tpm/ipm weekly report - university of...
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for Arborists, Landscape Managers & Nursery Managers
Commercial Horticulture March 16, 2012Coordinator Weekly IPM report: Stanton Gill, Extension Specialist, IPM for Nursery, Greenhouse and Managed Landscapes, [email protected]. 301-596-9413 (office) or 410-868-9400 (cell)
Regular Contributors: Pest and Beneficial Insect Information: Stanton Gill and Paula Shrewsbury (Extension Specialists) and Brian Clark (Extension Educator, Prince George’s County)Disease Information: Karen Rane (Plant Pathologist) and David Clement (Extension Specialist)Weed of the Week: Chuck Schuster (Extension Educator, Montgomery County)Cultural Information: Ginny Rosenkranz (Extension Educator, Wicomico/Worcester/Somerset Counties)Fertility Management: Andrew Ristvey (Regional Specialist, Wye Research & Education Center)Design, Layout and Editing: Suzanne Klick (Technician, CMREC)
In This Issue...
If you work for a commercial horticultural business in the area, you can report insect, disease, weed or cultural
plant problems found in the landscape or nursery to
TPM/IPM Weekly Report
- Report: Week two notes- Ticks- Ambrosia beetle traps- Animal damage- Update on bee problems- Citronella ants- White pine weevil- Boxwood problem- Aphids
Beneficial of the WeekWeed of the WeekPlant of the WeekPhenologyDegree DaysContacts for ExpertsConferences
Integrated Pest Management for
Commercial Horticulture
www.ipmnet.umd.edu
IPM Report: Week TwoThe exceptionally early spring is getting people excited and they are out shopping for plants this week with the warm weather. This may be the best March we can remember for sales in a long, long time. The great thing is Easter is relatively early this year so this gives you a long selling period to Mother’s Day in mid-May.
We need your input. Please call me at 410-868-9400 or send an email to [email protected] if you see insects or diseases active in your area. This will make these reports more useful if we have input from all parts of the state.
Magnolia starting to bloom this week
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Ambrosia Beetles TrapsWe received samples from baited Lindgren traps at 4 sites in Maryland this week. We examined the samples under the dissecting microscope and found a lot of the ambrosia beetle, Monarthrum mali. Their color ranges from yellowish brown to very dark brown with a bicolored pronotum and elytra. Their hosts include: Acer, Alnus, Carya, Castanea, Chrysolepsis, Liquidambar, Lithocarpus, Mimosa, Nyssa, Prunus, Quercus, and Tilia. The good news is they generally do not attack strong healthy plants in the nursery, but feed on weakened trees. Generally, I would say do not worry about this species in the nursery. We also had dozens of phorid (flies) adults and stonefly adults in the traps. The warm weather is bringing out these insects and they are wandering into our traps.
Animal injury to oakleaf hydrangeaPhoto: Mark Rogers
Ticks Are OutSuzanne was retrieving beetle samples from our Lindgren traps on Monday. The traps are on the edge of a wooded area and perfect for tick populations. She was very effective in attracting a tick to her skin. I examined the tick and it was a black-legged tick, also known as a deer tick (Ixodes scabio). The mild, warm weather is making these ticks very active. Control: When working outdoors, especially near wooded edges, examine yourself for ticks. Repellents such as DEET can be applied. A new treatment for turf areas that is now labeled for control of ticks in the landscape is Met-52G, Metarhizium anisopliae. This is an entompathogenic fungi that controls ticks and several other insect species. Novozymes Company has the commercial formulation of this product.
Mild Winter And A Lot Of Rodent/Rabbit Feeding InjurySeveral nursery owners are reporting heavier than normal feeding from animals this last winter. Mark Rogers reported a hydrangea with feeding damage at BWI airport in January 2012.
Topside (left) and under-side (right) view of black-legged (deer) tick
There is a ridged horseshoe shape by the anus that is an identifying characteristic of the black-legged tick
Monarthrum mali (ambrosia beetle)
Stonefly found in ambrosia beetle trap
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What Is Killing Bees?In the March issue of Scientific American there was an interesting article on a parasite of honeybees. A fly, Apocephalus borealis, is being found in honeybees and bumblebees. The fly lays eggs in the bee’s abdomen. Several days later the parasitized bees leave the hive on a solo mission to nowhere. Many bees fly toward lights and die. Within a few days the fly pupates and emerges from the dead bee. The Department of Agriculture in California has been surveying honeybee colonies in California and found that 77% of the bee colonies surveyed in the San Francisco area and some hives in the Central Valley and in South Dakota had this parasite in the bees in the hive. Colony collapse has been focused on mites, a virus or a fungus, or a combination of these factors, as likely responsible for colony collapse. Now, this fly parasite may be added to the list. John Hafenik, San Francisco State University, and his team are investigating this parasite in further studies.
White pine weevil damage on spruce
White Pine Weevil Look for white pine weevil, Pissodes strobi, adult activity this week. The adult weevil is 6 mm long with a long snout and is slightly oval in shape. The color is dark brown with white spots that are scattered on the elytra (forewings). Plants to monitor are Colorado spruce, Norway spruce and white pine. Females will move to the terminal growth where the female uses her mandibles to cut into the tissue and then deposits white eggs. The larvae that will hatch later in the spring will tunnel down the new growth, girdling the tip growth as it feeds.Control: Now is the time to apply a contact spray to the terminal growth on susceptible plants. Materials such as Permethrin (Astro - only in the landscape or Onyx) or bifenthrin (Talstar) provide very good control of the adults.
Yellow or Citronella Ants (also called citrus or lemon ants)Here at the research center in Ellicott City this week, citronella ant alates (winged form) have been active. Some of them, along with a few alate carpenter ants, ended up on the inside of one of the office windows. The citronella ants when crushed give off a citrus odor. To distinguish ants from termites, look for the 3-segmented, hourglass shape body of the ant. The citronella ants often nest outdoors next to foundations or under slabs. Their main food source is honeydew produced by root feeding aphids or mealybugs. Sealing entry points around doors and windows and cracks in concrete slabs usually keeps these ants from becoming a problem. Ants indoors can be swept up or vacuumed.
Damaged boxwoodPhoto: Craig Greco, Yardbirds, Inc.
Abiotic Problems On BoxwoodCraig Greco sent in this photo of damaged boxwood plants. He is seeing these symptoms at sites throughout Loundon County, Virginia.
AphidsCraig Greco found aphid damage on viburnums in Georgetown this week. With the warm/hot weather recently, keep an eye out for aphids on shrubs and perennials as the plants leaf out and grow. Check for beneficial insects such as syrphid flies which often keep these early aphid populations under control.
Correction: March 9, 2012 IPM ReportGaye Williams, MDA, pointed out that the beetle mentioned last week is the Japanese cedar longhorned beetle and not ‘Juniper’ cedar longhorned beetle as listed in the report. The report posted on-line will be corrected.
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Weed of the Week, Chuck SchusterLook out across a turf setting this week and you will see the white flowers with four stamens or petals of this weed standing tall. Not only in turf, it will be found in many landscape settings as well. Hairy bittercress, Cardamine hirsute, is a weed found throughout the Northeast. This summer annual can sometimes be found as a winter annual in landscapes and turf. Hairy bittercress is one of several weedy plants in the Mustard family that is native to Eurasia. With a taproot, branches that are erect and reach twelve inches in height, this plant will have alternately arranged leaflets occurring in two to four pairs. The leaflets are rounded, emerging from a
Male mason bees guard their mates to keep away other interested males Photo: M. Raupp, UMD
Bee tubes and holes drilled in wood (~1/4 – 5/8” in width and 4-8” deep) provide suitable nesting sites for these solitary bees Photo: M. Raupp
Beneficial of the Week, Paula ShrewsburyMason bee love!In the human world the media recently reported that the month of March has the highest rate of divorce. However, in the insect world, especially the world of mason bees, it is just the opposite… this month is a time for romance! Mason bees are referred to as solitary bees and are well known for the pollination benefits they provide. This year, just like the last few years, I have seen my mason bees emerge from their overwintering habitats within a day or so of the vernal equinox (see the bee tubes and drilled wood photo). Males emerge first followed by females a few days later. This phenomenon, called protandry, is relatively common in the insect world. It seems that female mason bees are a highly sought after commodity and males that emerge early in a season have more opportunity to find and secure mates. Once a male and female mate, the male then remains on the females back and fights off other males that would also like to mate with his partner. This “guarding behavior” (see photo) ensures sperm from the original male are used by the female. It is also quite entertaining to observe.
