Christmas Trees — Page 3 — Plant & Pest Advisory

Christmas Trees Edition

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Seasonal pest alerts and news about insects, diseases, and weeds impacting Christmas Tree production including Commercial Ag Updates (meetings and marketing); and Pesticide Program updates from the Rutgers Pest Management Office News Blog.

Companion Website Links:

Rutgers Weather Forecasting - Meteorological Information important to commercial agriculture.

Nursery IPM.

August 26, 2025 Kate Brown

Spanish Course for Ag Workforce – Registration Open

The Rutgers Office of Continuing Professional Education will host a course on ‘Spanish for Ag and Horticulture Workforce’ from January 16-March 6, 2026. This is an online, self-paced course with approximately 21 hours of course content designed to help participants study conversational Spanish and gain technical vocabulary specific to those in the agriculture and horticulture workforce.

There is a registration fee of $825 per person. Register by January 9, 2026 for the early bird registration rate of $795.

For more information and to register, visit https://cpe.rutgers.edu/spanish-for-ag-and-horticulture-workforce.

Filed Under: Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Turf, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: Spanish Training

August 25, 2025 Tim Waller, William Errickson and Steven K. Rettke

Ornamental IPM Webinar – Next Session Tuesday 8/26 plus upload from 8/12 RU PDL guest

Still time to Sign up for the remaining 2025 sessions- Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program

Please visit our new –Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program Website (click here)

Join us for the next session Tuesday 8/26/25

Topics covered:

1.Beneficial insect: Dragonflies
2. Leafcutter bees
3. Fleahopper
4. Nostoc
5. Nickel deficiency in River Birch
6. Tulip tree & Magnolia soft scales
7. Douglas-fir needle midge
8. Slugs/snails
9. Banded ash clearwing moth borer
10. Verticillium wilt

Previous webinars:

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Plant Diagnostic Lab, Turf Tagged With: 2025 Christmas tree IPM, 2025 nursery IPM, Christmas tree IPM, landscape IPM, Nursery IPM, Ornamental IPM Program, Plant Diagnostic Laboratory

July 28, 2025 Tim Waller, William Errickson and Steven K. Rettke

Box tree moth confirmed in MD, VA, and expanded quarantines in MI, OH. Plus+ IPM webinar recordings and 8/12 session

Box tree moth has been detected in MD and VA.

Additionally quarantines have been expanded (7/21/25) in counties of Michigan and Ohio: Click here for: APHIS Expands Box Tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis) Quarantines in Michigan and Ohio (July 2025)

Click here for: Maryland BTM confirmed in Washington Co., MD.

Click here for: Virginia BTM confirmed at four sites in Clarke and Loudoun Counties, Va.

Efforts are being made to eradicate the pests at these locations & no additional quarantine information is available at this time. More information to follow.

Box Tree Moth – Resources:

Pictorial: Common Boxwood Pests and Diseases (click-here)
Video: Click here for- “Demystifying Box Tree Moth” – HRI
Factsheet: Box Tree Moth: Fact Sheet, Management & Visual Guide
OSU Guide: What to look for with Box Tree (Boxwood) Moth
USDA-APHIS Box Tree Moth : APHIS BTM Landing page
Compliance agreement and information: National Plant Board – Box Tree Moth
- HRI VIDEO – “Box Tree Moth Compliance Agreement Explained”

Still time to Sign up for the 2025 – Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program

(Join us for the next Session Tuesday 8/12/25 – Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Lab – Rich Buckley (Guest Speaker))

Previous webinars:

Please visit our new –Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program Website

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Turf Tagged With: 2025 nursery IPM, box tree moth, boxwood, BTM, field nursery, Nursery, Nursery IPM, Ornamental IPM Program, quarantine

July 15, 2025 Michelle Infante-Casella

Rutgers to Host Afternoon Cover Crops Field Day – August 5

Rutgers Cover Crops Field Day
*The program may be rescheduled in the event of inclement weather*
Date: August 5, 2025
Time: 3:00PM to 6:00 PM
Where: Snyder Research Farm, 140 Locust Grove Rd, Pittstown, NJ 08867

REGISTRATION REQUIRED:

Please register by calling RCE of Sussex County: 973-948-3040
*First 20 registrants will receive a FREE copy of the USDA SARE book: “Managing Cover Crops Profitably”

This event will highlight several cover crop research projects and foster discussion and networking on drone use in agriculture and cover crop management.
Please join us for this summer event.

We will also discuss an upcoming drone pilot certification training we will be hosting this winter.

3:00 PM Registration and Welcome – Stephen Komar, ANR Agent /Rutgers SARE Coordinator
3:15 PM Go to the Field – Calibrating a Drone for Agricultural Applications – Adam Kyle, Warren Co. Com. College, Teaching Administrator, Precision Agriculture, Stephen Komar
4:00 PM Summer Cover Crop Planting Comparison: Drone vs. Drill – Bill Bamka, ANR Agent
4:30 PM Row Middle Cover Crops vs Herbicides for Weed Management in Vegetable Culture – Kate Brown, ANR Agent
RC&D Cover Crop Programs- Laura Tessieri, Executive Director, North Jersey RC&D
Drone Seeding Cover Crops into Pumpkins – Peter Nitzsche, ANR Agent
5:30 PM Update on Worker Protection Standards and Pesticide Recordkeeping – Michelle Infante-Casella, ANR Agent
6:00 PM Pesticide Credits and Adjourn

This event is sponsored by a grant awarded to Stephen Komar (Principal Investigator), Michelle Infante-Casella, and William Bamka Agricultural Agents/Professors, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, by the USDA, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, Professional Development Program.

Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Plant Diagnostic Lab, Strawberry, training, Tree Fruit, Turf, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: Cover Crops, drones, pesticide credits

June 23, 2025 Tim Waller

NEW – Ornamental IPM Website & Upload of 6/10 Webinar – Next Session Tuesday 6/24

Still time to Sign up for the 2025 – Rutgers Ornamental IPM Program

(Join us for the next Session Tuesday 6/24/25)

UPLOADS 6/10 SESSION: (contains information on oriental beetle, SLF, Two-spotted spider mites, soft scales, box tree moth, bacterial shothole, virus symptoms)

Previous webinars: