Archive for the ‘Diseases’ Category
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Problems in the Garden This Week
Some humidity in the air, but again, we can’t complain about this mid July weather! Spotty showers have again done general watering for many, but I do stress spotty. Check that rain gauge weekly to make sure you know how much rainfall your lawn has received and then supplement if needed. And don’t let these showers fool you on watering newly planted plants, or plants in mass plantings (especially evergreens) that may umbrella the water away from their root systems. Ross Root Feeders are an excellent way to water established plants right into their root systems! And Tree Gator Bags will help reduce your watering time spent watering newly planted trees. Check out our unbelievable special at the garden stores!
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This week, Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) is reporting first calls concerning yellow jackets and bald faced hornet nests, squash vine borer damages showing up in squash, pumpkins and gourds, continued reports of heavy slug damages, confirmed reports of late blight on a tomato plant (treat with fungicide – Chlorothalanil [Bonide’s Fungonil] or Mancozeb – copper also recommended –  before it shows) in Ohio and Kentucky, downy mildew of cucurbits, Japanese beetle activity heavy in many areas (reminder still time to apply a grub preventer to the lawns), ambrosia beetles causing damages to newly planted trees, and cicada killer wasps showing up now that the dog-day cicadas are out and about. Joe also noted a caller asking about sucker removal in sweet corn plants and whether it is helpful, and based on past notes / research, its more work than it is beneficial to remove the suckers. It does decrease competition, but does not show any significant increase in sweet corn yield or ear quality.Â
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BJB (OSU Extension) also wanted to take a moment to make a mention about the many attributes and environmental benefits of having turfgrass (lawns). (Seems in today’s garden chat, many homeowners look at reducing the turf area, rather than maintaining it!)  Turf attributes include its deep green carpet like growth that enhances other landscape features, imparts a feeling of spaciousness and gives width and depth to landscapes, no other living groundcover is as durable as turfgrass, and the growing point of turfgrass rests at ground level, allowing it to thicken and recover from foliar damage. Turfgrass also has many significant environmental benefits including a healthy 10,000 sq. ft. lawn absorbs 6,000 gallons of rainwater, a 150 acre golf course can absorb 12 million gallons of water during a 3 inch rainfall, earthworm populations of 200-300 worms per sq. yd. is not uncommon (they increase macropore space within the soil which means increased water infiltration and water retention capacity), every 2.5 acres of golf course turf sequester about one ton of carbon from the air each year, U.S. lawns remove 5% of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, grass traps more than 12 million tons of dust and dirt annually (including allergens and plant pollen), 250 ss. Ft. of lawn produces enough oxygen for a family of four, and eight average sized lawns have the cooling effect of 70 tons of air conditioning! Now those are some pretty convincing facts and figures! Thanks BJB!
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www.emeraldashborer.info
ashalert.osu.edu
Tags: squash vine borer, turfgrass, yellow jackets
Posted in Bugs, Diseases, Problems in the Garden This Week, Weeds | 2 Comments »
Monday, July 13th, 2009
“Can you give me the formula for Captain Jacks Deadbug Brew? I didn’t catch it in one of the past newsletters.” -Sorry, but there’s no formula, besides the one that the folks at Bonide use to make it! Captain Jacks is commercially made product available in an RTU, Hose end attachment, and a concentrate. Â
“My potatoes in a basket look great, flowered, and now have these small berries on the tops. What are those?” -Those are actually a potato fruit that has seeds in it. But be cautious – they are highly poisonous! Pick them off and throw them away. Â
“What is that blue green stuff growing on my tree trunks, and how do I get rid of it?”  Wow, do we get this question a lot! That blue green stuff is very common and it’s called Lichens. And lichens are an unusual combination of algae and fungus growing together on the top of the plants bark. No, lichens will not harm your tree and no, it doesn’t mean your tree is dying. But, lichens enjoys the sun, and if by chance your tree or plant is declining, so that there are fewer leaves and more sunlight hitting the lichens, they will respond by growing more vigorously. But again, lichens are a very common thing, will not harm the tree, and there’s no real reason to try and get rid of it. Â
