Applied soil and foliar microbials

Microbials applied to foliar and/or soil substrates are effective at preventative management of arthropods and plant pathogens, however, for the grower it can be difficult to conceptualize what is going on during and after an application.  Growers ask questions such as: Is the product I received viable? What is the best application equipment and/or timing to apply? Did I get good coverage?  Was colonization successful? Et cetera. This presentation is comprised of trials conducted at commercial ornamental and vegetable greenhouses.  The grower trials were aimed at helping growers understand how microbials work in their operations and with their application equipment.  The general understanding of how microbials work and visuals generated during these trials, build trust between the growers and microbial manufactures as well as grower confidence in use of microbial product(s) which can generate long term continued acceptance and use of microbial products.