Scouting Information

What Is Scouting?

Let me answer that by calling it something else — like “looking carefully,” “monitoring,” or “investigating.” And let me couple that with record-keeping and data collection. Whatever I call it, or more importantly whatever you call it, it is without a doubt one of the cornerstones which separates good growers from those wanting to be good.

If you grow plants for a living, or do so in any capacity other than as a home gardener, you really need to incorporate scouting into your agenda — your livelihood depends on it. I know, you’re busy enough already, but without a regular scouting regimen, a lot of what is crowding your schedule is probably the result — either directly or indirectly — of not scouting.

What It Takes (Time & Tools)

What does it take to scout? Figure about twenty minutes per week per one-thousand square feet of crop area in greenhouses and other interiors. For large outdoor applications, by way of area sampling, figure about the same amount of time per week per acre.

Out-of-pocket costs equate almost solely to whatever your scout gets paid for the time. With the exception of labor — and your scout should be well compensated — the outlay is negligible.

Setting Up: Maps & Schedule

One of the first duties for your hired gun (or you) is to put on paper the areas which need scouting attention — in other words, make some maps. These maps need to be permanently numbered or labeled by area. Use structure names or greenhouse numbers, or for interiorscapes, account names. For field settings, try field numbers.

These maps should have spaces for date, square footage (or acreage), crop specs, and comments about what was found and how it was corrected. After the permanent information has been drawn on the map, it should be copied so one copy per map can be used for every scouting venture.

Scheduling: Tuesday at Noon

Scouting, to be truly effective, should be performed on a predetermined schedule that doesn’t change during the season. The scout and management, plus all other concerned parties, should be allowed into the decision-making process.

Dedicated scouting once a week should be sufficient in most operations — dedicated as in not done during watering or harvesting or anything else that would split the scout’s focus. The day of the week should be unalterable. This is important: record-keeping is a major part of a good scouting program, and the day matters.

For example: Tuesday is a good day — good bugs may need to be ordered in time for the following week and most biocontrol distributors have deadlines. But if the day is Tuesday one week and Thursday the next, the numbers being recorded will be skewed and won’t reflect actual trends. How many bugs did you count last week? Yeah, the week with nine days in it! Mondays and Fridays should be avoided for several reasons: too much drinking during the weekend could degrade your scout’s Monday vision, and by Friday they may be rushing to get outta’ there.

Time of day matters too: the lighting in the area should be good so the scout can see properly — and the scout should have good eyesight (Mr. Magoo would be a poor candidate). High noon works well: lighting is good and many of the pests you’re looking for should be active.

How to Scout — In a Greenhouse

Now that the mapping is done and the schedule has been determined, let’s get into the how-to. Divide the greenhouse into sections and mark them. This information transfers onto the map. Crop information should be added per section unless the entire greenhouse is used for the same crop (a monoculture).

Now, parts of each section — benches, for example — should also be identified and marked. In a smaller greenhouse (up to roughly 5,000 ft²), each section should be about 250 ft². Larger greenhouses may use larger sections of about 1,000 ft², assuming there is not too much crop diversity clouding the uniqueness of each section.

Where to Place Sticky Traps

In each section, place one 3×5′ yellow sticky trap (if thrips are the only target, or certain biocontrol agents are in use, a blue trap may be substituted). Mount it 2–3′ above the plant canopy, with the flat side against the horizontal flow of air so it will likely capture more pests, and where it can be easily accessed for inspection and counting. Don’t put traps where workers will brush them.

If fungus gnats are a target pest, place a second trap sticky-side-up on the medium — one per section. If a sticky trap on the medium isn’t practical, a quarter-inch slice of raw potato placed on the medium will trap larvae and facilitate easy detection and counting.

The Inspection Routine (Modus Operandi)

At the scheduled time, enter the greenhouse and start with section one. Check the trap(s) and potato slice. Numbers and types of critters detected should be counted and recorded. Traps should be changed frequently to facilitate easy counting. If little is captured, circle trapped bugs with a pen so they’re not counted again the following week (you can kiss the pen good-bye — it will never be useful on paper again).

In each section, mark or tag a representative plant. Inspect it thoroughly:

• Surface first — starting at the growing tip, moving downward toward the medium.
• Then inward toward the main stem — from the medium’s surface upward to the tip.
• If possible, pull the root-ball out of its container and inspect it too.

Record everything — pest activity, biocontrol agent activity, disease symptoms, anomalies. Good news matters too — don’t forget to include positive signs. Move on to the next section and repeat.

Scouting Interiorscapes

Interiorscapes work much like greenhouses, with a few twists. Sticky traps are often excluded since these places are open to the public — they can be a minor (sometimes amusing) hazard if people get their hair stuck on them. They can also be unsightly. Depending on the size of the display, traps may be able to be hidden and placed out of harm’s way.

Potato slices remain very useful as indicators. Specific plants can still be identified and marked — even if only on the map. Otherwise, the same organized regimen should be employed. The rules don’t change much (unless the account is visited biweekly for regular maintenance), and the principles always stay the same.

Scouting Outdoors

The rules don’t change much outdoors either — though weather can alter your schedule significantly. Instead of using traps, the scout wields a sweep net (a muslin bag held open with a spring-steel hoop on a handle — the shape of a child’s butterfly net, only bigger and more durable).

The field is labeled on the map with specific sections identified and marked. Pay particular attention to the field’s periphery and areas abutting neighboring wild areas, other fields, and other crops. Each section gets swept — the scout lightly moves the net through the plant foliage, then dumps the contents into a bug-tight box or collection unit. The box is then taken back to a more controlled environment so its contents can be sorted, identified and counted.

Sticky traps shouldn’t be used outdoors — they get used up too quickly. Potato slices probably get eaten by animals. The principles, though, are always the same.

Putting It All Together

In any situation, the actions that follow are the same: maps go back to a central point and get analyzed and, perhaps, discussed with management. Curative actions, if any, are prescribed and recorded on the map for historical reference. If the action is biological in nature, it will probably be performed the following week.

Knowing — and seeing on graphs — that every March aphids visit the southernmost section of Greenhouse One will really go a long way toward planning a welcome-back party for them. You have the time and place, so make it a surprise party. This year they can be surprised instead of you.

The maps should be collected throughout the season and the information graphed. It is amazing what a few seasons’ worth of historical and analytical graphs or bar charts will do to curb today’s mistakes tomorrow.

Okay, let’s move on — there’s more to cover in building a Successful Scouting Plan →