Landscape, Ornamentals, Nursery, and Turf Edition

Seasonal updates on ornamental, nursery, and turf pests.
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April 23, 2021

Do you have Phytophthora concerns in your conifer nursery? We are looking for participants in a statewide study

Tim Waller (Cumberland Co.) and Bill Errickson (Monmouth Co.) of Rutgers Cooperative Extension are looking for 30 conifer producers to collaborate in a statewide Phytophthora sampling project, as part of a Specialty Crop Block Grant. This study will focus on identifying the species of Phytophthora limiting conifer production in New Jersey.

  • If your operation is selected, the agents will schedule one to three visits this growing season to collect samples from roots, bark, soil, irrigation systems, and will perform soil testing (Year 1).
  • During years 2 and 3, we will be performing chemical, biological, and cultural disease management trials in addition to conifer variety trials, at Rutgers-NJAES experiment stations. The aim is to generate local data – using local isolates in order to develop a more wholistic set of recommendations when targeting this disease in our NJ nurseries.

The agents also look forward to developing stronger relationships throughout New Jersey in the post-COVID19 era

 

This project is open to nurseries and Christmas tree farms producing conifers in NJ 

If you are interested in this project – please respond via this brief survey (click here) 

Please print and share this PDF survey with anyone not online (click here)

 

Please contact Tim Waller – twaller@njaes.rutgers.edu – (856-451-2800) – for more information

 

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Turf Tagged With: , , ,
April 21, 2021

Communicating the Value of COVID-19 Vaccines With Your Farm Employees

CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Posters available in multiple languages – “Vaccines (shots) are one of the tools we have to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In an effort to increase participation in the COVID-19 vaccination program among farm workers, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), through the national Extension Foundation, is working with Cooperative Extension across the country to help spread the word about the importance of getting vaccinated. Rutgers Cooperative Extension Director Brian Schilling has enlisted a team of County Agents and Specialists to answer the call from the CDC to participate in this EXCITE program. Through a variety of communications channels we will be providing informational posters and other educational materials in several appropriate languages that you can hand out or post in locations where your workers can easily read them (like on or near your Worker Protections Standards bulletin boards or in your labor camps).

“Vaccines (shots) are one of the tools we have to fight the COVID-19 pandemic” posters from the CDC are now available on the COVID-19 page of the Rutgers NJAES On-Farm Food Safety website <https://onfarmfoodsafety.rutgers.edu/covid-19-information/> with the direct links to these multiple language editions:

You can also share this Spanish language video <https://wecandothis.hhs.gov/un-rayo-de-esperanza> from the US Dept. of Health and Human Services with your workers to help explain where they can get more information about COVID-19 vaccines. There are several other informational videos available at https://wecandothis.hhs.gov/filter/format/Video, as well as posters/fliers from https://wecandothis.hhs.gov/filter/format/Poster%20%E2%80%93%20Flyer (mostly English), and factsheets at https://wecandothis.hhs.gov/filter/format/Fact%20Sheet.

EXCITE PNG

Filed Under: Blueberry, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Turf, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , , , ,
April 15, 2021

Nursery and Landscape Pest Scouting Guide: 150-250 Growing Degree-days and Boxwood Blight Risk ( currently = low risk )

Nursery and Landscape Pest Scouting Guide 150-250 GDD50:

Please print or download these resources (click on them): 

Remember:

  • To determine your local growing degree-days, please review this post “Obtaining your local growing degree-day information”
  • The information provided in the downloads gives scouting GDD50 ranges (in growing degree days, base 50F) for specific insect pests harming nursery crop production and maintenance. It is important to note that these GDD50 are not exact, rather provide a range of GDD and subsequent calendar dates that can be used to scout for, and treat for, insect pests.
  • This document supports scouting, it does not replace it. Keeping good notes on pest development will help dial in scouting and treatment efforts at your local level.
  • Forecasting predictions (GDD50 accumulation) for calendar dates of multiple regions of New Jersey (S,N,C) are provided.
  • If you need more information, OR you are regularly seeing specific pest development stages at growing degree-days different than those listed here, please contact Tim Waller at twaller@njaes.rutgers.edu

