2 CEW traps had a total of 5 moths for four nights [0.6 moths/night] putting us on a five day spray schedule.

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Egbert Mosley
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1 UConn Extension Vegetable IPM Pest Message & Reports from the Farm, Friday August 14th, 2015 [Comments or answers in brackets are provided by Jude Boucher, UConn Extension] We are currently under a late blight alert on tomato and potato and a downy mildew alert for basil and cucurbit crops. We have now found DM on all types of cucurbit crops: cucumbers, summer and winter squash, melons and pumpkins. I have heard back from growers who have treated DM on cucurbits, and Ranman and Tanos both seem to be working on this strain, while Previcur Flex didn t seem to hold it in check. No feedback yet on other products. Steve Bengtson, Cold Spring Brook Farm, Berlin, CT Trap counts for this week are as follows: ECB I (Z) = 1 up from 0 last week ECB II (E) = 0 down from 5 last week Total of 1 down from 5 last week. 2 CEW traps had a total of 5 moths for four nights [0.6 moths/night] putting us on a five day spray schedule. No sign of downy mildew spreading on our cucurbits after last week s spray [of Ranman]. No sign of late blight on our tomatoes after last week s spray also. Phytophthora seems to be under control on our peppers. FAW trap was removed from field as our youngest corn is approaching pre tassel stage and is showing no new damage. High school and college age workers are unreliable and seem to have no work ethic. This has become one of our biggest challenges. Fred Monahan, Stone Gardens Farm, Shelton, CT top of white hills= 0.5 moths per night [= 6 day schedule on fresh silking corn] CEW by Housatonic River= 0 [he can skip spraying this field or keep it on a 6-day schedule with the other fields.] ECB = 2 moths per week My mid-whorl corn had 34% damage from both FAW and ECB combined. I didn t bother distinguishing between the two, but damage showed presence of both. I did scout my very young corn and it is not knee high and had 16% FAW damage. [The threshold is 10%.] Most corn this year warranted sprays at tassel because of either ECB or FAW but the CEW pressure has been low all season, which is nice. Without traps or scouting, I would be wasting a lot of time and money spraying for nothing.

2 Popcorn is just forming ears, we like to time the harvest of this crop to be around mid OCT. We need to put it in a neighbor s kiln to dry for a few weeks and like this to be done before we have to harvest our Thanksgiving turkeys. I have not added anything for Late Blight yet but I have my guys who harvest daily trained to scout for it. I did add Ranman to cucurbits and winter squash even though I haven t seen it yet. It s too close for comfort. I have been alternating with Ranman and Quadris and my basil is still looking great. We sent some to a local restaurant we partner with to make pesto that we freeze and sell year round in containers. The last brassicas have been transplanted to the fields. The last plantings of cucumbers, pickles and summer squashes have been planted in the field. Brassicas were clean this week. Really enjoyed the much needed rain on Tuesday but we still need to move water from our main pond to another to irrigate the other field. Ian Gibson, Well Stone Farm, Durham, CT Hi Jude...wanted to send you some picks. I attached some side by sides of my downy mildew - the infected plant is Boothby blonde cuke and the clean is Marketmore. The pics are a week old, but it still looks similar. [This is a great example of why everyone should use DM-resistant cucumbers for their later plantings. Some years we get a strain of DM that the resistant cucumbers won t stop, but it is still worth using resistant varieties for the years when it works.] Non-resistant and resistant cucumbers. Photo by Ian Gibson

3 The worms are cutworm or army? Not many hornworm at all...wasps have been active. [I can t see the head clearly, but they look like fall armyworms. Two other growers this week confirmed that they found FAW in their tomato fruit over the last couple of weeks. A treatment of B.t. (i.e. XenTari) or Entrust will stop the problem on organic farms, while Coragen, Avaunt, Intrepid and Radiant are all short day-to-harvest products for conventional plantings that will spare most of the beneficials.] Fall armyworm damage on tomatoes, photo by Ian Gibson The pepper issue is vexing as it is more common than I have seen. Mostly on bells (intruder and revolution) and a bit on cubanelles. A little bird told me you were well versed in peppers so I am going right to the top. Any idea what that is? [This is blossom end rot. Unlike on tomatoes the damage is not limited to the blossom end of the fruit. It is a calcium movement problem usually caused by inconsistent watering. Watering daily during heat waves can help move the Ca into the fruit. The soil ph should be between 6.3 and 6.8 and the soil test should show that it has adequate Ca. Conventional growers feed their plants with calcium nitrate through the trickle line after fruit set.] Gibson Blossom end rot on peppers. Photo by Ian

