UConn Extension IPM Pest Message for Friday, July 11, 2014 We are experimenting with a grower-written pest report this summer. 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.] Steve Bengtson, Cold Spring Brook Farm, Berlin, CT ECB I (Z) = 1 ECB II (E) = 1 Total of 2 ECB this week. Up from 0 last week. Scouted 4 fields in whorl to pre-tassel stage and found 3 below threshold (2-8 %) One field was at 22% infestation and will be sprayed as soon as possible. CEW = 0 moths again this week. FAW trap set-up on July 5. 0 moths found. Pepper maggot trap set-up late last week. 0 found on trap, however some stings were found on cherry peppers. One sting contained an egg. I am planning to spray Spintor on all peppers this weekend. [SpinTor/Entrust will control ECB, but not pepper maggot. Crop Production Services is stocking a new bait called, Seduce (OMRI approved) that works well on pepper maggot. You just spread it on the ground under the plants every two weeks through July and early August.] This week I had another infestation of flea beetle in my eggplant. Along with them I found several plants with many Japanese beetles present. They were making quite a mess out of the eggplant so I sprayed with Mustang and they are now gone. [JB and oriental beetles are often sitting on eggplant and doing very little feeding, FB is a different story] Sprayed Dithane on all tomatoes for early blight. Trying to stay on about a 10 day schedule. A small amount of peppers are showing Phytopthora infection. Tomorrow my workers will remove them from the fields. I will be injecting Presidio this weekend to keep on a 10-14 day schedule. Injection seems to be working well and our peppers look better than they have for a few years. [Steve is trying the MI State Phytophthora recommendations that were in the March issue of Crop Talk, it is archived at www.ipm.uconn.edu/] Fred Monahan, Stone Garden Farms, Shelton, CT CEW=0 We did have a lot of Japanese beetles on some young corn but they seem to have been just passing through because when I scouted a couple days later they were gone, no spray?? [JB are only a problem if they are in high numbers and eating the young silk just before corn pollinates] Trying Birdshield on my sweet corn. First corn will be ready in a few days and birds are not destroying the ears.
Bravo is holding off the powdery mildew on all cucurbits and holding the early blight and Septoria on tomatoes. [You could also rotate with something like MilStop or sulfur, if you didn t want to start using systemic materials this early for powdery mildew on summer squash.] We were moving water from one pond to another to keep up with irrigation needs, but the thunderstorms have all three ponds full and the ground is saturated well. Overall everything looks pretty good. Most stuff is producing well. Waiting on sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons. Nelson Cecarelli, Cecarelli Farm, Northford, CT Average of 1.4 CEW moths per night captured in Wallingford = 4-day spray schedule. [Blessed by the hurricane!] One pre-tassel-stage sweet corn field was above threshold for caterpillars and required a spray. We re treating for early blight on the tomatoes, powdery mildew on the summer squash, and had to go back and control pigweed with Sandea in one field of winter squash. Tom Scott, Scotts Yankee Farmer, E. Lyme, CT Have been spraying for corn borer, but did have to change from air blast sprayer to my boom sprayer. Air blast was laying over the corn and not getting the coverage. No ear worms today. Had one possible CEW but it flew away before I could identify it. Spraying for potato beetles on tomatoes but no signs of blight. Here are some pictures of our peppers and tomatoes with a [annual rye] cover crop planted between the rows. [nice job with the cover crop. Erosion between black plastic can be a huge problem]. Tori Safner, Farm Manager Apprentice, Oxen Hill Farm, W. Suffield, CT We sprayed all of our brassica crops with XenTari Bt to get rid of the DBM larvae this week, and it was very effective. Potatoes are looking good, spraying with Entrust a couple of weeks ago really knocked back the CPBs. We've got some potato leaf hoppers on beans, and I spotted some flea beetles on the kale crop, especially on the Red Russian variety. [you may need some PyGanic on the beans, especially if they are young beans. Can then cover with a row cover within 24h, and remove at bloom. Kale may need a shot of Entrust, or Entrust and then row cover.] Squash is starting to have a tougher time from the squash bugs and cucumber beetles, and we have some bacterial wilt occurring throughout the crop. [rotate next planting to distant field].
