This is an interview we had with Stephen Plimpton of Nancy Carlisle Interior Landscaping located in Concord, New Hampshire (sorry, no link was provided). Like the last interview, the answers herein are short and to the point, but hopefully the information being passed along is still enlightening and of benefit to you, dear reader. Without further ado, here goes:
Interview
The headings below are our questions; the blockquotes that follow are Stephen Plimpton’s responses.
How did you get started as a biocontrol practitioner?
“Education from seminars, personal heath considerations, and challenges in the workplace [related to] spraying pesticides.”
What sort of challenges have you experienced?
“Educating the public. Biocontrol is better for everything. Pesticides are not always the best answer.”
What was the biggest failure?
“Releasing Crypts, ([Cryptolaemus montrouzieri] ladybugs) on an account just to see them fly away.”
What was the biggest success?
“On a large account [we have], I was able to convince the client to use biocontrols. They were dead set on [using] pesticides [but] we had great success controlling the problem.”
What advice would you offer others just getting started?
“Educate yourself [and] your clients. Ask questions. Attending seminars seems to be the best way to get info. IPM workshops, [and] incorporating IPM into your daily routine [helps]. Interiorscaping brings lots of challenges. With every shipment comes issues: bugs, fungi, etc. You have to keep an eye on every little thing while [the] material acclimates.”
If you’re interested in being interviewed and have something to bring to the table, please contact us. We’re also interested in publishing articles written by our readers, friends, and customers that others can get something from. We do have a few more interviews and a couple of things lined up, but we can always use more. Talk to us.