4 Lastly, I had a row of covered Bok Choi and Napa that suddenly had 20 cabbage moths under it. I doubt they snuck under... Do they pupate in the soil? I had short day brassicas there last month. Or did they ride on seedlings? There is damage but not so much that I am terribly concerned. Spraying entrust tonight regardless. [If these were the white imported cabbageworm butterflies, they usually pupate right on the plant, but you would normally find only 1 or 2 chrysalises per plant. They may have arrived on seedlings, but you would have detected the damage from before they pupated on such small plants. They probably pupated on and emerged from the Brassica you had their last month. If what you found were 20 larvae, then they were probably cross-stripped cabbageworm, which lay their eggs in batches of or more.] Bob Handel, Handel Farm, East Hartford, CT Catching 3 CEW moths per night. Spraying every 4th day. [Bob has Septoria leaf spot, early blight and bacterial canker on his tomatoes, but has a boatload of ripe fruit and huge green fruit.] Josh Vincent, Vincent Farms, W. Suffield, CT [reported by JB] 0.25 CEW moths per night = 6-day schedule on fresh silking corn. ECB: Back up to 12 borer moths this week, after 0 moths last week, and 12 two weeks ago. It is unusual for borer traps to jump up and down like that. Usually, once you capture over 7 moths per week it indicates the start of the next generation flight, and they usually increase from there. Josh will be spraying his peppers again next week (one week after capturing 7 moths). FAW: no infestation in pre-tassel stage corn. Willy Dellacamra, Cecarelli Farm, Northford, CT [reported by JB] Average of 0.7 CEW moths per night in Wallingford = 5 day-spray schedule on silking corn. FAW: 2 moths per week in one field and 5 moths in a second field. A nearby farm reported finding 100% of the plants infested with FAW larvae in a field. I ve never seen a 100% FAW infestation, but based on the mid-1990 s when we used to see 100% ECB infestations, there will be more than one caterpillar per plant, which can really damage the plant, and are tough to clean up with a single application. This would be a good place to try the systemic Coragen, which has been shown to provide extended periods of efficacy on other crops and pests. ECB: 3 moths per week, up from 0 moths last week. Steve and Ben Berezc, The Farm, Woodbury, CT [reported by JB] CEW: 0.3 moths per night in one field and 0.7 moths in another field = 5-day spray schedule on silking corn. Pumpkins: we found downy mildew and they will treat with Ranman.

Eggplant: Ben reported seeing high numbers of adult leafhoppers a few days before my visit last week, but when we checked the plants together last week we had

The leaves contained high levels of PLH nymphs (up to 5/leaf). The threshold for eggplant is 1-1.5/leaf. It was obvious that the adults Ben had spotted earlier laid lots of eggs.

5 Eggplant: Ben reported seeing high numbers of adult leafhoppers a few days before my visit last week, but when we checked the plants together last week we had trouble finding any. This week the leaves were obviously curled and had early signs of hopper burn (tips and margins yellowing). The leaves contained high levels of PLH nymphs (up to 5/leaf). The threshold for eggplant is 1-1.5/leaf. It was obvious that the adults Ben had spotted earlier laid lots of eggs. Curling eggplant leaves due to leafhopper feeding (nymphs) Rodger and Isabelle Phillips, Sub Edge Farm, Farmington, CT We found DM on cucumbers, winter squash and melons. DM on melons

Tomatoes: Septoria leaf spot. Kale and other greens: Turkeys were eating the leaves. Daren Hall, George Hall Farm, W. Simsbury, CT Watermelon: turkeys were eating the fruit.

6 Tomatoes: Septoria leaf spot. Kale and other greens: Turkeys were eating the leaves. Daren Hall, George Hall Farm, W. Simsbury, CT Watermelon: turkeys were eating the fruit. Sweet potatoes: Daren reported that he had severe problems with deer eating his sweet potatoes in the past. He will put up a three-dimensional electric fence this year to try to keep the deer at bay. This will consist of an inner fence with two or three wires and an outer fence about 2-3 feet away with one wire just under waist high. The electricity will be kept on from the time the fence goes up until it comes down so that the deer don t learn to feed on the sweet potatoes prior to charging the fence. It will also be baited with peanut butter to get them to lick it and develop a healthy respect for the fence. Remember that deer prefer to go under a fence if possible and are insulated by all that fur once they get their head under the bottom strand. Baiting, and the height of the lowest wire are important. It should be no more than a foot off the ground. Earl Skokan, Stillwater Farm, Torrington, CT Brussel sprouts: cabbage aphids and Alternaria leaf spot. The best way to deal with Alternaria is to use resistant varieties such as Diablo. I am trialing other varieties from Bejo Seeds for resistance and marketability, and I ll let you know what I find out later. Remember that if you grow Brussel sprouts, you will probably be fighting cabbage aphids in the fall. Fulfill is usually very effective on aphids, but other products are listed in the NEVMG ( Summer squash: powdery mildew. Here is another case where it is worthwhile finding resistant green and yellow squash varieties that you like, especially for the late-season plantings when PM pressure is so great. Another inexpensive option is to use sulfur and alternate with Bravo (or Milstop if organic). Cucumbers: downy mildew. Not yet on his summer squash or melons.

Beans: hopper burn from leafhopper feeding. Potatoes: Earl s potatoes were protected from leafhopper feeding with row covers and he is now harvesting plenty of nice large tubers.

7 Beans: hopper burn from leafhopper feeding. Potatoes: Earl s potatoes were protected from leafhopper feeding with row covers and he is now harvesting plenty of nice large tubers. Next year he will also protect his beans until bloom. Dave Rostom and the guys at the Enfield Prison, Enfield, CT Tomatoes look great, but they will switch to using clips to hold the plants on the vertical trellis lines next year instead of just wrapping the stings around the plants. Potatoes: they will brush hog the vines on half the planting this week and plan to harvest in 2-3 weeks, to let the skins toughen. They will let the other half of the planting grow a couple more weeks to see if they can increase the size of the tubers. The tubers were probably stunted due to exposing the vines to leafhoppers earlier in the season. Cucurbits: powdery mildew. They might try sulfur in the future to extend the life of fall cucurbit plantings. That s all for this week. I ll send another update on Friday, August 21st.

UConn Extension Vegetable IPM Pest Message & Reports from the Farm, Friday August 21th, 2015

UConn Extension Vegetable IPM Pest Message & Reports from the Farm, Friday August 21th, 2015 [Comments or answers in brackets are provided by Jude Boucher, UConn Extension] We are currently under a late