Plant Pests

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Asian Citrus Psyllid

Huanglongbing disease (HLB)
The Asian citrus psyllid is the vector for Huanglongbing disease, a citrus greening disease and has been detected in several California counties. HLB is a bacterial disease that attacks the vascular system of the citrus and once it is infected, there is no cure, resulting in its death within a few years. For quarantined areas, do not remove or share citrus fruit, trees, clippings or grafts. Other preventative measures include spraying your citrus trees with an organic insecticide formulated with Spinosad, regular maintenance watering and feeding practices and purchasing citrus trees from reputable garden center. Initially, yellow, asymmetrical splotches appear on the leaves progressing to yellowing of entire branches and their death with deformed and small fruits that are bitter. If Californians suspect they have seen evidence of HLB, they are asked to call the CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture) hotline at 1-800-491-1899. For more information on the Asian citrus psyllid, visit www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/acp/.

By | 2017-09-11T15:49:28-07:00 January 8th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Scale Andor Spider Mites

Its hard to say definitively from this photo, but we think there are maybe two issues; one looks like sap-sucking scale insects (the little brown/tan bumps on the leaves), but it also looks like you may have spider mites - they are very tiny and we cannot actually see them in the photo, and you will need to use a magnifying lens to rule them in or out as part of the problem. We also see "hard water" spots or some other residue on the leaves, so maybe what appears to be spider mite feeding damage is caused by one/both of those. Scale insects will not usually kill a plant, but you will want to control them so they don't get too numerous. They excrete a sweet, sticky "honeydew" that attracts ants and sooty mold fungus. You can control them by wiping them off with a moist cloth, or cotton swab, or you can use a pesticial soap or horticulural oil product. We recommend wiping off by hand (from leaves and stems) in any case, and before spraying a chemical product to help control the nearly invisible tiny crawler stages of these scale insects. The lumpy ones are the reproducing females that have stuck themselves to the leaves and are building a covering over themselves. Here's a couple links with more info about scales and spider mites:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/QT/spidermitescard.html
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7408.html#SOME

By | 2016-01-06T22:46:12-08:00 January 6th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Scale Insects

This appears to be sap sucking scale insects. This plant pest does not usually cause major problems to plant health unless their population is very large. However, if you don't control them, and the conditions are right for their reproduction, they can get out of control. Keep your plant healthy and it will be better able to withstand the feeding these pests do. Control for scales varies by species or type of scale. We've included web links for your reference in controlling these pests. You can also give the plant(s) a shower, literally, to clean off the pests, and any sticky "honeydew" exudate (sucking insect excrement), and the black sooty mold that grows in this honeydew. Keep an eye out and continue to remove new developing pests. Otherwise, if the population numbers are high you can use pesticidal products, but they may not be very effective on the adult (covered) stage of the scale (they will work on the younger crawler stage if applied correctly). We recommend you use horticultural oils as a suffocant or pesticidal soaps whenever possible. Make sure you apply these products early in the morning (not in the hot part of the day) and the plant should be in moist soil or watered before applying the oil to avoid burning the plant tissues.

By | 2016-01-06T02:18:04-08:00 January 6th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Rose Problems

You have a couple of problems here. The leaf damage is done by the rose slug bud worm. This larvae (tiny green worm) eats on the underside of the leaves leaving the top tissue in place. It is active from early June into about the third week of June in the northeast. The pest is probably gone now but make a note to spray the underside of all of your rose bushes with a product containing Spinosad next year in the first week of June. One application should be enough but you can always reapply in the third week of June if you see new damage.

Rose flowers that look like this have usually been hit with too much water/irrigation. It's a fungal condition but the fungus (most likely botrytis) happens in cool and damp conditions. Are your roses being watered with a sprinkling system that comes on more frequently than once every four or five days? Are you watering at night or really early in the morning? Or are you hand-watering by spraying the plant and not the soil? Apply an organic fungicide such as copper, sulfur or one of the bacterial products like Serenade or Actinovate. (Use according to directions) and alter watering appropriately. Water deeply less often.

By | 2016-01-05T19:22:20-08:00 January 5th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Spider Mites

Spider mites usually congregate on the undersides of the leaves, and if the infestation is severe enough, youäó»ll see the webbing there. Another test is to hold a piece of white paper under a branch and shake it. If you see any tiny specks fall on the paper, and after a few seconds the tiny specks begin moving, those are mites. Symptoms of damage include flecking, discoloration (bronzing) and scorching of leaves. Injury can lead to leaf color loss and even plant death. Natural enemies include small lady beetles, predatory mites, minute pirate bugs, big-eyed bugs and predatory thrips. Spider mites are barely visible to the naked eye, and are difficult to control. Insecticidal soap can help, especially if the problem is caught early and the leaves, both sides, are sprayed well or spray with a strong stream of water. Or look for another product with "spider mites" listed on the label and make sure it is safe for strawberries. A straight insecticide will be ineffective because spider mites are arachnids, not insects, but there are organic controls such as Natria Insect, Disease and Mite Control.

