NO ANTS IN MY PLANTS!
Small Plant Vendor
Program Agreement Form
Nowadays the nursery business is extremely competitive and customers are becoming more and more
discerning when buying retail plants. Many customers are looking for price as well as quality, and often good
quality plants look much the same as poor quality plants at point of sale.
Professional retail nurseries take great care to provide the best possible plants for their customers and pride
themselves in being better than competing plant vendors. Customers notice this, and by providing quality
stock, your chances of getting return business are far greater.
One issue that has become important to consumers is that of pests and diseases. People are being far more
careful to ensure they do not buy plants infested with new pests like coqui frogs, nettle caterpillars and Little
Fire Ants. For many nurseries, this is seen as a problem, but you can turn this into a marketing advantage!
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a new, cooperative nursery program called: “No Ants
in my Plants!”. This program is open to any small plant vendor or retail nursery that participates in regular
Little Fire Ant surveys and implements a risk management plan. There is no cost, aside from some simple
changes to pest management procedures.
Benefits to you include:
• Endorsement on the Hawaii Ant Lab Website www.littlefireants.com
• Certificate of Compliance
• Increased sales
• Return customers
• Greater customer confidence in your products
Benefits to your customers include:
• A greatly reduced risk of introducing Little Fire Ants to their home and neighborhood
• Being able to buy good quality pest-free plants from a professional nursery
Benefits include
• Protecting our natural environment from new pests
• Assisting tourism by preventing visitors from being stung
• Protecting our agricultural industries such as tropical fruits and coffee
I sincerely hope you will consider participating in this program and look forward to being available to you for
advice and assistance with your pest problems.
Cas Vanderwoude
Research Manager, Hawaii Ant Lab
Pacific Cooperative Study Unit, University of Hawaii
16 East Lanikaula Street, Hilo, Hi, 96720
Phone: (808) 315-5656
NO ANTS IN MY PLANTS!
PROGRAM AGREEMENT FORM
NAME ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONTACT PHONE ____________________________________________ EMAIL ________________________________________@____________________
YES, I WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NO ANTS IN MY PLANTS PROGRAM
I AGREE TO CONDUCT REGULAR MONITORING FOR LITTLE FIRE ANTS. IF LFA ARE PRESENT, I WILL WORK WITH THE HAWAII ANT
LAB TO DEVELOP A RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN AND CONDUCT REGULAR TREATMENTS AS RECOMMENDED IN THE RISK MANAGEMENT
PLAN. I WILL BE SURE TO PROVIDE ONLY CLEAN PLANT STOCK TO MY COSTUMERS.
I UNDERSTAND THAT INTRODUCING LFA TO A PROPERTY IS A LONG TERM RISK. I UNDERSTAND TREATING LFA REQUIRES LONG
TERM MANAGEMENT. I WILL CONTINUE WITH THIS APPROACH BECAUSE I KNOW I WILL BE PROVIDING THE BEST POSSIBLE PRODUCT
TO MY COSTUMERS AND THAT IS IMPORTANT TO ME.
SIGNED ________________________________________________
PLEASE ADD ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
PRINT NAME _____________________________________________________