GREAT RESOURCE from Steve Rettke: “Landscape Pest Notes: Some Early Spring Insects/Mites”

 

Projected GDD50 accumulation as of 4/15/2021
Region Location 4/15/21 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul Aug. 1st
Southern Upper Deerfield (NJ50) 141 75 230 636 1314 2156
Central Howell / Freehold (NJ10) 94 67 165 513 1135 1929
Northern High Point (NJ59) 50 21 56 268 721 1327
Forecast: NOAA NCEP Coupled Forecast System model version 2 (CFSv2) forecast system (3.5 months) (USPEST.ORG)

 

Pest Scouting – Growing Degree-day Ranges (150-250 GDD50)
CROP TYPE Common Name Scientific Name GDD Min (50F) GDD Max (95F) Reference Developmental / Target Stage
Malus, Prunus, many Eastern tent caterpillar Malacosoma americanum 90 190 2 Larvae treatment before tents apparent (near 150-GDD50)
Elm, Service berry Woolly elm aphid Eriosoma americana 121 246 2 (6) Control target
Conifer Hemlock woolly adelgid Adelges tsugae 150 150 RU Eggs and 10% hatch
Conifer Spruce spider mite Oligonychus ununguis 150 175 4 1st egg hatch
Conifer Spruce needleminer Endothenia albolineana 150 200 4 1st larvae active
Conifer Balsam gall midge Paradiplosis tumifex 150 300 4 Adults laying eggs
Witchhazel, River birch Spiny witchhazel gall aphid Hamamelistes spinosus 171 – 6 Control target
Birch Birch leafminer Fenusa pusilla  190 290 RU Larvae (1st generation)
Conifer Spruce spider mite Oligonychus ununguis 190 363 RU Immatures/Adults
Honeylocust Honeylocust pod gall midge Dasineura gleditchiae 192 229 RU Larvae
Holly Holly leafminer Phytomyza ilicis 192 290 RU Egg hatch
Holly *Native holly leafminer Phytomyza ilicicola 192 298 2 Egg hatch
Rhododendron Rhododendron borer Synanthedon rhododendri 192 298 2 Typical treatment window
Larch Larch sawfly Pristophora erichsonii 192 299 2 Typical treatment window
Andromeda Andromeda lacebug Stephanitis takeyai 192 303 RU Adults
Rhododendron Rhododendron gall midge Clinodiplosis rhododendri 192 363 RU Larvae
Willows, Cottonwood, Poplar Imported willow leaf beetle Plagiodera versicolora 192 448 RU Larvae/Adults
Privet Privet thrips Dendrothrips ornatus 192 618 2 Typical treatment window
Lilac, ash, privet, many Lilac / Ash Borer Podosesia syringae 200 299 RU Adults – 1st Treatment
Spruce Spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana 200 300 5 Larvae
Elm Elm leafminer Fenusa ulmi 215 240 5 Adult emergence
Wild and cultivated roses Roseslug sawfly Endelomyia aethiops 230 – 6 Egg hatch / early instars
Deciduous, many Hawthorn lacebug Corythucha cydoniae 239 363 RU Nymphs/Adults
Conifer Arborvitae leafminer Argyresthia thuiella 245 360 RU Larvae Treatments
Prunus American plum borer Euzophera semifuneralis 245 440 5 Adult flight, egg laying
Boxwood Boxwood mites Eurytetranychus buxi 245 600 RU All Stages
Lilac Lilac leafminer Caloptilia syringella 246 363 5 Larvae Treatments
Holly Holly leafminer Phytomyza ilicis 246 448 RU Larvae Treatment
Yew Taxus mealybug Dysmicoccus wistariae 246 618 RU Adults/Crawlers
Conifer Pine sawflies (Red-headed) Neodiprion lecontei 246 1388 RU Larvae (1st generation)
Boxwood Boxwood leafminer Monarthropalpusi flavus 249 – 6 Adult emergence
Conifer Eastern spruce gall adelgid Adelges abietis 250 310 5 egg hatch, galls begin forming (not a control target)
References RU Rutgers Cooperative Extension – IPM Notes
2 http://ccetompkins.org/resources/using-growing-degree-days-for-insect-management
3 https://extension.psu.edu/ipm-basics-for-christmas-trees#section-2
4 https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/agriculture/christmas_trees/gdd_of_conifer_insects
5 https://www.agriculture.nh.gov/publications-forms/documents/landscape-pests.pdf
6 https://extension.umd.edu/ipm/pest-predictive-calendar-landscapenursery
7 https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/agriculture/christmas_trees/gdd_of_landscape_insects

