2010 Conference - Blenheim, 27-30 May 2010

Sunshine, Wine and Weather

Marlborough has been in need of some rain; shame it arrived as we got things underway. That was the weather side of things, wine featured most evenings, and the sunshine? Well it waited till Sunday!

Jane Hunter of Hunter Wines opened conference with a review of the development of the region's vineyards and an enthusiastic rendition of some Marlborough's highlights.

Following Jane, Joe Cartman presented two papers, the first covering seed collection and raising at Christchurch City Council, the second on twin scaling bulbs. Jan Clayton‐Greene spoke of DOC's wide ranging work preserving Marlborough's threatened flora and Vance Hooper presented results of twenty years selecting rootstock for optimum scion compatibility.

Onto the buses and off to a lavender farm - in the rain. Lunch, hot tea and coffee and lavender infused chocolate were the order of the day. A tour and wine tasting followed at Yealands Eco Winery, someone counted 23 x 80,000 litre stainless steel "vats"!

Friday's dinner was followed by the auction. Gordon Scott's fishing trip likely drew the top bid of the evening; keenly contested.

Ruth McConnochie kicked Saturday off telling of her work selecting genetically improved Eucalypt for use as posts on Marlborough vineyards, some 750,000 posts are likely to be needs as replacements every year! Cathy Hargreaves followed summing up some of Scion's recent work, and Alwyn Williams demonstrated growth enhancement by using the right kind of Mycorrhiza in the propagation of NZ native plants.

Chris Barnaby tackled the tricky subject of botanical nomenclature and plant name pronunciation - try saying that sentence fast a few times. John Seelye rounded the morning off with a summary of how a plant responds to the light spectrum, and some of the soon-to-be advantages of using narrow wavelength LED lamps to enhance plant growth.

Richard Ware, Peter Brass, Philip Smith and Ray Lawson teamed up to discuss their experiences with greenhouses and crop covers.

Less rain on Saturday's field trip to Omaka Aviation Museum, Morgans Rd Nursery and Ormonds Grape Nursery.

Saturday's 'formal' dinner saw us decked out in World War One regalia, and Richard Ware and Peter Waugh honoured - Award of Merit and John Follet Award of Recognition respectively. Congratulations to both, and thanks for the contribution over many years serves!

On Sunday Jeff Elliot took us on a trip though various setups looking for the perfect heat distribution through a propagation bed, Malcolm Woolmore recounted the development path of his biopot and Ema Hewson told of her work implementing IPM strategies at Southern Woods Nursery.

After morning tea, Morgan Rogers spoke on the use of growth regulators in pip fruit and the need to fine-tune nutrition to ensure greatest benefit, Nicola Rochester summarized her Hobart presentation and the went on to expand on her findings on stock plant nutrient regimes and their effect on subsequent propagation. Bruce Dippie rounded the morning off with a summary of some of the problems with street trees in Nelson.

While 2010 is not quite half way through, 2011 opportunities closed conference - Richard Ware invited us all to the Hawkes Bay for the 2011 conference 5-8 May, and Phillip Smith enticed many with a proposed jaunt through California in June 2011.

Paper summaries will follow soon ...

Coming Up

Done and dusted - news from the 2010 Conference - details here.

International Tour and Conference is in Eastern Region from 16 September

Spring field day plans are a work in progress

News

At the Blenheim conference Richard Ware was presented with the Award of Merit.

Peter Waugh was honored too - with the John Follet Award of Recognition.

New Japan / New Zealand Exchange.

IPPS Travel Scholarship details

Seven hours on the Tongariro Crossing Field Trip

An update on the McGredy Rose Garden

IPPS stands at the Nursery Trade Days

Liza Whalley reports on her IPPS Scholarship experience.

2010 Conference - Blenheim, 27-30 May 2010

Sunshine, Wine and Weather

Coming Up

News

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