TPM/IPM Weekly Report for Arborists, Landscape Managers & Nursery Managers Commercial Horticulture October 28, 2011 In This Issue... - Last report of the season - EAB publication - Alternative Energy Field Day highlights Beneficial of the Week Weed of the Week Plant of the Week Degree Days Conferences Coordinator Weekly IPM report: Stanton Gill,, IPM for Nursery, Greenhouse and Managed Landscapes, sgill@umd.edu. 301-596-9413 (office) or 410-868-9400 (cell) Regular Contributors: Pest and Beneficial Insect Information: Stanton Gill and Paula Shrewsbury (s) and Brian Clark (, Prince George s County) Disease Information: Karen Rane (Plant Pathologist) and David Clement () Weed of the Week: Chuck Schuster (, Montgomery County) Cultural Information: Ginny Rosenkranz (, Wicomico/ Worcester/Somerset Counties) Fertility Management: Andrew Ristvey (Regional Specialist, Wye Research & Education Center) Design, Layout and Editing: Suzanne Klick (Technician, CMREC) Integrated Pest Management for Commercial Horticulture www.ipmnet.umd.edu If you work for a commercial horticultural business in the area, you can report insect, disease, weed or cultural plant problems found in the landscape or nursery to sklick@umd.edu It Is Time to Call It a Wrap for 2011: From Stanton Gill We will put out special reports and announcements for conferences this winter, but this report is it for the regular IPM Alert Report Season. We appreciate each of the green industry professionals who sent in samples, e-mail pictures and called in to report insect and disease activity over the 2011 season. Your participation makes this system current and useful in everyone s IPM work. I also want to thank Suzanne Klick for all of her efforts coordinating with our multiple authors and formatting the report. Thanks to Karen Rane, David Clement, Paula Shrewsbury, Andrew Ristvey, Chuck Schuster, Ginny Rosenkranz and Brian Clark for the articles they have taken the time to write for the weekly IPM Alert Report. This report would not be successful without their amazing efforts. Finally, I must say I always miss writing every week for the IPM Alert, but it is time to turn our attention to the winter educational conferences and writing up our field research efforts of 2011. We will be back online with the weekly IPM Alert in late March of 2012. Survey: We need your input. We will continue to try to improve this weekly IPM Alert but need your input. We will be sending out an electronic survey in November and would appreciate your comments. Thanks, Stanton Gill.
Emerald Ash Borer Publication Entomologists in the Midwest, who have been dealing with EAB longer than Maryland, have written an informative publication on EAB pesticide management that is based on research that can be useful when dealing with this invasive insect. Go to http://www.emeraldashborer.info/files/multistate_eab_insecticide_fact_sheet.pdf for a copy of this publication. Alternative Energy and Labor Saving Field Day - Report from Stanton Gill We have been organizing alternative energy field days for the last 6 years in cooperation with MNLA, LCA and MGGA. We had 12 very forward thinking landscapers, nursery owners and arborists attend the field day last Thursday (October 20). Brent Rutley, owner of Capitol City Contractors, did a wonderful job of hosting the morning session of the field day at his farm in Woodbine. He led an excellent tour of a wind turbine, solar arrays and a high efficiency wood stove used to heat office space. Brent shared what each alternative energy source costs to obtain and maintain. We had a lively discussion, led by Chuck Schuster, on where hybrid trucks are headed and what is happening with the new low sulfur diesel fuels that will be coming onto the market in 2012. Brent Rutley (left) talks about installing the solar panels on the building in the background Steve Black, Raemelton Farm, discussed his labor saving techniques, but one of the best ideas he mentioned was a new device called a weed seeker. The weed seeker can be run over nursery planting rows and when it detects green weed plants, it triggers an application of herbicide to just the green weeds. This device avoids spraying a lot of bare soil area in the nursery row. At MacBride and Gill Falcon Ridge Farm, we had a great demonstration of a new geothermal heating system. Chris Cymek, BGE, discussed how an horizontal loop system works. You get some of the biggest bang for your buck with geothermal systems. Also at the farm, Jonathan Kays, UME, covered more details of using wood burning systems. Since it was a windy day, the wind turbine at Brent s site was moving steadily on the day of the tour It makes sense for you as a business owner to look into The trenches for the geothermal system at these systems for heating MacBride and Gill Falcon and cooling your offices. We Ridge Farm encourage each of you to attend future alternative energy field days. 2 Efficient wood burning stove at Capitol City Contractors
Beneficial of the Week, Paula Shrewsbury How do natural enemies make it through the winter? The development of natural enemies, and insects in general, from temperate regions is disrupted by a period of dormancy that helps them make it through the winter or other times of unfavorable conditions. Of course different species of insects undergo different behaviors and physiological events. Events that can initiate dormancy include extremes in high or low temperatures or photoperiod, drought, or a reduction in food resources. Dormancy that occurs in summer is referred to as aestivation, and in winter as diapause. Diapauses involves slowing or stopping of development combined with physiological changes. Insects in diapause usually have to undergo some sort of physiological stimulation to initiate development again. There are two types of diapauses, obligatory and facultative. Insects with obligatory diapause must shut down at a fixed time and duration regardless of environmental conditions. For example, gypsy moth overwinters as eggs and these eggs must undergo a certain period of reduced temperature followed by warming before they will hatch. Facultative diapauses is optional and is only required when conditions are unfavorable. For example, brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) development slows in the winter months but when conditions warm