Another concern is eggplant. Insects aren't too much of a problem at the moment, but many plants throughout the field are exhibiting a wilting, yellowing and browning of the lower leaves that may be Verticillium Wilt. [Vert. wilt is the most common problem with eggplant. Growing it on black plastic allow you to harvest before it all wilts. Don t plant in that exact (infested) spot again] We've been fortunate enough to get rain from several storms in the past week, and the plants are loving it! Lots of new crops coming in now. Jonathan Griffin said: Tori is going to start spreading Seduce on plastic beds to control Pepper maggots this week Bruce Gresczyk Jr., Gresczyk Farms, New Hartford, CT Powdery mildew: I have found some powdery mildew in the shadiest spot of my squash patch on nonresistant varieties. For the meantime we are holding off quite easily with applications of sulfur. Once we fall behind the disease we will start with some systemic fungicides. We like to hold off on them in order to hold off any resistance. Corn borer: I do not have traps up for this yet, in scouting all of our corn patches I am yet to surpass 1% infestation on anything. Potato leafhopper. I have found potato leafhoppers surpassing the threshold on one of our smaller potato patches and have treated them accordingly. So far the other patches remain clean. Tomato early blight: I have found a few spots of early blight in our tomatoes. We have begun treating them with a weekly rotation of fungicides. Imported cabbageworm: We have surpassed the threshold for imported cabbageworm on every brassica crop we have. We have made a widespread application Coragen to hold them off. [Coragen provides 3 weeks of protection, but in the future, you might want to save it until later in the season for the tough pests like DBM and CL, since anything kills the ICW( Assail, B.t., Avaunt, Intrepid, Radiant/Entrust, etc.)] Matt DeBacco, UConn Extension General Overview: It seems that water has been an issue along with weed pressure. Some areas did get some rain while others were missed so check your soil moisture to ensure that your plants are not becoming water stressed. This was also the week of Squash Bugs (and continued Cuke Beetles) on cucurbits, so inspect and control these insects as there is some bacterial wilt showing up as a result of Cuke beetles and the threat for Yellow Vine with the squash bugs. Cucurbits: This has been the week for Squash bugs as many were seen in different field all over the state. In some cases there is bacterial wilt seen so scouting and control are advised. They can be difficult to control but in small plots hand picking is time consuming but can be worthwhile especially for early control.
Tomatoes: Ensure that you keep your plants well watered as some planting are in heavy fruit set. There has been some Magnesium deficiency showing up on the older leaves that is not of major concern just be aware. Beans: Seems like more fields are starting to show yellowing which could be related to poor watering or nitrogen deficiency, so be sure to inspect yours. [Most likely potato leafhopper damage/hopperburn] Potatoes: There are a few possible cases of Verticillium wilt showing up. The pressure is low and could be variety based and is more commonly seen in field that have been planted with potatoes in the last few growing seasons with no rotations. Jude Boucher, UConn Extension The bacterial disease angular leaf spot was distributed on some varieties of zucchini and summer squash. Check with your seed company about a rebate on the price of your seed. Weekly applications of copper may help. This has happened for several years with pumpkins, but many of the newer varieties of pumpkins are subject to phytotoxicity when sprayed with copper, and unsprayed fields usually recover and make out better than fields sprayed with copper. Also, to help organic growers with pests such as pepper maggot, cabbage maggot, onion maggot and cutworms, we helped facilitate the sale of the new Certis bait, Seduce, in CT. It is now being test marketed by Crop Production Services in E. Windsor and CPS in Milton, NY. Prior to this it was only offered in states south of Mason-Dixon line. This product only lists earwigs and cutworms, but is labeled for most vegetable crops, so can be legally used for the fly pests mentioned above. Jonathan Griffin in E. Suffield tried it last year on pepper maggot and had near 100% control. It has also been reported to work real well on cabbage and onion maggot. Leanne Pundt, UConn Extension UConn and UMass Extension are co-sponsoring a Biological Control Workshop for Greenhouse Ornamentals and GH Vegetables on July 31, from 9:00 to 3:30, at the Tolland County Extension Center in Vernon. Contact Leanne.pundt@uconn.edu for preregistration information Pests to Watch for this week: Sweet corn: FAW in traps and 10% FAW infestation in whorl or pre-tassel corn, CEW in traps, Summer/winter squash and pumpkins: powdery mildew, SVB on SS, squash bugs/squash beetles Basil: downy mildew, Japanese beetles Peppers: bacterial leaf spot, set up pepper maggot traps/scout cherry peppers (treat now) Potatoes, beans, eggplant, artichokes: potato leaf hoppers Eggplant: aphids, Asiatic garden beetles, spider mites, Verticillium wilt Crucifers: diamondback moths larvae, ICW, cross-striped cabbageworm Solanaceous, cucurbits and legumes: Phytophthora blight Beans: Mexican bean beetles, leafhoppers, Japanese beetles on pole beans
Onions: thrips Beets and Chard: Cercospora leaf spots Tomatoes: early blight, Septoria leaf spot, aphids, three-lined potato bugs, tomato hornworm