Rutgers University | New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station | Pesticide User Responsibility

Organic Farm Advisory

The Plant & Pest Advisory serves NJ growers by reporting on important pests and recommending responses that are grounded in reproducible trials.

Articles in this section contain information helpful to the NJ commercial organic grower.

Sharing organic practice trial results between land-grant universities is a cost effective way to create a common knowledge base built on the strengths of individual programs. In the sidebar, find institutions with programs in organic agriculture which augment knowledge developed at the Rutgers New Jersey Ag Experiment Station.

Rutgers Cooperative Extension Field Guides: These concise guides help with decision making from pre-planting to harvest. For each crop listed, learn what pests to proactively look for as the season progresses, how to look for them, and when to take action.

August 15, 2018

IPM Update 08/15/18

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) moth catches in black light traps remain very low.  The second flight is weak, with many traps catching no individuals.  Feeding signs in whorl corn have been exceptionally low.  There will be no map in this edition.  Second generation feeding is often obscured by fall armyworm (FAW) feeding.  Once plants hit full tassel, any ECB larvae present will move downward on the stalk and re-enter the plant near the area where ears are forming.  This can result in direct injury to the ear.  Growers should consider an insecticide application at the full tassel stage to target ECB larvae as they migrate downward.  This application can eliminate larvae that have escaped any earlier insecticide applications. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
August 8, 2018

IPM Update 08/08/18

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) moth catches in black light traps remain very low.  The second flight is proving to be very erratic, with some locations getting low numbers of moths while other regional traps catch none.  There will be no map in this edition.  Second generation feeding is often obscured by fall armyworm (FAW) feeding.  Once plants hit full tassel, any ECB larvae present will move downward on the stalk and re-enter the plant near the area where ears are forming.  This can result in direct injury to the ear.  Growers should consider an insecticide application at the full tassel stage to target ECB larvae as they migrate downward.  This application can eliminate larvae that have escaped any earlier insecticide applications. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
August 1, 2018

IPM Update 08/01/18

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) moth catches in black light traps have dropped to very low levels again.  The second flight is likely  to be very erratic, with specific locations getting low numbers of moths while other regional traps catch none.  There will be no map in this edition.  Second generation feeding is often obscured by fall armyworm (FAW) feeding.  Once plants hit full tassel, any ECB larvae present will move downward on the stalk and re-enter the plant near the area where ears are forming.  This can result in direct injury to the ear.  Growers should consider an insecticide application at the full tassel stage to target ECB larvae as they migrate downward.  This application can eliminate larvae that have escaped any earlier insecticide applications. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
July 31, 2018

Cucurbit Downy Mildew ALERT – 7/31/18

Cucurbit downy mildew was confirmed on pumpkin near Bridgeton in Cumberland County, New Jersey on 7/31/18. This is the fourth report of CDM in New Jersey this growing season. All cucurbit growers are encouraged to add downy mildew specific fungicides to their weekly maintenance spray programs. The 2018 FRAC Table for Cucurbit Downy and Powdery Mildew Control in the mid-Atlantic Region can be found and downloaded for FREE here. All growers should scout fields on a regular basis. To track the progress of cucurbit downy mildew in the US through the CDMpipe website through NCSU please click here.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Organic Production, Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
July 25, 2018

Cucurbit Downy Mildew ALERT – 7/25/18

Cucurbit downy mildew was confirmed on butternut squash near Bridgeton in Cumberland County, New Jersey on 7/25/18. This is the third report of CDM in New Jersey this growing season. All cucurbit growers are encouraged to add downy mildew specific fungicides to their weekly maintenance spray programs. The 2018 FRAC Table for Cucurbit Downy and Powdery Mildew Control in the mid-Atlantic Region can be found and downloaded for FREE here. All growers should scout fields on a regular basis. To track the progress of cucurbit downy mildew in the US through the CDMpipe website through NCSU please click here.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Organic Production, Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
July 25, 2018

IPM Update 7/25/18

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) moth catches in black light traps, after showing signs of increase, have now largely subsided again.  The second flight is most likely going to be spotty, with specific locations getting low numbers of moths while other regional traps catch none.  There will be no map in this edition.  While we expect to see some feeding signs over the next two weeks, this second generation feeding is sometimes obscured by fall armyworm (FAW) feeding.  Once plants hit full tassel, any ECB larvae present will move downward on the stalk and re-enter the plant near the area where ears are forming.  This can result in direct injury to the ear.  Growers should consider an insecticide application at the full tassel stage to target ECB larvae as they migrate downward.  This application can eliminate larvae that have escaped any earlier insecticide applications. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops