Pest News for Week of May 21st

ORNAMENTALS AND TURF

From: Steve Frank, Extension Entomologist

Thrips are Early and Abundant in Greenhouses

Western flower thrips have several life history traits that make them notoriously difficult to manage. In particular of the four primary life stages (egg, larvae, pupae, adult) only larvae and adults are susceptible to insecticide applications. Eggs are inserted into leaves and pupae are in the soil. Thus, right after you make an application eggs start hatching and adults start emerging from pupae and you feel as though you are right back where you started. This is why we recommend that growers make 3 applications 5 to 7 days apart to help break the lifecycle of the population present in their greenhouses. This initial round of applications could be done with a single chemical but rotate to a new chemical with new mode of action for subsequent applications. Since many plants are starting to bloom we have several chemicals that are generally not phytotoxic to foliage or flowers though mixing chemicals (insecticides, fungicides, etc.) or addition of adjuvants can have unexpected phototoxic results. Consider a rotation that includes Conserve (spinosad; label indicates potential spotting on African violets), Avid (abamectin; label indicates potential phytotoxicity on Adiantum ferns and Shasta daisy), Flagship (thiamethoxam), and/or bifenthrin. Complete list of chemicals can be found at:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/flowers/ort072e/ort072e.htmor

http://dpm.ifas.ufl.edu/plant_pest_risk_assessment/ALS6921%20Presentations/ThripsManagementProgram_09_12_09.pdf.

Lilac/Ash Borer Adult Flight

The lilac/ash borer, Podosesia syringae, has been captured in phermone traps this week in the Piedmont and foothills. This particular clearwing borer is not a major pest. Others such as the banded ash clearwing typically cause more damage. However, this critter will cause lilac canes to wilt suddenly as larvae bore within. So, it is good to be aware of this even though we do not recommend preventative insecticide treatments. The lilac/ash borer overwinters as larvae in twigs then adults emerge over several weeks to mate and lay eggs. Later in the summer dogwood borers, lilac borers and other will be emerging.

Second Generation Euonymus Scale Crawlers

Euonymus scale has three generations per year in North Carolina the first of which we reported on in the spring.  It is best to treat euonymus (or any) scale in the crawler stage. So if you forgot in the spring or didn’t get sufficient control, now is your second chance. Crawlers are active at research sites on campus and in Raleigh neighborhoods. In the first generation crawlers come out all at once but become less synchronized in second and third generations. Thus you may find all developmental stages present at this time. There are many predators that feed on scale insects such as the lacewing larva in this video (http://youtu.be/cnzlMrxv0tA). However, euonymus scale still tends to reach damaging levels once established. There are a number of products that can be used to treat armored scale. We have found neonicotinoids Safari, Flagship, and TriStar to be very effective also plant growth regulators Distance and Talus. Note that imidacloprid is not labeled for or effective against armored scale. Please check our blog http://ecoipm.com/ and the updated insect note for recommendations and up-to-date informationhttp://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/shrubs/note15/note15.html.

From: Mike Munster, Plant Disease and Insect Clinic, and Kelly Ivors, Extension Plant Pathologist

Controlling Botrytis in the Greenhouse

Due to weather conditions, Botrytis epidemics are currently occurring in greenhouses across the state. A wide range of floriculture crops can be affected. Symptoms of Botrytis infection range from flecking of blossoms, blossom blight, and even leaf and stem rot. On rose canes it can cause a tan-colored canker. The characteristic gray mold may be visible under high humidity conditions. The two keys to Botrytis management are keeping the relative humidity below 85% and maintaining the greenhouse free of dead or injured plant material (spent flowers, fallen leaves, pruned branches, culls, etc.) on which the fungus can produce new spores. Irrigate at times of day when foliage will dry quickly, and if possible ventilate greenhouses in the evening to bring down the humidity. Avoid wounding plants, which allows Botrytis to invade healthy tissue. Keep fertilization at optimal levels to avoid premature leaf senescence. Plants with bloom infection or crown rot should be discarded along with the potting mix. NEVER REUSE POTTING MIX WITH THIS PATHOGEN. Clean up all plant debris from the block and discard it. Do not compost any of this material, as the sclerotia of the fungus are capable of surviving adverse conditions. Spores of this fungus can be windborne, so be sure there are no cull piles nearby on which the fungus could produce them.

