Pest Alert for April 30th

Azalea Lace Bugs and Hawthorn Lace Bugs Azalea lace bugs (Stephanitis pyrioides) are one of the most damaging pests of evergreen azaleas. They overwinter as eggs in azalea leaves and begin hatching around now. Control is best targeted early in the season when nymphs are present for two reasons. First, nymphs are easier to kill than adults and if you kill nymphs before they mature and lay eggs you have a better chance of clearing up the infestation. Second, the longer azalea lace bugs are on your plant the more damage they do. On evergreen azaleas this damage sticks around for a long time so plants may be permanently damaged. So scout your azaleas and get those lace bugs cleared up before damage occurs. They have been active for a few weeks now. We first sent out a Twitter alert three weeks ago before North Carolina Pest News started for the year. The other lace bug we found to be active this week is the hawthorn lace bug on cotoneaster. This is very damaging to one of the most common landscape plants. Again the damage is stippling and discoloration as for azalea lace bugs and control measures are the same. More pictures on our blog ECO IPM. For more information and control options consult: Control. For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

PEST NEWS- APRIL 23rd

ORNAMENTALS AND TURF From: Steve Franks, Extension Entomologist Elm Pests Get Going Right now a lot is happening on elm trees. For those of you who still have elm trees you can look for elm leaf miner, Fenusa ulmi, and woolly elm aphid, Eriosoma americanum. Elm leaf miner is a sawfly that lays eggs in elm leaves. The larvae mine tissue creating blotchy, brown translucent areas on the leaves. In late spring the larvae exit leaves, drop to the ground and borrow an inch down to pupate. Affected leaves will remain on the trees and become brown as mined tissue dies. They may drop prematurely. This time of year you can find a few adults left but mostly you will find larvae in various stages of development. Mines are small so far but expand rapidly. Imidacloprid and orthene can be used to kill larvae in mines but they are protected from contact insecticides such as bifenthrin. If adults are present in your area, foliar applications of these products can reduce oviposition. Woolly elm aphids are an interesting aphid that manipulates host foliage to create a shelter. The foliage is not altered into a true gall like those on witch hazel but as you can see in the picture that are pretty snug and protected from the elements. These aphids use serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) roots as alternate hosts. They overwinter as eggs on elm bark. A female aphid emerges as elm leaves are expanding. She feeds on the underside of a leaf and at maturity produces 200 eggs. The infested leaves begin to curl and accumulate waxy debris that makes the aphids look woolly. Mid-summer a winged generation develops that migrates to Amelanchier trees. These colonies of twisted leaves can be easily pruned out. In the case they are over abundant or there are other pests present an insecticide application may be warranted. A recent blog post contains other information and pictures IPM Blog.
Tulip Poplar Aphids in the Landscape
Tulip poplar aphids are becoming abundant in their annual cycle of boom and bust. They start to boom in spring since natural enemies are not very active or abundant. As aphids become abundant, predators and parasitoids home in on them and tend to keep numbers under control. However, trees in highly urban areas or those tended by fire ants may become more abundant since nature predation and parasitism will be limited. General information about managing aphids in the landscape may be found at Aphids. Other aphids to watch out for soon are crape myrtle aphids and rose aphids.
Fire Ant Mounds Abound
Fire ants seem to be extra abundant this year with larger than normal mounds. I think this is due to the mild winter. Fire ants are usually relatively inactive in winter months. They rely on resources within the mound to survive and reproduction slows down. I witnessed fire ants foraging throughout the winter meaning they could gather more food and maintain mound size. A frequent location for fire ant mound is in the mulch around landscape trees. Particular when too much mulch is applied as in this video Fire Ant Mulch . General information on fire ant management is available at Fire Ant Management. Help choosing insecticides is Fire Ant Chemical Control Chooser.
Azalea Lacebugs
Azalea lace bugs (Stephanitis pyrioides) are one of the most damaging pests of evergreen azaleas. They overwinter as eggs in azalea leaves and begin hatching around now. Control is best targeted early in the season when nymphs are present for two reasons. First, nymphs are easier to kill than adults and if you kill nymphs before they mature and lay eggs you have a better chance of clearing up the infestation. Second, the longer azalea lace bugs are on your plant the more damage they do. On evergreen azaleas this damage sticks around for a long time so plants may be permanently damaged. So scout your azaleas and get those lace bugs cleared up before damage occurs. For more information and control options, click here: Azalea Lace Bug For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Green Industry IPM Workshop Series

Coming to a office near you is our annual Green Industry IPM Workshop Series. Each of these classes will have 2 hours of pesticide credit in several categories. Check out the brochure at the following link:

Green Industry IPM Workshop Series

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Granulated Ambrosia Beetle Allert

Hello Green Industry Professional

This in from Steven Frank

We have just received reports that Granulate Ambrosia Beetles are active in Eastern and Central NC. Growers should protect susceptible nursery stock with applications of permethrin to tree trunks.

More information can be found here:Note 111

Information about our ambrosia beetle research can be found here:Granulated Ambrosia Beetle

This list is only used for ambrosia beetle alerts. We offer frequent alerts about the activity of landscape and nursery pests via Twitter. Visit our home page http://ecoipm.wordpress.com/ to see previous alerts. Click "follow @ornapests" to signup. We monitor pest activity and send alerts about the pests that are active.

Spring is here!


Steve

We are also monitoring traps here in Western NC and will be letting you know as soon as we see them here.


For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Pesticide and Farmworker Health Toolkit Train the Trainer Workshop

Pesticides and Farmworker Health Toolkit Train-the-Trainer Workshops
Sponsored by North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
3 hours of Continuing Education Credits in categories D, I, L, N, O, X
DATE: March 7, 2012
Location: Mountain Horticulture Crop Research & Extension Center
455 Research Drive, Mills River NC, 28759
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Growers, landscapers, bilingual supervisors, dealers, and extension agents with pesticide responsibilities.
Registration Required. To register, contact the Henderson County Cooperative Extension Office at (828) 697-4891 or ivy_olson@ncsu.edu . Attendance will be capped at 30 people so register early.
Train-the Trainer Workshop Agenda
9:30 am Registration
10:00 am Introduction and Demonstration of Toolkit Training
11:20 am Video of Hands-On Activities and Tips for Training Farmworkers
12:00 Lunch (Sponsored by County Farm Bureaus)
1:00 pm Small Group Practice Using Toolkit
1:50 pm Discussion of Lessons Learned and Evaluation
2:00 pm Adjourn
Continuing Education Description
Pesticides and Farmworker Health Toolkit, developed by NC State University Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology Extension, is a pesticide education resource for EPA-approved WPS training of Spanish-speaking farmworkers. Toolkits are available for 11 hand labor-intensive North Carolina crops, including apples, bell peppers, blueberries, Christmas trees, cucumbers, grapes, landscape/turf, strawberries, sweetpotatoes, tobacco, and tomatoes.
In this train-the-trainer workshop, instructors provide an overview of the Toolkit materials and the development process that involved both trainers and farmworkers. They demonstrate training techniques using the Toolkit flipchart and handouts and engage participants in the Toolkits’ hands-on activities. Trainees work in small groups to practice delivering the Toolkit training. In addition, local bilingual resources for collaboration are discussed. Crops that are relevant to the audience are selected for demonstration and small group exercises.
By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to identify the most significant pesticide hazards in farmworkers’ working environments; recognize the signs and symptoms of pesticide illness and injury; use all of the Toolkit features, including the flipchart, handout, jug-labeling and symptom charade activities, and evaluation tools; and deliver a Toolkit training that engages farmworkers in discussion.


For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Survey of Cover Crop Use in Field Production of Woody Ornamentals.

Please complete the short on-line survey from the link below. Results will be used to prioritize research and extension efforts to investigate integration of cover crops into nursery production. It takes only 7 minutes to complete.

This project is led by Dr. Anthony LeBude in the Dept. of Horticultural Science and funded by the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service and the North Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association (NCNLA).

ALL RESPONSES ARE ANONYMOUS AND KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. YOUR RESPONSES CANNOT BE LINKED TO YOU IN ANY WAY AND WILL ONLY BE SEEN BY THE SURVEY OWNER (ANTHONY LEBUDE). AS A FURTHER PRECAUTION, ONLY AVERAGES, AND NOT INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES, WILL BE REPORTED.

An overview of the results will be published in Nursery Notes magazine.

Follow this link below to complete the survey.




Cover Crop Survey


For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

NC Water Workshop

The University of Florida,Clemson, and NCSU have pooled resources to bring you a VERY informative
regional workshop on treatment of irrigation water- mainly for the use in
woody and floriculture plant production This will be a one day event in the Charlotte area. We will have REAL growers and REAL water treatment situations to show and
discuss, plus a panel of specialists. We are very privledged to have this
kind of workshop available in our state. This will be a big benefit to our
growers because I have been conducting studies across NC and believe many
growers need to start thinking about water treatment options, as recycled
water becomes the industry standards

For more information and link to registration form go to: NC Water Workshop

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

NC Water Workshop

The University of Florida,Clemson, and NCSU have pooled resources to bring you a VERY informative
regional workshop on treatment of irrigation water- mainly for the use in
woody and floriculture plant production This will be a one day event in the Charlotte area. We will have REAL growers and REAL water treatment situations to show and
discuss, plus a panel of specialists. We are very privledged to have this
kind of workshop available in our state. This will be a big benefit to our
growers because I have been conducting studies across NC and believe many
growers need to start thinking about water treatment options, as recycled
water becomes the industry standard
http://henderson.ces.ncsu.edu/files/library/45/NC%20Water%20Workshop%20Agenda%202012%20(3).pdf

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Boxwood Blight

Boxwoods have been thought of as a virtually indestructible plant. We know about leaf minors, root rots, and nematodes and have found ways to deal with those pests. Now a new boxwood disease has arrived in NC; box blight. For more information and the link to the printable document on this disease go to Box Blight

We'll be keeping you posted on this disease as we know more about it!


For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

The State of Horticulture Programs

The State of Horticulture Programs

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.