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“What is this yellow stuff growing in my mulch?” -Wow we get this question a lot, too! That slimy stuff is called ‘Dog Bark Fungus’, and really isn’t a fungus, but is a slime mold. When the weather is just right, this stuff shows up in the mulch, and can actually slime its way onto the tree trunks and up the side of the foundation. Again, a very natural occurrence, and there are no controls for it.  Just fluff it up and let it dry, or scoop it up and throw it away (or around your neighbor’s front door).   “I had poison ivy in the beds around the front of a wooded area and I got rid of all of it. But now I see it growing in my grass! How did it get there? That is poison ivy I’m seeing, right?” -Poison Ivy is a master of disguise and grows in all shapes, sizes and forms. From vining on trees, thru plants, and on fences, it will also form a bush, small tree, and yes, even creep low enough to slither thru your turf. I’ve even seen poison ivy leaves range in size from 1/2 inch to 12-15 inches long, just to confuse you more!  So beware of this poisonous master of garden growing disguises. (PS – the toxic oil in poison ivy can remain viable for several years after the vine / plant has died.)  “Someone told me to cut off the old flowers on spirea and it will flower again. Is that true? And what do i cut off?” -Yep, it is true for the summer spirea bloomers, and the easiest way to do it, is to take a pair of hedge shears and shear them back about 2-3 inches below the old flowers. This is one of the few times I’ll recommend using hedge shears, so enjoy!  Takes a few weeks, then the spirea will send out new growth on which you will get new flowers.  “When’s the cut-off date for pinching back my garden mums?”  We usually look at July 15 or so for the last pinch. It takes about 6-8 weeks after that for bud set, and that puts you right around early September. If you want earlier flowers, stop pinching earlier. Â
Readers Comments:
“I save some of my grass clippings and place a neat 4 inch layer around my ‘tomatoe’ (long live Dan Quayle!) plants. And I never have blossom end rot problems.”  “I have been trying to keep ants away from my hummingbird feeder for years. I sprinkled corn meal around the base of the feeder pole, and it is working! Not one ant on my feeder. Just curious – is this harmful to anything else?”  (Also acts as a soil fungicide from what I have read. But very safe to use.)
Tags: dog bark fungus, mulch, poison ivy, potatoes in a basket, soil fungicide, tree trunk fungus
Posted in Bugs, Diseases, Questions of the Week | No Comments »
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
My favorite bug, the bagworm, has hatched and are beginning to secretly reek havoc on unsuspecting evergreens and some leafy plants. They are small right now – maybe only a 1/4 of an inch long – but the just keep getting bigger every day and eating more and more until the needles are gone! I have discovered them on a large planting of weeping white pines (you have to look close, but the browning needles were a hint to look), and when they’re this size, they are very susceptible to sprays of Bt, or the new Captain Jack’s Deadbug Brew (both a form a Eco-friendly bacteria). So this morning, we will spray the weeping pines with the new spray and see what the Captain can do! I’ll report back next week. In the meantime, check your evergreens for these miniature needle eating machines! (Junipers, pines, spruce, chamaecyparis, arborvitae, etc.) PS – I found a few on the closely planted Knock Out rose leaves as well, so they will get on leafy plants. But, its usually not as much of an issue as those plants recover – many of the needled plants do not (after severe damages).Â
This week, Buggy Joe Boggs is reporting bagworm hatch (duh, Joe, we already covered it!), increased reports of wild turkey damages in suburban gardens (another reason why you don’t drink and garden), iron chlorosis showing now in many trees including oaks, river birch and sweetgum, black medic showing up in many thinned out lawns (looks like clover with a yellow flower), pear sawfly on, nope not pears, crabapples (got cha!), arborvitae leafminer tip damage, mites on junipers, needle blight on Austrina pine, canker on Witchita Blue juniper, abiotic problems of holly leaf drop, leaf scorch on dogwood and red oak, and iron deficiences in river birch, gypsy moth caterpillars out and about, hickory tussock moth feeding on, nope, American elm leaves (got cha again! – they actually feed on a wide range of trees including hickory), magnolia serpentine leaf mining caterpillars on, yes, you got it this time, magnolias, WARM SEASON MITE populations now starting to rise, with the most notoriuous being the two-spotted spider mite (symptoms include tiny yellow spots on leaves which produces leaf chlorosis, browning or bronzing, and subsequent defoliation (burning bush deal with this every summer – also seeing it more and more on roses), sod webworm cases (looks like a cigarette wrapper on the grass) showing up in lawns, as well as the adult moths flying out of the lawn, masked chafers have begun to emerge, reports of tiny pockets of Japanese beetles are starting to come in, and last but not least, a reminder to NOT over feed your tomato plants, which could result in the over abundance of foliage but not tomatoes (or smaller fruit set).Â
Catch The Buggy Joe Boggs Report every Saturday at 8:42am on 55KRC The Talk Station (550AM).
Helpful Links: www.emeraldashborer.info and www.gardenswithwings.com
Tags: bagworms, bagworms hatching
Posted in Bugs, Diseases | No Comments »
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Hey Ron, is it Grub Ex time?“ -Why, yes, yes it is! Grub preventers can actually be applied anytime mid May thru sometime in July.  Mid May also covers a few nasty bugs that can affect bluegrass lawns. Remember to make sure you’re using a “Grub Preventer” not a “Grub Killer”. Preventers (kill grubs at an early stage) last all summer (about 90 days) where as the killers are a one shot application (used early or late in the season).  ‘GrubEX’ by Scotts and ‘Annual Grub Beater’ by Bonide are the products you’re looking for to be used a season long grub preventers.
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“I remember reading about a fungus that looks like vomit on mulch beds. I have sprayed with a fungicide, and seem to remember you saying chlorox would work as well. Should I remove it after I spray it?”  -That fungus is actually a slime mold and is called “Dog Barf (Vomit) Fungus, also known as egg batter mold. Despite being commonly referred to as the dog vomit fungus, it is not a fungus at all.  Slime molds can be described as yellow, slimy, multinucleate bodies called plasmodia, simply stated; a big colony of slimy blobs! The reason the yellow slime appears to move across our flower beds or lawns is because it really does. If enough moisture and food is available the slime could move up to several feet a day. As the environment around the slime mold dries out the movement stops and so to does the slime. As it dries it develops spore-producing structures and its color fades from the bright yellow to a dull earthy brown. As the new spores develop they are disbursed into the wind and the entire organism disappears. Because slime molds do not cause diseases of plants or turf, there are no pesticides available or other products recommended for their control in the landscape. The best way to get rid of slime mold is to break it up and dry it out. If the slime is still moist, simply rake it up with the substrate it is growing on and dispose of it in the garbage. Do not use fungicides NOR Chlorox to get rid of these slimy blobs!
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“The bottom leaves on my container tomatoes are turning yellow. Should I be spraying for a disease?” -Not necessarily, especially if they’re growing in containers and you’re using potting soil. Chances are its just a natural thing happening. Mine will do that as well. By the time mine are 3 feet tall, I will have picked the bottom 10-12 inches of leaves off the plant. This is actually a good practice if you’re growing them in the ground, as this keeps the bottom leaves away from the soil and the possibility of soil born diseases splashing up onto the plant. Limbing them up, as well as a good mulching around the plants, can really help reduce leaf diseases (soil born) on tomatoes growing in the ground. But again, they will naturally yellow a bit on the bottoms. Just to be sure, you can always take a leaf to your local garden store for someone to see.Â
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“Hey Ron – have you set the dates for this year’s Nursery Outlet Sale yet?”  -Yes we have, but we don’t usually let the cat out of the bag until a little later. But if you’ll keep it to yourself, the sale opens to the public Sept. 18,19,20,25,26,27. We added an extra day this year. But that’s between me and you. Okay? Â
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Readers Comments:
“For the lady with the hydrangeas that don’t bloom – too much shade will cause that to happen as well.” (-Good point! I forgot to mention they were on the SE side of the house. But you are right – that can be an issue!)