If re-using pots, first clean thoroughly and then sanitize with either steam (150 to 160 F for at least an hour at the center of the pile) or one of many chemical disinfectants available.

Fungicides may help prevent new infections, but won't cure plants that already have symptoms like those submitted. Effective products for Botrytis control include Chipco 26019/26 GT (Iprodione), Decree, Medallion and Pageant. Chlorothalonil (e.g., Daconil) can also be used; however chlorothalonil can cause phytotoxicity on blooms so this product should not be used on flowering plants. Decree is probably the most effective product for Botrytis control; however, it is only labeled for controlling Botrytis and should be used in a rotational program. In addition, there is a new Syngenta product named Palladium that just got registered for use in greenhouses and it is very effective against Botrytis. Be sure to rotate fungicides of different modes of action (FRAC groups) so as not to pressure the fungus into becoming insensitive (resistant) to any particular chemical. Note that one of the active ingredients in Palladium (fludioxonil) is the same as that found in Medallion. Get good coverage of the stems/crowns. Test any new treatments on a small number of plants first, to ensure that there are no adverse effects.

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Recommendations for the use of chemicals are included in this publication as a convenience to the reader. The use of brand names and any mention or listing of commercial products or services in this publication does not imply endorsement by North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University or North Carolina Cooperative Extension nor discrimination against similar products or services not mentioned. Individuals who use chemicals are responsible for ensuring that the intended use complies with current regulations and conforms to the product label. Be sure to obtain current information about usage regulations and examine a current product label before applying any chemical. For assistance, contact an agent of North Carolina Cooperative Extension.

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

Pest News for week of May 14th

ORNAMENTALS AND TURF

From: Steve Frank, Extension Entomologist

Cottony Maple Scale Egg Hatch

Cottony maple scale eggs are hatching. For some reason cottony maple scale is the least common cottony scale I find on campus. I seem to find cottony maple leaf scale and cottony camellia scale far more frequently. It also seems to be a little later as I reported on the other cottony scales and sent Twitter alerts (@OrnaPests) a couple weeks ago. However, I did find some cottony maple scale the other day and was able to get a picture. The main diagnostic difference between cottony maple and cottony maple leaf scale is where the ovisacs are produced. Cottony maple scale produces ovisacs on branches, whereas cottony maple leaf scale ovisacs are on leaves. Insecticide recommendations are similar as other soft scale listed at:http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/shrubs/note156/note156.html.

Be on the Lookout for Emerald Ash Borer 

Emerald ash borer has not yet been found in North Carolina. However, it is found in Tennessee and Virginia so it is just a matter of time before it arrives here (or is detected). The reason I bring it up now is that it is peak adult activity (based on degree day estimates) so they may be more noticeable now than other times of year. Adults will be emerging from D-shaped holes in ash trees. If you notice ash trees that seem to be in decline look for these exit holes and frass around the base of the tree. Early detection of emerald ash borer in North Carolina will be critical in trying to reduce the economic impact and protect trees. The most comprehensive and up-to-date information on emerald ash borer can be found at http://www.emeraldashborer.info/.

Japanese Maple Scale Crawlers

We are approaching peak activity of Japanese maple scale crawlers. Japanese maple scale is an armored scale that has many hosts including maple and many other woody ornamentals. Scales are extremely tiny and are often concealed in bark crevices and branch crotches. However, at high densities entire trunks may be covered. Information provided by University of Maryland indicates there are two generations per year (http://ipmnet.umd.edu/nursery/docs/JapaneseMapleScale-UMD2011.pdf). Japanese maple scale has not been studied in depth in North Carolina but we assume there are two generations here also. Japanese maple scale has been an increasingly important pest in the past decade or so and made its way throughout eastern North America. The most effective pesticides tested have been insect growth regulators such as Distance and Talus. The neonicotinoid including Safari has also been effective. More information is availablehttps://utextension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W277.pdf or complete biology and management information was presented in a recent webinar (http://ecoipm.com/ ipm-webinar/ipm-webinar-archive/).

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

Installing a Rain Garden

Interested in learning about rain garden installation?  Here is a video taken last summer at the 4-H camp in Swannanoa:

The video is a small sample of what you learn in the Residential Rain Garden  Installation classes we offer from time to time.  Diane Silver, our Natural Resources Agent, is narrating this video for us on site.  Thank to the Public Information folk from Buncombe County for filming, editing, and posting the YouTube for our use!

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

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.