Questions have been plentiful regarding fire blight damage in flowering pear, apple, crabapple, cotoneaster, hawthorn, and pyracantha. During March or April, pathogenic bacteria infected flowers or young shoots. Now, shepherd’s crooks (Figure 1) and spur dieback (Figure 2) are becoming…
Monthly Archives: May 2016
2016 Insect Trap Counts
Trap counts for major insect pests are provided by the Kentucky IPM Program. Traps are located at the UK Research and Education Center in western Kentucky and the UK Spindletop Farm in Lexington. Below are trap counts for the current…
Posted in Insect Trap Counts
Late Blight Alert for Tomatoes and Potatoes
Last week, late blight was found on greenhouse tomato transplants in the westernmost county in Maryland, which is approximately 250 miles from the eastern border of Kentucky. While unlikely, the possibility exists that with a swirling, southwesterly weather pattern, spores…
Posted in Vegetables
Vegetable Diseases to Scout for: Early Blight & Septoria Leaf Spot
Kentucky vegetable growers should be on the lookout for early blight and Septoria leaf spot of tomato. As the most common diseases of tomato in Kentucky, homeowners or growers not on a preventative spray program always have at least some…
Posted in Vegetables
First Spotted Wing Drosophila Capture of the Year
We have had our first spotted wing drosophila (SWD) detection for 2016. Patty Lucas, UK Extension IPM Specialist, recovered one SWD male (Figure 1) from a trap yesterday in strawberries in Caldwell County (western Kentucky). Over the 4 years Kentucky…
Posted in Fruit
Dogwood Anthracnose Spotted
Anthracnose of dogwood is a common problem in Kentucky. Symptoms on landscape and forest dogwoods often first appear during wet periods in late spring. If left unmanaged, the pathogen spreads, eventually resulting in plant death. Selection of resistant varieties and…
Posted in Forest Trees, Landscape Trees & Shrubs
What The Rains Bring…
Several arthropods reliably appear in force following a series of spring rains. For the most part, they are short-lived, so control measures are rarely needed. Gnats Many species of non-biting gnats develop in moist decaying organic matter, temporary mud pools,…
Posted in General Pests, Lawn & Turf
Mosquito Populations Underway
Tree holes (Figure 1) provide good winter refuges for the Asian tiger mosquito and other container-breeding species. In late summer, females glue their eggs inside the holes where they remain until spring. During spring, enough water collected in the tree…
Posted in Household Pests
Clover Mites & Concrete Mites
Clover Mites Clover mites are accidental invaders that can be a temporary nuisance. These small, reddish-brown creatures with very long front legs (Figure 1) appear only as moving dark spots to the naked eye. Sheer numbers, plus the resulting red-brown…
Posted in Household Pests
Featured Publication
Late Blight of Tomato (PPFS-VG-13) Late blight is an extremely important and damaging disease of tomatoes and potatoes; total crop failures are common with this disease. Late blight was a minor problem found sporadically in late summer in Kentucky until…
Posted in Featured Pubs & Videos
Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab Highlights
The following plant disease highlights from the University of Kentucky Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratories represent recent sample submissions from field crops, fruit, vegetables, and ornamentals. Diseases diagnosed on agronomic crops during the past week have included Rhizoctonia root rot on…
Posted in Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab
2016 Insect Trap Counts
Trap counts for major insect pests are provided by the Kentucky IPM Program. Traps are located at the UK Research and Education Center in western Kentucky and the UK Spindletop Farm in Lexington. Below are trap counts for the current…
Posted in Insect Trap Counts
Vegetable and Tobacco Diseases to Scout for: Botrytis Gray Mold
Kentucky vegetable and tobacco growers should be on the lookout for Botrytis gray mold. This disease may occur in fields under humid conditions, but it is most common in greenhouses and high tunnels. Botrytis gray mold can also affect numerous…
Posted in Tobacco, Vegetables
After Hail: Steps to Help Mitigate Disease Problems in Vegetable Plantings
Over 100 areas of Kentucky, from Calloway to Pike Counties, have been unlucky enough to receive pop-up hailstorms within the last 3 weeks. Hail is typically accompanied by driving rains and wind and can physically damage even the strongest plants.…
Posted in Vegetables
Skeletonized Leaves On Oaks?
Skeletonization sounds like a good descriptive term, but this word can represent very different conditions in the mind’s eye: 1) Surface feeding (Figure 1), which leaves a window-like effect of thin leaf tissue (caused by echelons of oak slug sawfly…
Posted in Landscape Trees & Shrubs
Kentucky Pest News 