Integrated Pest Management Program Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture UConn Extension

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Integrated Pest Management Program Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture UConn Extension UConn Extension IPM Pest Message for Friday, August 22, 2014 We are experimenting with a

[Comments or answers provided by Jude Boucher, UConn Extension, will appear in brackets.

1 Integrated Pest Management Program Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture UConn Extension UConn Extension IPM Pest Message for Friday, August 22, 2014 We are experimenting with a grower-written pest report this summer. Weekly reports from growers will be edited, compiled and posted/distributed on Fridays. [Comments or answers provided by Jude Boucher, UConn Extension, will appear in brackets.] Megan Hane, Marble Valley Farm, Kent, CT I know it may be next to impossible to diagnose on basis of these photos, but: you'll recall that the other year I did not see late blight, even though [my neighbor] had it,... but now I do think I'm seeing it. However, because there are so many tomato diseases out there, I am naturally desirous of an expert opinion. [Yes, I believe that is late blight (So does Sharon Douglas at the CAES) based on the classic white sporulation on the underside of the leaf lesions and the brown stem lesions. Of course, a sample would be necessary to provide a definitive diagnosis which we hope to have by early next week. Organic tomato growers should be using preventative applications of copper or a mix of copper and either Regalia or Double Nickel. You may want to alternate with Oxidate, but then follow right up with the copper mix as Oxidate provides no residual protection. Conventional growers should begin to use the mobile fungicides with their normal early blight fungicides. If you are using Bravo alternated with Quadris or Cabrio, add one of the following products to protect from late blight: Ranman, Presidio, Zampro, or Previcur Flex. Other options are mentioned in the New England Vegetable Management Guide. A simple effective program would be Tanos alternated with Revus Top to control all the fungal diseases, including LB.] Note: Presidio is not labeled for potatoes.

2 Steve Bengtson, Cold Spring Brook Farm, Berlin, CT Corn ear worm (CEW) counts continue on the low side. I had been on a five day schedule after counting moths on Sunday, but checking the traps on Wednesday yielded 0 moths in both traps. This is welcome news as I prefer to spray as little as possible. This has been an unusual year. European corn borer (ECB) moth traps yielded a total of 3 moths. (1 Z, 2 E) The traps have also been loaded with several bumble bees and hornets. Sometimes only pieces of the ECB moths can be found, so the counts may be a little off. No fall armyworm (FAW) moths were found this week and the trap was removed as the latest field of corn that we have is now silking. Aphids have not increased on our corn, so there has been no need to use Lannate so far. Pumpkins and spaghetti squash are ripening somewhat early and we will begin harvesting soon. Butternut and others are taking longer to ripen and the vines are in better condition, so they will be getting another powdery mildew spray this weekend. Phytopthora is still a problem in our pepper fields, but with fungicide injections into the drip system the disease is under much better control than if we hadn t been treating at all. Last year at this time all of our earliest planted pepper fields were destroyed mostly due to the heavy rainfall

3 that we had in June (14 inches ). At least this year we have been able to harvest most of our pepper crop including many red peppers which are a valuable addition to our business. Still no sign of late blight in our tomatoes and the dry weather is also helping to keep down the buckeye rot which can be a big problem for us in wet weather. [for those of you unfamiliar with buckeye rot, it is the fruit symptom of Phytophthora blight on tomatoes]. No sign of downy mildew on later cucumber fields. [Scouting has paid off and saved a lot of sprays and money. I talked with one farmer earlier this week who had already applied 3 DM applications, while there has been no DM on cucurbits in New England. That s expensive and doesn t help.] Fred Monahan, Stone Gardens Farm, Shelton, CT field 12=.5/night 8,9,10= these plantings have a consistent 0. We have no worms in any of these pieces, but, the hornets, yellow jackets, and other bees have taken over. These bees are to no advantage to us as far as I know. I am going to spray just so we can pick without having to get attacked by bees. [Most bees aid in pollination of crops, especially cucurbits. However, a lot of hornets and wasps in the corn are a problem and are usually attracted to corn because of aphids and the honeydew they excrete. A normal CEW spray with a synthetic pyrethroid will provide quick knockdown of the hornets/wasps, but these type of products, such as Warrior, often state on the label that they only provide suppression of aphids, not control. You may need to mix in some Lannate to control both the aphids and the wasps.] We transplanted the last summer squash and cucumber/pickle plantings on Sunday the 17 th these will usually last us up to the frost. We are transplanting the last of the broccoli, kale, and collards in the field now. These will last us into Thanksgiving to go with turkey sales. I still see no downy mildew and have not added any downy materials to fungicide program. Same with late blight. Everything else is the same it is very dry - irrigating regularly. Bob Handel, Handel Farm, E. Hartford, CT I had no CEW moths to report for the last week. Wednesday night I had 3 moths in 2 traps for a 1.5 count per night. [I see that you just divided by a single night to get 1.5 moths/night/trap. Remember that you should be checking your traps every 3-4 days, and averaging the counts across that number of nights. If you check them every day, then there will be some artificially high blips that will have you spraying more than you need to. So, that might have been 0.5 moths per night = 6-day spray schedule, instead of 4-day schedule].

4 Bruce Gresczyk Jr., Gresczyk Farms, New Hartford, CT CEW: 0- seems strange to me but I checked my trap to look for holes but it was sealed tightly. ECB: 1 [down from 3 last week] This last Sunday I finally found powder mildew in our pumpkins and winter squash. We treated with Rally and Bravo. I have found Phytophthora fruit rot in watermelon. I treated carrots with Quadris due to Alternaria in the greens. I found unacceptable numbers of variegated cut worms on one variety of cabbage, we treated with Dipel. Other than that most crops are better than acceptable. Tori Safner, Farm Manager Apprentice, Oxen Hill Farm, W. Suffield, CT Powdery mildew has made its way to our current summer squash field, and has just started showing up in our pumpkin field. Winter squashes are all looking good and have no signs of pests or disease, and our watermelons are starting to come in now. Flea beetles have returned in the eggplant. The tomato field with Septoria is still looking pretty rough, but our more recent plantings of tomatoes are looking healthy and are setting lots of fruit right now. Jude Boucher, UConn Extension There is a late blight alert on tomatoes and potatoes. Make sure you protect your crops from this devastating disease. Still no sign of downy mildew on cucurbits in CT and we are fast approaching the time when it can no longer hurt some crops like pumpkins once the fruit are sized. That s because DM only defoliates, it does not rot the fruit. You will still have to protect late plantings of summer squash and cucumbers even if DM shows up in September. Pests to Watch for this week: Sweet corn: CEW in silking corn Carrots: Cercospora and Alternaria leaf spots Cucurbit crops: powdery mildew, downy mildew,

5 Basil: downy mildew Brassica crops: flea beetles. Also, ICW, DBM and CSCW & cabbage looper Peppers: bacterial leaf spot, Eggplant: spider mites, Verticillium wilt, flea beetles Solanaceous, cucurbits and legumes: Phytophthora blight Beans: white mold Beets and Chard: Cercospora leaf spots Tomatoes: Late blight, early blight, Septoria leaf spot, aphids, Turnips: flea beetles

Pepper Maggot trap had no sign of the flies. Scouting cherry peppers showed no stings this week.

Pepper Maggot trap had no sign of the flies. Scouting cherry peppers showed no stings this week. UConn Extension IPM Pest Message for Friday, July 18, 2014 We are experimenting with a grower-written pest report this summer. Reports from growers will be edited, compiled and posted/distributed on Fridays.