 

Boxwood Blight risk-model information, considerations, and links:

Boxwood Blight Risk Assessment as of 4/15/2021
Region Location CODE 15-April 16-April 17- April 18-April 19-April
Southern Upper Deerfield NJ50 Low  Very Low  Very Low  Very Low  Very Low 
Central Howell / Freehold NJ10 Low  Very Low  Very Low  Very Low  Very Low 
Northern High Point NJ59 Very Low  Very Low  Very Low  Very Low  Very Low 
Please check your local boxwood blight risk at (https://uspest.org/risk/boxwood_app)

 

Considerations:

Become a Boxwood Blight Advocate to receive quarterly updates (through the Horticultural Research Institution)

Filed Under: Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Turf Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
April 15, 2021

Tractor Safety – “No Seat, No Rider”

There is no argument that tractors have forever changed agriculture. The use of tractors has long replaced the presence of draft horses on almost every farm in America. It is estimated that cultivation of land with a modern tractor allows 64 acres to be plowed in the time it took to cultivate one acre with a draft horse. The use of tractors also comes with a dark side. As long as farmers have been using tractors they have been injured and killed by them. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 274 transportation related deaths, which includes tractor deaths in 2018. In any given year half of all tractor fatalities are from overturns, almost another one-fourth are from runovers. Many have a tradition of allowing extra passengers to ride on tractors. Sometimes trying to transport a worker from one task to the next or possibly saving them from walking back to the barn. Some even allow children to come along for a ride – a very dangerous practice. Whether it be on the tongue, side steps, fender or extra passenger in the cab, remember these places are not designed for riders. As we enter one of the busiest seasons in agriculture remember one of the most important safety rules NO SEAT, NO RIDER!

  • Riders that fall off are immediately in danger of being run over by a tractor wheel
  • On rough or uneven ground, riders are first to bounce off (especially children)
  • Riders distract the driver and can bump controls
  • Rollover Protective Structures are designed to protect drivers, not riders

Do not ever think “it won’t happen to me.” Every farmer can tell a story of an incident that happened to someone they know in the farm community that involves a tractor. Make sure everyone makes it through the harvest – NO SEAT, NO RIDER!

Posted on behalf of Bill Bamka, Agricultural Agent, RCE-Burlington County.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , ,
April 7, 2021

Pesticide Applicator or Dealer Storage Inventory with Cover Letter Due May 1st to Fire Department

All licensed pesticide applicators, as well as dealers, who store pesticides are required by law to send a copy of their storage inventor(ies) with an explanatory cover letter to the local fire company by May 1st each year. In New Jersey, all licensed pesticide applicators and dealers who store pesticides are required per N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.5 […]
Filed Under: Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
April 6, 2021

Preparing Orchards Against the Frost – Low Tech Strategies

Frost is common in the north-eastern US, however, frost events during bloom, specifically in orchard crops can be economically devastating. Often the cause is a few hours of temperatures below the injury threshold temperature for the developing buds as cooler nights result in the rapid loss of thermal energy. Fortunately, there are several passive methods or low-tech strategies, that can help maintain a slightly higher orchard floor temperature, has the potential to prevent substantial crop loss. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blueberry, Cranberry, Fruit, Nursery, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , , ,