By Brooke Garcia
Tim McDonnell, Community Forestry Coordinator for Kansas Forest Service, and Gary Farris, Arborist for the City of Wichita, recently recorded a podcast that highlights the importance of community forests. They discuss how Kansas also faces challenges in regards to protecting urban forests.
Listen to the podcast here: https://kansasforestservice.libsyn.com/more-than-beautification
By Frannie Miller
This post has been provided by the Extension Entomology e-Newsletter.
This week as I have been out in my own yard and garden I have noticed an abundance of different types of caterpillars. Identification of caterpillars can be difficult because so many of them look really similar, but often if you know what plant they feed upon it will give you a clue.
The first image is of a caterpillar sent to me by a friend asking what it was. She found it feeding on her pansies, which were a hold over plants from spring. These caterpillars are known as pansyworms. They usually grow to be 1 ¼ inches long with a characteristic deep-orange color with black striped sides which feature spines. These caterpillars will take bites out of the leaves, but the resulting variegated fritillary butterfly will add color to the garden.
Panysworm image: Courtesy of Cheryl Boyer
Then I found a few yellowstriped armyworm caterpillars feeding on some of my flowers. I picked them off as I did not want them to feed on those particular plants, but allowed them to feed elsewhere. These caterpillars turn into a somewhat drab grayish-brown moth.
Yellow Striped Armyworm
Finally I spotted a mass of small caterpillars feeding on sunflowers in the garden. The sunflowers were not ones I plants and had come up as volunteer so I have decided to let the caterpillars eat on these plants. It is difficult to for me to identify the exact species from a picture, but they will turn into some sort of checkerspot butterfly.
I have chosen to not use any insecticides to control these particular caterpillars, but options such as Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (Btk) and spinosad can be used when caterpillars are small. If you are going to use these products, remember to read and follow the label.
Checkerspot Caterpillar
Sometimes we don’t notice the caterpillars until they are larger and hand picking may become the best control option.
By Brooke Garcia
Japanese beetle is popping up throughout most of Kansas, and it is feeding on many common landscape plants including roses, littleleaf linden, Virginia creeper, and grape. The Extension Entomology e-newletter recently posted a blog that highlights information related to management, chemical treatment, as well as biological information about the beetles. They are one of the most destructive insect pests on horticultural plants, and they cause a lot of problems for professionals and homeowners alike in landscapes and gardens. Raymond Cloyd also notes that, “the larva or grub is a turfgrass insect pest in home lawns, commercial settings, and golf courses.”
To read more, visit the Extension Entomology post, Japanese Beetle Adults Are Here!
Japanese Beetle Adults Feeding On Leaf (Auth–Raymond Cloyd, KSU)
By Lucky Mehra
When it comes to plant health, physical samples are best. However, sometimes it is not practical to send physical samples, such as with large trees or shrubs. A digital sample can be a good alternative or a good first step. By ‘digital sample’ we mean submitting digital images of the plant problem to the KSU plant disease diagnostic clinic.
Consider the following tips to take the photos and provide all the relevant information to help us diagnose the problem quickly and correctly.
Pictures
The main component of a ‘digital sample’ is the set of digital images itself. Take the following types of pictures to help us understand both the ‘big’ and ‘small’ picture of the problem. Make sure that the plant or plant part is in focus when taking pictures. Some phones are pretty good at auto focus, but most of the time you will need to tap on the screen at the point of interest to guide your camera to focus at a particular point.
Fig. 1. The Hawthorn tree in the foreground has leaf spots. This image is to give an overall view of the landscape. For example, proximity of the tree to the concrete and adjoining trees.
Fig. 2. Affected leaves of the hawthorn tree.
Fig. 3. An example of close-up images of a hawthorn leaf (top side of leaf on the left, and underside of leaf on the right) with yellow spots taken with a phone camera, without any additional lens attachment.
Additional essential information
Sometimes, the plant problem is very peculiar, and it is easy to identify by just looking at the photos you submit (e.g. yellow spots on hawthorn leaves shown above are the symptoms of Cedar-hawthorn rust); however, most of the time it is not possible to diagnose a problem only based on photos. We need much more information from you to help us with the correct diagnosis. Provide as much information as you can. Please see below for the type of information that will be useful to us when making the diagnosis.
Site history and pattern
Make sure to provide information about the site where the shrub or tree is located. That information may include soil type if known, soil pH, slope, distance to the concrete sidewalk or road etc.
Are there any drainage problems? Is this the only plant affected? Are other plants of the same species affected? If yes, what is the pattern of these plants in the landscape i.e. is there a cluster of affected plants or the distribution is random? Are other plant species affected?
Plant pattern
Tell us about the affected plant part whether it is leaf, stem, flower, twig, stem or root. Additionally, report the location of symptoms on the plant. Some problems tend to occur on younger leaves, others are specific to older leaves. All this information can help us rule out some issues and narrow down the diagnosis.
Timing of the symptom appearance.
Was there any weather event such as temperature (too hot or too cold) or moisture extremes (e.g. heavy rainfall) prior to the symptom development. We can download these data from a local weather station as well, however, rainfall events can be non-uniform over the whole area covered by a weather station. So if you have onsite information about the weather data, report it to us.
Chemical history
Any history of chemical or fertilizer application should be provided. This can help the diagnostician in figuring out if the problem is arising due to chemical exposure or due to a biotic agent.
By Brooke Garcia
This is the time during the summer season when Euonymus Scale may be extra noticeable on evergreen euonymus. The scale insect will appear as small, white dots covering the planting. If you are wearing darker clothing and come into contact with the shrub, you may notice the white “debris” coming off of the plant. The plant can quickly become infested and covered with this insect. Euonymus Scale is capable of killing the plant if left untreated. Keep a watchful eye on plantings during this time. There are cultural strategies that can be incorporated into the garden to reduce the likelihood of this insect becoming a problem, but it is extremely prevalent and may require chemical treatment.
Euonymus Scale Infestation On Euonymus Plants Located Near Building (Auth-Raymond Cloyd, KSU)
For more information about the biological characteristics of this insects, as well as cultural and chemical practices that can aid in prevention and/or treatment, visit the K-State Extension Entomology post here: https://blogs.k-state.edu/kansasbugs/2020/07/02/euonymus-scale-4/
By: Ward Upham
(Article from June 30th, 2020 Horticulture e-Newsletter)
We have been receiving numerous reports of brown patch showing up on tall fescue. This disease is favored by warm night temperatures and extended periods of leaf wetness. If you go outside in the morning and the lawn is covered with dew and the temperature is in the high 60s or higher, it means that conditions are getting right for brown patch. The fungus is primarily a leaf pathogen and does not attack the roots. During severe outbreaks, the fungus may invade the lower leaf sheaths and crown and kill plants. But in most cases, the turfgrass can recover from brown patch. This recovery may take two to three weeks, depending on weather. To read more, visit the Horticulture e-Newsletter: https://hnr.k-state.edu/extension/info-center/newsletters/2020/June30_2020_26.pdf
Revised by Brooke M. Garcia, original post by Dr. Jared Hoyle
We have been receiving some precipitation recently across the state of Kansas. Even if you have received little rain in your area, you may be seeing yellow nutsedge popping up everywhere. Yellow nutsedge does favor moist soils but it can also grow in well-drained sites.
One of the easiest ways to identify yellow nutsedge is by a couple special features;
To control yellow nutsedge, if you can get applications out before tuber production then you will see increased control. But beware, yellow nutsedge will continue to grow as long as the environment is favorable for growth, so more than one application may be necessary.
If using a herbicide application timing is critical. During mid-summer, yellow nutsedge starts making tubers and if you apply herbicides before tuber production you will get better control. If you wait until the yellow nutsedge is big and starting to make tubers then you will be playing catch-up all year. So sooner is better. Don’t wait for it to get too big.
Here are some options for yellow nutsedge control for turfgrass professionals;
There are many different products out there that contain these active ingredients so just make sure you have an active ingredient that has yellow nutsedge control! Also make sure you check for turfgrass tolerances.
Always remember to READ THE LABEL for the correct rate, turfgrass tolerance, and specific instructions before application.
***Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for identification purposes and does not imply recommendation or endorsement, nor is criticism implied of similar products not mentioned by Kansas State University.***
Be sure to follow our KSU Turf Facebook page: www.facebook.com/KSUTurf
By Brooke M. Garcia
Happy National Pollinator Week! National Pollinator Week occurs every year around mid-June. This year, June 22-28th, 2020 is dedicated to celebrating pollinators and promoting how we can protect them in the landscape and/or environment. What can you do this week to protect or promote a pollinator?
Here are some ideas to show your support:
Use the hashtag #pollinatorweek to promote pollinator week, events and resources shared.
For more information about National Pollinator Week, you can visit the official website.
Visit our K-State Pesticide Safety and Integrated Pest Management Facebook page to stay tuned with educational topics related to pollinators, pesticide safety, and IPM.
By Brooke M. Garcia
The K-State Garden Hour is a successful online webinar series, hosted by K-State Research and Extension. Each week, the series is hosted on Wednesdays from 12:00 – 1:00 P.M. CST. This virtual series will provide information on a variety of horticultural topics, as well as highlight educational topics related to plant selection, entomology, plant pathology and integrated pest management.
Here are the upcoming topics for the month of July:
To learn more about any of the topics featured, visit the K-State Garden Hour webpage: K-State Garden Hour Webinar Series
Each webinar in the series has a separate registration page. You will need to click on each webinar that you would like to attend. Please preregister for each session online.
You can also find, promote and share each webinar on Facebook, via the Facebook Events.
If you have any questions, please email our team at ksuemg@k-state.edu.
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