You and your Spring Rush team need this list!

When Spring Rush rolls around, the face and the pace of your ornamental business changes. Along with seasoned long-timers, new faces appear—permanent, seasonal, and “we’ll see.” But whatever levels of expertise rest in your ranks, easy access to reliable, authoritative resources can help you handle whatever comes up, from pests to plants.

Don’t trust your knowledge base to AI-generated search results or “expert” advice from ChatGPT. We’ve put together some resources created by experts with commercial growers, landscape professionals, and garden center personnel in mind.

From smartphone apps to mobile-optimized websites, these resources can help you and your team cruise through the year’s busiest time with the answers you need:

Greenhouse Pest Guide: http://greenhousepestguide.umass.edu/

Greenhouse Disease Guide: http://greenhousediseaseguide.umass.edu/

These free web-based, mobile-optimized apps from the University of Massachusetts Extension and University of Massachusetts Plant Diagnostic Lab were designed for commercial growers of greenhouse crops and flowers—during Spring Rush and year-round.

The pest management guide covers options for using pesticides and biological controls. The disease management guide contains options for using conventional pesticides, organic alternatives, and biological controls.

e-GRO (Electronic Grower Resources Online): www.e-gro.org

e-GRO is a one-stop-shop for a plethora of resources to help your team through Spring Rush—and keep you informed. Thanks to greenhouse production specialists from more than one dozen universities, e-GRO includes university research and alerts about disease, insect, environmental, physiological, and nutritional disorders relevant to commercial greenhouse growers right now.

In addition to the site, e-GRO also offers a suite of free mobile-optimized calculators for pests, disease, and plant growth regulators (PGRs), including the popular PGR MixMaster, which helps commercial nursery and greenhouse personnel calculate correct dilutions for PGRs.

Purdue Plant Doctor: https://www.purdueplantdoctor.com/

Purdue University’s web-based interface and apps for identifying plant pest and disease problems are especially helpful for landscapers, but they’re handy for growers and grower-retailers, too. The suite of image-rich Purdue Plant Doctor smartphone apps (some free, some not) can help you diagnose and find science-based recommendations to manage the most common insect, disease, and environmental problems in landscapes.

Apps include Purdue Tree Doctor, Purdue Annual Doctor, Purdue Perennial Plant, Purdue Turf Doctor, and more. You can find links to the apps available for Apple and Android devices here: https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/apps.html

Insecticide Mode of Action App: https://irac-online.org/mode-of-action/)

This free Insecticide Mode of Action (MoA) Classification app from the IRAC (Insecticide Resistance Action Committee) can help you manage and minimize insecticide resistance. The easy-to-use searchable database identifies active ingredients in insecticides and their respective MoA groups to keep you ahead of the game during Spring Rush and beyond. Search the web-based app or download the free mobile app on the Apple or Google Play stores.

Back Pocket Grower: www.backpocketgrower.org

Another grower favorite, the Back Pocket Grower mobile-optimized, web-based app comes courtesy of numerous university and industry partners. This free online resource is packed with information aimed at commercial nursery and greenhouse production—created by industry specialists who know.

You and your staff will find calculator tools and training modules on topics as varied as industry economics, crop scheduling, substrates, vegetative propagation, daily light integrals, water quality and more. They’ll help get you through this Spring Rush and set you up for next year.

The Peters Product and Rate Finder App: https://www.growwithpeters.com/app/

The Osmocote Product and Rate Finder App: https://www.growwithosmocote.com/app/

Of course, no collection of helpful apps would be complete without our own ICL Growing Solutions Product and Rate Finder Apps for our Peters water-soluble fertilizers and Osmocote controlled-release fertilizers product lines. More than one of you has told us how helpful these free, feature-packed apps have been since we introduced them a few years ago.

Download them both, then use the respective app to browse our full product lines for Peters or Osmocote on your smartphone, even if you’re offline. You’ll find product recommendations, suggested application rates, dealer locations, or “Ask a Specialist” options. You can also find and send product information by text or email, and even launch these apps on your desktop.

Here at ICL Growing Solutions, our focus is on helping you grow the best possible plants and providing you with the products and expert advice you need, whenever and wherever you need it. Height of Spring Rush or any other time of year, we’re here to help you succeed. So, give us a call, text, email, or just flick your fingertip on the app. We look forward to talking with you soon.