Viruses represent some of the toughest diseases to manage in cucumber, squash, pumpkin, and melon plants. Often the disease doesn’t kill but does reduce the size and number of leaves, which in turn decreases fruit production. Cucumber mosaic, cucumber green mottle mosaic, watermelon mosaic, zucchini yellow mosaic, and squash mosaic are some of the viruses…
Category: Garden Pests
The Dreaded Japanese Beetle (Again)
Despite winter and spring conditions that we hoped could thwart them, the Japanese beetles are at it again. They fall on us as we mow beneath trees, eat our hard-won fruits as they multi-task, and drown in the dog’s water dish. Here are some important considerations: ▪Japanese beetles do lay their eggs in the soil. …
Caterpillars on Coneflowers
The silvery checkerspot caterpillar, Chlosyne nycteis, can be found right now, happily munching away on the leaves of sunflower, aster, Echinacea, goldenrod and Rudbeckia. The checkerspot caterpillar has branched spines on its back that are black in color. Sometimes the caterpillars will have an orange stripe or two. Depending on weather conditions, there will be…
A, F, St, V, N – Huh?
Hello Friends – It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to get something posted on our blog. Over the weekend I was wondering what I could possible write about and it hit me, I could blog about the apple of love AKA the tomato. Most of us are getting our favorite seed catalogs in the…
Powdery Mildew
Powdery mildew is an obligate parasite. Huh? In short, powdery mildew doesn’t want to kill your plants – but it sometimes happens, by accident of course. We most often see this disease on plants outdoors where there is poor air circulation. You probably have seen peony bushes around town or even your own that ended…
Fall Garden Clean Up
When cleaning up the fall garden, it’s hard to know what should be cleared away and what should stay. Gurus of tidiness opt for removing everything now in order to start with a clean slate in the spring. But is there such a thing as too much tidiness? It turns out that, yes indeed, that…
The Picnic Beetle
Picnic beetles are small black insects with yellowish spots on their wing covers. This nuisance insect feeds on over-ripe and decaying fruits and vegetables. Its common name comes from its annoying habit of showing up in your potato salad at outdoor events. While it can damage fruits and vegetables, picnic beetles take advantage of over-ripe…
Going Native?
Hello friends – Work has been a little hectic and Its been a few weeks since I have posted my last blog. Inspiration struck the other day when I had posted a picture of my globe thistle (Echinops sp.) in flower on a Facebook page. Someone posted that it was pretty but it was not…
Squash Vine Borer
Nothing is more frustrating than seeing the almost-ready-to-produce zucchini plant collapse. If the base of the plant is mushy and has holes, the most likely reason is the squash vine borer. The squash vine borer adult is a ½ inch long moth that doesn’t look or act like a moth. It has an orange abdomen…