Tags: bagworms, dog barf fungus, grub preventer, tomatoes containers
Posted in Diseases, Questions of the Week | No Comments »
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
“Last week I heard you mention a new natural spray called “Jack” something. I didn’t catch what you said?”  -Sorry! It’s a new organic insecticide from Bonide and it’s called “Captain Jack’s DeadBug Brew”. Long story short, they discovered a bacteria in the rum mines in the Caribbean that has great insecticidal properties. The active ingredient is called “Spinosad”, and the rest is history. It’s an organic insecticide (certified for organic gardening), controls up to 4 weeks, and kills caterpillars, beetles, thrips, aphids, sawfly, chafers, mites, leafminers, and more. You can use it on ornamentals and edibles, has a low impact on good bugs, and lasts longer than Bt. Spinosad kills targeted insects thru feeding on treated foliage, so it has less impact on non targeted insects including the good bugs. As always, read the label before use, and only spray if needed.Â
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“Have you heard anything about the problem they’re having with bats? Something about a white nose?” -I have, but not really sure what’s going on. So I have gone to our “nature boy” Patrick McCollum (Wild Bird Center in Mason) to see what he knows about it. Patrick? “As for the bats it’s actually being called “White Nose Syndrome” and has been seen predominantly in Vermont and NY. No one yet knows what it is, or what the cause is. All they know thus far is that bats are dying off at an unprecedented rate. There are more species of bats on Earth than there are all other species of every other living thing combined. This too can be ruinous to us from an agricultural perspective. Think of the crop pest problems we would have if there were no more bats. It is not even clear if the fungus around the bats’ noses – something scientists say they have never seen before – is a cause or a symptom. It may be a sign the bats are too sick to groom themselves. The die-offs could be caused by bacteria or a virus. Or the bats could be reacting to some toxin or other environmental factor. Whatever it is, afflicted bats are burning through their winter stores of fat before hibernation ends in the spring, and appear to be starving. Bats not yet visibly affected are being found deeper and deeper in caves, where it’s coolest and this generally done by bats who are sick. If I learn anything new, I’ll pass it along as soon as I can confirm it.” www.wildbirdcenter.com/mason
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“We’re getting ready to mulch our beds for the summer. What type of mulch do you recommend?” -The type of mulch you use really becomes a personal preference. Shredded hardwood is still the number one seller, but not one of my favorites. Personally, I like pine straw (pine needles) or pinefines (very fine pinebark) combined with SweetPeet or some type of compost. But again, it becomes personal preference. Rememeber to not over mulch (keep it 1-3 inches deep) and never place the mulch against the trunks of the trees. Speaking of pinefines and SweetPeet, they also make a great addition to potting mixes in containers, as well as using for a soil amendment when planting new plants!
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“I currently have a bluish flaky looking mold on the branches of my azalea bushes. What treatment do you recommend? I also have something similar looking on trees in my yard.  I appreciate any help you can give.”  -It’s a very common / natural occurrence of an algae and fungus growing together on top of the bark, and its called “lichens”. There are many types of lichens and they grow on rocks and soil and bark and on and on. They actually grow in sun, are not a parasite, and make their own food. So when lichens show up on plants, it does not mean the plants are dying or sick, although sick plants may show an increase of lichens activity on them. That’s why lichens many times get blamed for harming plants, where they are simply taking advantage of the habitat. The sick plants decline, more sun hits the lichens, and the lichens grow more. They are also an indicator of clean air! So if the lichens are growing and showing up more and more, that could be a sign the plants are declining (less foliage, more sun), and time to find out what the problem is. But again, this is not always the case. Bottom line, lichens are natural, and do not harm trees and plants or you and me. Do not try to scrub or powerwash them off the plants as this only harms the plants. Some success may be had by spraying with a moss / algae killer, or with copper sulfate, if the lichens both you that much. And as always, keep your trees and plants as healthy as possible.  Â
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Tags: azalea, mulch, natural plant spray, white nose syndrome
Posted in Bugs, Diseases, Questions of the Week | No Comments »
Friday, May 29th, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky., (May 22, 2009) – Officials with
the Office of the State Entomologist in the University of Kentucky Entomology Department today announced two confirmed occurrences in Kentucky of emerald ash borer, an invasive insect pest of ash trees. These are the first findings of this destructive insect in the state. The discoveries resulted from Kentucky Division of Forestry and University of Kentucky officials investigating reports of dying ash trees in a private woodlot in Shelby County and a residential landscape in Jessamine County. The adult stage of the EAB is a half-inch elongate, metallic-green beetle. The beetles may be seen resting on ash leaves or chewing small feeding notches in the edges of ash leaves. The larval stage, a flat, white segmented worm, chews long winding tunnels beneath the bark. Extensive tunneling reduces water and food transport in the tree, resulting in tree death. This insect only attacks ash trees. Officials urge Kentuckians to take several steps to help keep EAB from spreading:
·Don’t transport firewood, even within Kentucky. Don’t bring firewood along on a camping trip. Buy the wood you need locally. Don’t bring extra wood home with you.
