Rutgers Cooperative Extension
For the most part, late spring and early summer this year has been reasonable, weather-wise. So goes the weather, so goes the turfgrass. So far, the turfgrass submissions to the Plant Diagnostic Laboratory have been slow and steady… until last week, that is. Golf turf suddenly realized it was summer and the party started with some dollar spot.
Dollar spot sample. You know things are crazy in the field when we get samples of dollar spot from golf guys! Photo: Sabrina Tirpak, Rutgers PDL
Last week I had the pleasure of attending New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers’ Association Annual Twilight Meeting at Black Oak Farm in Asbury, New Jersey.
New Jersey Christmas Tree growers share tips on tree care during NJCTGA twilight meeting last week at Black Oak Farm. Photo: Tim Dunne
Asian Longhorned Beetle and now the Emerald Ash Borer garner all the attention, but a group of tiny exotic wood boring beetles, known as “Asian Ambrosia Beetles,” has been quietly invading the state for the last decade. First appearing in our laboratory database in 2006, by 2008 these beetles had found widespread distribution in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast region.
Larva, pupa, and adult granulate ambrosia beetle. Photo: Sabrina Tirpak, Rutgers PDL
Surprise, surprise! Our old friend anthracnose basal crown rot just came home to roost! An unexpected influx of putting green samples diagnosed with anthracnose were submitted to Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Lab this week.
Sample of a mixed bent grass and annual bluegrass putting green with anthracnose basal crown rot. Photo: Sabrina Tirpak, Rutgers PDL
New Jersey Department of Agriculture today confirmed that the emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive beetle that attacks and kills ash trees, has been found in Somerset County by a landscaper investigating unhealthy trees in a Bridgewater retail area last week. Inspectors sent insect larvae samples to the USDA where the specimens were confirmed. [Read more…]
Moderate spring temperatures and regular rainfall over the last week or two have brought a bunch of brown ring patch (aka: Waitea Patch), which is caused by the fungus Waitea circinata, into Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Laboratory.
Brown ring patch on Poa annua. Photo: Richard Buckley, Rutgers PDL