Mason bees provide valuable ecosystem services by pollinating a variety of native and non-native flowering plants, many of which are fruits that we consume. Mated female mason bees spend many hours and days gathering pollen and nectar from which they create pollen cakes. They fill the cardboard tubes and wooden galleries with these pollen cakes. Before each cake is sealed in a chamber, the female mason bee deposits an egg on it. The eggs hatch into bee larvae that consume the cake as they develop and grow during summer and fall. They complete their development during fall, settle down for winter, and are ready to emerge just in time for the return of spring. Mason bees are not aggressive and do not sting. I stand for long periods of time in the midst of the 100’s of bees busy around their nesting site in my yard and have yet to be harmed. I highly suggest you try buying (google “bee tubes”) or making habitat for these beneficial and very entertaining insects. Now is the time to do it!
For additional information on mason bees go to:http://bugoftheweek.com/bow-reader.jsp?document_name=/wt/bugoftheweek/archive/BugOfWeek_13F.html#writelink0http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Other/note109/note109.html
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Plant of the Week, Ginny RosenkranzHelleborus orientalis, Lenten rose, is a low growing evergreen herbaceous perennial that bloomed in January, February and March during this unusually warm winter. The serrated leaves are designed to handle the coldest weather. They have a thick almost leathery texture and are palmately arranged. The old fashioned plant had nodding flowers that needed to be viewed from a very close distance. The newer cultivars have upright flowers that can be viewed close up or from the cozy distance of a warm room. One of the new cultivars from the Helleborus Gold Collection®, ‘HGC Pink Frost’, grows 12-14 inches tall and 24 inches wide, needs part to full shade and rich, moist, well drained soils. Helleborus is not too picky about the soil type as long as it can retain moisture, especially during the hot summer months. Morning sunlight will encourage the plant to produce more flowers than plants grown in deeper shade. The buds are a deep burgundy which open to a 2-toned flower, white on the inside and dark pink on the outside, with bright yellow green stamens as a counterpoint. As the flowers mature, the inside of the flowers darken from white to pink to a soft burgundy color. The flowers are held upright and face out in many directions and can be used as attractive cuts indoors. This hardy plant will thrive in USDA zones 5-9.
Helleborus orientalis Photo: Ginny Rosenkranz
petiole that is hairy. Leaf size decreases as they emerge higher on the stem. The flower of this weed will be in clusters at the end of flowering stems, are two to three mm in diameter, and will be made up of four petals. The fruit of this weed is a silique, a narrow capsule that is designed to release the seeds held within in an explosive manner, spreading the seed up to eight feet from the plant. In one research study, the average plant produced 68 of these silique or seed pods with an average of 29 seeds per pod. This is a quick growing plant, and can have several crops or generations in one season. It can be confused with wavy bittercress which has 6 stamens while hairy bittercress has 4 stamens.
Control of this weed can be accomplished with the use of preemergent products that include oxadiazon (Ronstar), flumioxazin (Broadstar) or isoxaben (Gallery). It is to late at this point to use preemergent products for what we see, post emergent products can provide excellent control in turf, and they include, 2,4D and triclopyr (Chaser), Metsulfuron (Blade), Be cautious near any landscape plantings. These products should provide ninety percent or greater control.
