IPPS New Zealand Conference - 14-17 May 2009

Hobart, Tasmania - Combined Conference with Australia Region

Frutifull 42 Degrees South

Things kicked off with a reception at Government House followed by a classy meal par excellence (for some of us) at the Drunken Admiral on Hobart’s waterfront.

Terry Hatch’s presentation on NZ natives for hedges got matters formal underway on Friday morning. Terry’s illustration of potential aplenty was followed by Natalie Tapson detailing her work on the preservation of a rare Tasmanian plant, Lomatia tasmanica. Mark Stevenson then summarized the complex relationships among potting mix characteristics – chemical, physical, biological - and their influence on container production.

After a stretch and some tucker at morning tea, Australia’s Rod Tallis awardee, Luke Dent, told us of his trial work on Grey Mangrove, one of the most prolific plants on the world, but threatened by habitat degradation. Iain Thompson from South Africa followed with a comparison of two propagation systems for the production of the Eucalyptus, 38% of South Africa’s forestry is Eucalyptus. Jeff Elliot then discussed his holistic approach to irrigation and nursery-wide microbial balance.

Nick Cracknell’s challenge of building a state of the art tomato production unit resulted in a first class facility which some of us visited Saturday’s field trip. James Wood from the Tasmanian Seed Conservation Centre showed the work of preserving endangered plants though seed collection and preservation in storage. Lunch was preceded by Landcare’s Hugh Gourlay’s presentation of biological weed control principles and practice worldwide.

Robert Chin got the afternoon underway with his Churchill Scholarship comparative study of invasive weed management in Australia, Canada and USA. Liza Whalley’s experiments on the use of activated honey in propagation showed that any honey does the trick, while Erica Obenholzer’s presentation featured her work in commercial production of South African traditional medicinal plants - a presentation sparked a lot of positive comment.

Graham Saltiel started the last session off with an overview of what growers should expect from a potting media supplier and Nicola Rochester reported on experiments to put the case for nutrition amendments in propagation media.

Dinner was preceded, by some, with a speed blast up and down the Derwent River. These brave souls who experienced the cold, wet, windy and rough trip were likely the better for it?

Saturday got off to a cold and early start with breakfast: included in the conference fee, this was rouse to get us all to the 8am AGM that followed! Then, we saw just why it was so cold – the top third of Mt Wellington, a peak dominating the western skyline, had a liberal dusting of snow! At 1270m its peak is just nine kilometers from downtown Hobart.

Then it was on to a brief stop at the Salamanca Markets before the group split in three for the morning’s field visits. Lunch at Westland Nursery was followed by a nursery tour and demonstrations of potting (a very nice 60 x 2L per minute Demtec potting machine), budding, grafting and knife sharpening.

Saturday’s formal dinner and awards saw Dave Ogilvy presented with the John Follet Award of Recognition and Ken Davey’s exhaustive contribution to propagation and NZ IPPS was acknowledged with an Award of Merit, our highest honour. Congratulations to both well-deserved recipients.

Sunday’s paper sessions saw Terry Hatch discussing Dracophyllum, slow-growing but nice; Greg Neighbor from Scotts’ highlighted some trends in propagation and Hugh Gourlay presented details of the cost of exotic plants that go wild. Peter Ollerenshaw spoke of his work on the breeding of Correa and Michael Danelon showed us the benefits of optimizing our irrigation systems.

Mark Salter spoke on the opportunities presented by exporting berryfruit to Japan and James Gardener spoke on the use of seaweed extracts to enhance propagation success.

With the useful traditional Australian question and answer session the conference was wrapped up and pronounced a resounding success with all being invited in May 2010 to Blenheim and Perth in New Zealand and Australia respectively!

Coming Up

We're gearing up for a Christchurch Field trip 8 & 9 August, followed by a November gathering in and around Wellington

This year's International Conference and tour is in Ireland during September

Got a project you'd like to undertake some study of? Then apply for our Propagator's Scholarship

News

Conference 2009 is done and dusted.

Ken Davey's contribution was recognized by an Award of Merit at conference, while Dave Ogilvy received the Award of Recognition

There was a good turnout at the IPPS displays at Autumn 2009 Trade Days

As one attendee put it, we survived the D'Urville Island Field Day!

Sponsors

Daltons
Hortfert Plus
Industrial Processors
InfoServices
Morgans Rd Nursery
PSP Athco
RX Plastics
Scotts Australia
Southern Horticulture
Commercial Horticulture
KingGrapes