It’s been a quiet few weeks and I wanted to share some of the things that we have seen coming into the office.
Japanese Beetles
Japanese beetles have returned and this summer and they are feeding on our favorite herbs, fruits, veggies and ornamental plants. This introduced insect has been recorded feeding on over 300 different plants and sadly they are the same plants that we like. The best thing to do is to pick the insects off in the evening and put them into some soapy water. Because they tend to like plants that our pollinators visit we do not recommend insecticides on blooming ornamentals. We tend to shy away from recommendation the traps because they work too well. Each trap has the potential to bring in a few extra thousand beetles into the landscape. However, large scale mass trapping has had success and you can read about that here.
Hosta Virus X
Every summer around this time we start to see samples or pictures of this annoying virus showing up on hosta. Hosta virus x is a human vectored virus that will cause some of our favorite hosta to have color breaks in their leaves. Sometimes plants will appear that mutated but when you look closely at the foliage the color variation almost looks like it is bleeding across the veins. Sadly there is no cure. Thankfully, this virus is not transmitted by insects (that we know of) and moves from plant to plant from dirty hands and tools. If your plant is showing strange coloration it is best assume that it has a virus and remove it. You can send samples to the UNL Plant Diagnostic lab in Lincoln. However, the best thing to do is make sure that you clean all garden tools between working with hosta.
Drought Free
It is exciting to see the Omaha River Valley finally free of drought. The last time we’ve been drought free was April of 2020. Since then we’ve been in various categories of drought for the last four years. As exciting as it is we need to be mindful of our landscape plants. Four years of drought is stressful. We need to continue to provide good plant health care to help our landscape plants recover. We know that trees will be stressed from major weather events for up to five years.
“With respect to influence on plant growth and health, it is the amount and frequency of rainfall received during the growing season that is of greater significance than the total amount of precipitation in a given year.” Ron Kujawski from University of Massachusetts.
Common Ragweed
Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is becoming more noticeable in open spaces and along roadsides. This summer annual weed is one of the leading causes to fall allergies. Since it is a wind pollinated each plant will produce a few hundred-million grains of pollen that get swept into the air. Some lucky folk also have contact dermatitis and will breakout in a rash. I happen to be one of those lucky people and it’s not fun. Ragweed was one of our first plants that developed resistance to herbicides and currently resistant to four different modes of action. It is best to pull by hand (carefully) or kept mowed.
Blossom-end Rot
Every year I compile a list of social medias greatest hits on how to cure blossom-end rot (BER). The internet never fails me. BER is when the bottom of the fruit becomes black and sunken. We see it on all sorts of fruits but tomatoes tend to be more dramatic. BER is caused by the lack of calcium. Calcium is a heavy element for plants to move. It can be made more difficult to move when the soil dries out, roots are damaged, over use of fertilizers, the use of ammonium based nitrogen, and calcium deficiencies in the soil. It is rare for soils to be missing calcium and the only way to know that is to do a soil test. However, social media and the internet is loaded with home remedies. Such cures include: adding eggshells to the soil (whole, grounded or pulverized), watering with Epsom salt, using tums when planting, burying chicken bones, grinding up clam or oyster shells, boiled egg water, and using pasta water.
Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate. Overuse of Epsom salt can lead to a build up of magnesium that will inhibit the uptake of calcium. Adding discarded food product can attract unwanted critters to the garden. Calcium found in food products is not immediately available to the plant and it could be a few years before it breaks down and becomes usable. Using discarded cooking water will add any oils, herbs, spices, and salt that could do more damage than good.
To avoid BER keep the soil evenly moist, avoid deep cultivation around plants to prevent root damage, mulch the soil, avoid using ammonia based nitrogen.