Hairy bittercressPhotos: Chuck Schuster, UME
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Harry Lauder’s walking stick
PLANT PLANT STAGE (Bud with color, First bloom, Full bloom, First leaf)
LOCATION
Cercidiphyllum japonicum (Katsuratree) Full bloom (March 12) ColumbiaForsythia First bloom (March 12)
Full bloom (March 15)Columbia
Lamium amplexcaule (henbit) First bloom (March 14) Ellicott CityMagnolia soulangiana First bloom (March 12) ColumbiaPyrus calleryana First bloom (March 14)
Full bloom (March 15)Laurel, Columbia
Corylus avellana (Harry Lauder’s walking stick)
Full bloom (March 13) Columbia
Phlox stolonifera First bloom (March 13) ColumbiaSalix babylonica First leaf (March 15) Columbia, Brookeville
Degree Days (As of March 15)Baltimore, MD (BWI) 90 Dulles Airport 86 Frostburg, MD 21 Martinsburg, WV 65 National Arboretum 97 Reagan National 125 Salisbury 112
2011 Degree day data is posted at http://ipmnet.umd.edu/landscape/LndscpAlerts/degreedaysitedata.htm
Who can you contact for help with plant problems?Diseases:Karen Rane: [email protected], 301-405-1611 Go to www.plantclinic.umd.edu for information on how and where to submit suspected disease samples to her lab.
Insects:Stanton Gill: [email protected], 410-868-9400 (cell) or 301-596-9413 (office) Paula Shrewsbury: [email protected], 301-405-7664Brian Clark: [email protected], 301-868-8780 (Brian covers Prince George’s County)
Weeds:Chuck Schuster: [email protected], 301-590-2807
Soil Substrates Plant Fertility:Andrew Ristvey: [email protected], 410-827-8056
Horticulture:Ginny Rosenkranz: [email protected], 410-749-6141 ext 106 (Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset counties)
Plant Phenology: What’s in bloom
The male catkins are easy to see. Look very closely for the small female flower.
Stanton GillExtension Specialist
Paula Shrewsbury Extension [email protected]
Ginny RosenkranzExtension [email protected]
Chuck SchusterExtension Educator
Karen Rane Plant [email protected]
Brian Clark Extension Educator [email protected]
Andrew RistveyExtension [email protected]
David ClementPlant Pathologist
hgic.umd.edu
The information given herein is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by University of Maryland Extension is implied.
CONTRIBUTORS:
University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all citizens without regard to race, color, gender, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, or national origin.
Thank you to the Maryland Arborist Association, the Landscape Contractors Association of MD, D.C. and VA, the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association and FALCAN for your financial support in making these weekly reports possible.
Photos are by Suzanne Klick or Stanton Gill unless stated otherwise.
Upcoming Programs
2012 Interstate Ornamental Plant Mngt ConferenceApril 4, 2012Location: Maritime Institute, Linthicum Heights, MDContact: Avis Koeiman, 301-405-3913
May 23, 2012 9:30 -3:15Invasive Species Identification and Management SeminarLocation: 12055 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VACost: Free, but registration is required. To register please go to: http://ffxpest.eventbrite.comContact: Jack Baggett 703-324-5542, [email protected]
ASCFG Mid-Atlantic Regional MeetingJune 18, 2012Roost Flowers and DesignLocation: Virginia Beach, Virginiaascfg.org
2012 Perennial Plant SymposiumJuly 4 - 10, 2012Location: Boston, Massachusettsperennialplant.org
OFA Short CourseJuly 14 - 17, 2012Location: Columbus, Ohioofa.org
OFA Perennial Production ConferenceSeptember 10 - 12, 2012Location: Grand Rapids, Michiganofa.org
NURSERY and GREENHOUSE Grower Nutrient Management Plan Certification TrainingWednesday, April 11, 2012, 9am - 3pm.Attend this session if you need to become certified to write and update your own Nutrient Management plan.Location: Wye Research and Education Center, 124 Wye Narrows Drive, Queenstown, MD 21658For registration information, please contact Debby Dant 410-827-8056 X115, [email protected]. For program information, contact Andrew Ristvey, [email protected] or John Lea-Cox, [email protected]. NOTE: There is no cost for this program, but you need to confirm attendance since Extension will provide lunch.