they become active. This is why BMSB overwintering in homes become more active on warm winter days. So as the weather continues to cool and days are short you will notice that many natural enemies are no longer around (those with obligatory diapauses) and others you will see become active on unusually warm days of early or late winter (those with facultative diapauses). I wish everyone a warm and happy winter hopefully it will not be so cold that we have to go into diapause. Weed of the Week, Chuck Schuster Yellow archangel, Lamiastrum galeobdolon, is a member of the mint family. From Europe, it was brought to the United States as a groundcover, and can be found throughout the Mid-Atlantic states, as well as the West Coast. This weed prefers shady sites, fertile soils and areas that remain damp. It can be found in full sun, and in warm, dryer settings that include rock gardens. This plant is a perennial and is still sold in some garden centers. It is classified as a plant to watch, but not as an invasive yet. The plant has an upright stem, with long vines that cover the ground. It has opposite leaves with a toothed margin. The leaves are oval in shape, covered in hairs and have a silver and green variegation. It blooms from April through June. The flowers are yellow and on an upright stem reaching two feet in height. It is a prolific seed producer, and also reproduces by stolons. Hand pulling is not effective as remaining stolons result in new plants. Mulch or landscape fabric with mulch has been effective. In areas that allow, triclopyr has been very successful. To view yellow archangel in flower, go to http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=laga2 Yellow archangel foliage Photo: Robert Vidéki, Doronicum Kft., Bugwood.org 3
Plant of the Week, Ginny Rosenkranz Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) also called white sassafras or silky sassafras is a medium sized native tree that thrives on moist, but well drained and slightly acidic soils. Once established it can handle droughts and some light flooding. The root system is typically a tap root with a few side roots, making it a challenge to transplant even from a nursery. Left to itself, sassafras can create a thicket by underground roots, but proper pruning in the landscape can create a single leader tree or a dramatic multistemmed tree. It can grow as tall as 25-50 feet, but needs direct sunlight for best growth. Sassafras is hardy in USDA zones 4-8 and the silhouette is a rounded top. It has reddish brown, corky ridged bark. In the early spring sassafras produces yellow fragrant flowers that are visited by native butterflies including the spicebush swallowtail which uses it as a larval plant host. Sassafras leaves are unique; they are formed as an oval, a mitten with either a right or left thumb, or one that is divided into three lobes. Rubbing the leaves and young twigs will produce a light citrus fragrance, and the roots have a root beer fragrance. In the summer, the leaves are a bright medium green that turns to yellow, orange, scarlet and purple in the crisp cool fall weather. Japanese beetles, scale and sassafras weevils are the insect pests and cankers, root rot, leaf spot and mildew are the common disease pests. Degree Days (As of October 27) Baltimore, MD (BWI) 4243 Dulles Airport 4119 Frostburg, MD 2707 Martinsburg, WV 3804 National Arboretum 4663 Reagan National 4721 Salisbury 4514 Sassafras leaves in fall color Photo: Ginny Rosenkranz, UME Upcoming Programs: Conference listings are posted on-line at http://ipmnet.umd.edu Greenhouse Conference November 18, 2011 Location: Chesapeake College, Wye Mills, MD This conference will satisfy full pesticide recertification training requirements of 8 credits for applicators certified in Category 3B (Ornamental Plant - Interior) and the full recertification of 4 credits for individuals certified as Private applicators. Go to http://ipmnet.umd.edu/conferences/index.htm for a brochure Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers National Conference (www.ascfg.org) November 7-10, 2011 Location: Reston, Virginia Pest Management Conference December 1, 2011 Location: Carroll Community College, Westminster, MD Contact: Suzanne Klick, sklick@umd.edu Advanced Landscape Plant IPM PHC Short Course January 3-6, 2012 For registration information contact: Avis Koeiman, Department of Entomology, 301-405-3913 Email: akoeiman@umd.edu 4
MANTS (Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show) Janaury 11-13, 2012 Location: Baltimore Convention Center http://www.mants.com/ MD Arborist Winter Conference and Pesticide Recertification January 18-19, 2012 Location: Turf Valley, Ellicott City, MD Contact: mdarboristassoc@aol.com or 410-321-8082 FALCAN Pesticide Recertification Conference January 25, 2012 Location: Frederick Fairgrounds, Frederick Contact: Dan Felice, dfelice@synateksolutions.com Chesapeake Green 2012: A Horticulture Symposium February 8, 2012 - a bus tour of two greenhouses in New Jersey February 9 and 10, 2011 - Lectures at the Maritime Institute, Linthicum Heights, MD Maryland Christmas Tree Association Winter Meeting February 25, 2012 Location: Friendly Farms Restaurant in Upperco, MD. 8 a.m. 4 p.m. Contact: Wilma Muir, Maryland Christmas Tree Association, 410-452-9793, dcvtfarm@iximd.com LCA Winter Pesticide Recertification Conference February 16, 2012 Location: National 4-H Youth Conference Center, Chevy Chase http://www.lcamddcva.org/programs/recertification.cfm CONTRIBUTORS: Stanton Gill sgill@umd.edu Paula Shrewsbury pshrewsb@umd.edu Karen Rane Plant Pathologist rane@umd.edu Chuck Schuster cfs@umd.edu Ginny Rosenkranz rosenkrnz@umd.edu David Clement Plant Pathologist hgic.umd.edu Andrew Ristvey aristvey@umd.edu Brian Clark bpclark@umd.edu Thank you to the Maryland Arborist Association, the Landscape Contractors Association of MD, D.C. and VA, the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association and FALCAN for your financial support in making these weekly reports possible. The information given herein is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by University of Maryland Extension is implied. University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all citizens without regard to race, color, gender, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, or national origin.