By | 2016-01-05T18:09:44-08:00 January 5th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Beetle Grubs In Soil

These are grubs could be from one of the beetles such as the Japanese beetle or garden beetle or a species of weevil. When disturbed, they tend to curl up. Although they eat roots, there are always some amount of grubs in a garden and plants aren't severely effected unless the population is huge or the plants' root systems are reduced because of drought or improper irrigation. Many extension services use the following guidelines for treating grubs in a lawn: you dig a piece of the turf one foot by one foot and roll up the grass, counting the grubs that are revealed when you do so. If there are more than 10 grubs per square foot you would want to treat with a grub killing product used according to the directions. Most gardeners don't worry about grubs, and just toss them into the road or onto the bird feeder when they are reveled when we dig. There are many animals that eat grubs including birds, skunks and moles, so Mother Nature often brings things into balance that way. In a previous identification, we also suggested you saturated the area with water and many of the grubs will surface so that you can easily pick them up and dispose of them.

By | 2016-01-05T15:57:27-08:00 January 5th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Fungus Gnats

Without seeing the insect more clearly we cannot be positive, but this appears to be a fungus gnat. If you can use a macro lens or feature on your camera to provide a more detailed shot, we will do our best to confirm.
If you see the adult insects fly away when you water, this is another indication that they are probably fungus gnats. Resembling fruit flies, their larvae feed on organic matter in the soil, and damage the roots of young seedlings. Soil that is kept constantly wet is especially susceptible to fungus gnats. To break the cycle and to keep the adults from laying eggs in the soil, reduce watering as much as possible without damaging the plant and cover with a layer of horticultural sand available at your local garden center (do not use beach sand). You can also use yellow sticky traps (again available at your local nursery) to capture the adults. The larvae in the soil are killed by putting Spinosad in the watering can. Spinosad is the active bacteria, an organic treatment so fine for edible herbs, and it's available in a variety of products at your local garden center.

The combination of yellow sticky cards and Spinosad is very effective. There are a couple of other products that are applied on the surface of house plants that also treat this problem organically. Ask at your garden center if you'd like to explore those options.

By | 2016-01-04T21:56:24-08:00 January 4th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Fungus Gnats

Without seeing the insects we cannot be positive, but from your description they might be fungus gnats. If you see the adult insects fly away when you water, this is another indication that they are probably fungus gnats. Resembling fruit flies, their larvae feed on organic matter in the soil, and damage the roots of young seedlings. Soil that is kept constantly wet is especially susceptible to fungus gnats. To break the cycle and to keep the adults from laying eggs in the soil, reduce watering as much as possible without damaging the plant and cover with a layer of horticultural sand available at your local garden center (do not use beach sand). You can also use yellow sticky traps (again available at your local nursery) to capture the adults. The larvae in the soil are killed by putting Spinosad in the watering can. Spinosad is the active bacteria, an organic treatment so fine for edible herbs, and it's available in a variety of products at your local garden center.

The combination of yellow sticky cards and Spinosad is very effective. There are a couple of other products that are applied on the surface of house plants that also treat this problem organically. Ask at your garden center if you'd like to explore those options.

By | 2016-01-04T07:45:43-08:00 January 4th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Snails And Slugs

We've included a link all about snails and slugs to help you get control of them. When they get to be numerous in a garden/yard, it will take time to get them under control, but once you do, it'll be worth the effort. Baits formulated for control of slugs and snails are only effective if used exactly right, and some can be very toxic to other organisms (children included :). Non-chemical methods are more effective for the long term. The best way to control them is to trap them. You can easily make traps out of melons (carved out, after eating them) or just about anything that will provide a dark, moist place for them to hide under during the day in your garden. (make sure they have room to slither under the trap! Then you just pick up the trap every day, and dispose of the ones you've caught; then repeat until you think you've got them. You will probably want to use multiple traps at once to get as many as possible every night. Beware that one snail/slug can lay lots of eggs in the soil, so regular cultivation or tilling of the soil surface helps to eliminate the eggs (and helps with weeds too)!
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/QT/snailsslugscard.html

By | 2016-01-04T05:38:27-08:00 January 4th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Rose Stem Girdler

The rose stem girdler, introduced from Europe, is a small (ca. 1/5 in), bronze- and greencolored flat-headed beetle (Family Buprestidae). It infests wild and cultivated roses, red raspberry, black and red currants, and gooseberry. The Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Laboratory database has records from Sanpete County, Utah, and north, with the majority of records from the Wasatch Front, Cache, and Rich Counties.
The rose stem girdler has a single generation per year and spends the winter as a mature larva within a cane. Adults emerge during May and June. Females äóìcementäó eggs singly onto canes, and the white, flattened larva bores into the cane through the bottom of the egg. Larvae grow up to Œ_ in long and have a pair of brown projections on the tail end. Larvae feed in the cambium just under the bark in a spiraling pattern causing the cane to swell. Researchers in Utah (Davis and Raghuvir 1964) found that most larvae tunnel upward in canes and that primocanes (1st year) are more susceptible than loricanes to attack. Feeding injury often girdles the cane causing it to break off later in the summer. The larva can survive the winter in the broken cane, so removal and destructionof infested canes is critical to reduction of the overwintering population

By | 2017-09-11T15:49:29-07:00 January 4th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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