest news from Teagasc

New LED lights for strawberry research

A new system of LED night-break lights was recently installed for the ‘Malling Centenary’ strawberry trial in the glasshouse at Ashtown. Night-break lights are needed to break crop dormancy. Without the treatment, crop yields and strawberry quality are much lower. Night-break lighting is even more crucial in a mild winter where the strawberry crop receives inadequate chilling. The new LED bulbs use only 11 W of power compared to the standard 100 W incandescent bulbs currently used by the industry. This makes them almost 90% more energy efficient. The lights installed here are made by Philips-Signify and are called ‘GreenPower 2.0’. These lights are specifically designed for night-break lighting. The light gives the optimum amounts of deep red, white and far-red radiation for the strawberry crop. The lights are used for about 40 days once the strawberry crops begin to actively grow. ✽

Mushroom grower workshop and UK mushroom conference

On Thursday, March 28th, Teagasc hosted a mushroom growers’ workshop in the Four Seasons Hotel, Co. Monaghan. The event was an informative and valuable session. One of the topics on the day was to inform growers of the findings of the SafeMush project undertaken by Teagasc Food Research team in Ashtown and Moorepark. Details and findings from the project were presented by Kaye Burgess and Kieran Jordan. A training video for farm operatives and harvesters developed by the SafeMush project was launched at the event. It can be used as part of employee induction on mushroom farms. Other topics that were presented on the day were harvesting optimisation (best practices to optimise yield at harvesting), integrated pest management, pesticide application and mental health awareness. The workshop was a morning session with a white mushroom farm walk was organised in the afternoon within close proximity to Monaghan town.

The Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board is hosting a mushroom conference on 25 April in the Woodside Hotel, Kenilworth (near Birmingham). It is a one day conference aimed at bringing the mushroom industry together during a time of major change, uncertainty and opportunity. Guest speakers include Irish representatives Helen Grogan (Teagasc Mushroom Researcher) and Brendan Burns (Sylvan). The conference agenda is now available and bookings can be made online on the ADHB website https://horticulture.ahdb.org.uk/event/mushroomconference-2019 ✽

Staff recruitment

Danielle Boland has recently taken up the position of nursery production technician at Kildalton College. Danielle comes to the college from the Teagasc Horticulture Development Department where she was working as a research technician on the New Leaves Project, a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine funded project. The New Leaves project is researching and developing novel crops for the cut foliage sector and generating knowledge of key pest and disease issues on cut foliage crops. Prior to this Danielle worked at SAP Nurseries in Tipperary as a supervisor.

A native of Waterford, Danielle completed her horticultural training at Kildalton College and WIT before moving to CIT to complete her level 8 degree in horticulture. We have no doubt that Danielle will bring new ideas and initiatives to the commercial college nursery (which produces a wide range of ornamental plants) while involved in the practical training of students. ✽

Upcoming events

2 APRIL – GCSAI Turfgrass/John Deere Machinery Seminar, Ashtown
3 APRIL – Horticulture Energy Conference, Ashtown
25 APRIL – National Berry Seminar, Ashtown
20 JUNE – Nursery stock summer meeting, venue TBC
15 AUGUST – Cut Foliage Seminar – Focus on Eucalyptus, Kildalton College AUTUMN/DATES TBC – Reeltech Grass Machinery event, Ashtown
AUTUMN/DATES TBC – Turfgrass Industry Science event, Ashtown
AUTUMN/DATES TBC – ALCI training for industry, National Botanic Gardens Glasnevin

WEED CONTROL
NURSERY STOCK

Growers are always looking for alternative weed control options to help reduce costs, improve weed control range, reduce the risk of weeds developing resistance and because of the long term decline in the availability of plant protection products in the grower’s toolbox. Recent off label updates by the Pesticide Registration and Controls Divisions (PRCD) of the DAFM gave some new options to growers. In the last 12 months, Teagasc completed two trials that looked at herbicides in containerised and field production. The trials were observational and give general guidance based on our focused use. Growers should use the best judgment and follow product labels when using new products.

FIELD TRIAL

A trial was set up to look at five combinations of preemergent herbicides on seedbeds for trees. After 16 weeks, the follow-up post-emergent controls were applied. You will recall the summer we had last year was very dry and the trials suffered, with only Fagus sylvatica performing satisfactorily. Three of the preemergent herbicides worked very well and maintained a clean seedbed. Follow up treatments caused scorching but the plants appeared to grow away from this.

Photos of Fagus seed bed trial. Treatments 2 and 5 showing a clear difference in weed control after 10 weeks.

PROTECTED NURSERY STOCK TRIAL

A pre-emergent herbicide with active ingredient Metribuzin was recently approved for use under protection. Metribuzin had been reported previously to be phytotoxic and it was hoped that multiple low rate treatments could prevent phytotoxic damage. The product was trialled alongside a product containing Isoxaben, the only other herbicide permitted for use under protection. Fifteen evergreen plant species were treated and then assessed over 16 weeks. Metribuzin was seen to be safe and useful on a small number of evergreen plant species tested. Neither Isoxaben nor Metribuzin prevented liverwort growth. Use of Metribuzin at multiple low rate treatments to prevent phytotoxic damage was successful in just a small number of plant species. Full details will be available online – contact Dónall Flanagan directly to ensure you get your copy, donall.flanagan@teagasc.ie. ✽

Kildalton college gets involved in citizen science

The staff and students at Kildalton College have signed up to participate in a Horizon 2020 citizen science GROW project. This European-wide project is engaging thousands of growers, scientists and others who are passionate about the land. GROW believes that by working together growers can develop the means to better manage and protect soil and grow food, while also contributing to vital scientific environmental monitoring and research. Ireland is one of nine GROW places chosen in Europe to participate in the GROW Observatory soil monitoring project. More specifically, this project is centralised in the southeast and north west of Ireland. Community Gardens Ireland are coordinating the Irish component of this project.

Kildalton College became involved in this exciting project through horticulture graduate Dee Sewell. Dee, the founder of Greenside Up is coordinating the GROW project in the southeast of Ireland. According to Dee, “Many people are very aware of the impact that we are having on the environment but feel helpless when it comes to making a valued contribution towards solving many of the difficult issues which we now face. By being involved in this project the general public and growers are gathering information which is being used by scientists to build up valuable data regarding soil and crops.”

Grainne McMahon, assistant principal of horticulture at Kildalton said, “We are delighted to be involved in a citizens’ science project such as the GROW project. Soil is such an invaluable and delicate resource, it is essential that we as growers become more proactive in protecting it, to ensure it is productive for future generations.” As part of the project, Kildalton College has 24 soil sensors located in their crops. Teagasc Oak Park is also involved in collecting data through sensors, which will help develop more accurate climatic models and the prediction of severe weather events such as droughts and flooding. GROW has two challenges which this project is focusing on: saving soils and adapting to climate change. This will help in responding to the crucial sustainability challenges the planet faces.

To learn more about the GROW project and how you could become involved, visit their website at www.growobservatory.org or contact Dee Sewell and Joanne Butler at info@cgireland.org ✽