·Don’t buy or move firewood from outside Kentucky.If someone comes to your door selling firewood, ask them about the source of the wood. If it came from outside Kentucky, don’t buy it.
Kentuckians are urged to identify ash trees on their property and to examine them for signs of EAB activity. Symptoms of infestation include dieback of the upper tree canopy, sprouts growing from roots and trunk, loose bark, signs of woodpecker activity, and D-shaped exit holes in the trunk. If you suspect that your trees may be infested, contact the Emerald Ash Borer Hotline (866) 322-4512 or the Office of the State Entomologist. (859) 257-5838. More information is available at http://www.emeraldashborer.info/ . The Kentucky EAB page is located at http://pest.ca.uky.edu/EXT/EAB/welcome.html.Â
A new comprehensive multi-state EAB fact sheet titled “Insecticide Options for Protecting Ash Trees From Emerald Ash Borer” - now available on the OSU Ashalert website ashalert.osu.edu .
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BRISTLY ROSE SLUGS (SAWFLY) DEVOURING ROSES! -�
“What is eating all the holes in the leaves of my roses?” Great question when you see rose leaves having either window pane type holes or complete holes in the leaves, but no bugs to be seen. Well, the reason the bugs aren’t being seen, is 1.) They’re very small and the same color of the leaf, and 2.) They’re feeding on the undersides of the leaves!  The critter is called a rose slug, yet rose slugs are not slugs at all. They’re actually in the sawfly family, and there have been different types seen, ranging from 1 to multiple generations each year. They look like very small caterpillars (at the early stages are very hard to see), and typically feed on the underside of the leaves, causing the window pane effect from the younger rose slug (sawfly) larvae, to large leaf holes to total leaf skeletonization as the larva mature.
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Control for the Rose Slugs -  1.) Hand smashing the rose slugs as you can find them on the undersides of the leaves (look early morning), or blowing them off with a strong stream of water.   2.) Repeated foliar sprays as needed, using Insecticidal Soaps or Horticultural Oils, but making sure to spray the undersides of the leaves where the rose slugs are feeding, not the tops of the leaves. 3.) Apply a systemic insecticide such as Bayer’s / Bonide’s 3 in 1 Rose Care, etc, where the insecticide is taken up inside the plant and the sawfly larvae are killed as they feed on the leaves. Note:) The foliar sprays are usually the most effective / immediate control, but a combination of systemic and foliar sprays work quite nicely together.   Remember, there may be several generations of the rose slug, so be persistent with the methods of control as you see the damages occur. And although the damages certainly make the rose plant’s leaves look bad, it rarely affects the overall health of the plant. Â
Catch The Buggy Joe Boggs Report every Saturday morning at 8:42AM on 55KRC Thee Talk Station.
[A seminar on 'Time Travel' will be held two weeks ago.] Â
Tags: emerald ash borer, rose slugs
Posted in Bugs, Diseases | No Comments »
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