Early Season Cucurbit Pests

Jim Jasinski, Dept. of Extension, Celeste Welty, Dept. of Entomology

Although it’s been wet over most of the state recently, the temperatures are warming up allowing growers to get into their fields to direct seed or transplant pumpkin, squash, melon and cucumbers through May and into June. By now most decisions about how to manage key early season pests may have already been made with the purchase of systemic seed treatment or plans to treat transplant water using neonicotinoid insecticides. Some growers may have decided to forego systemic treatments and rely on scouting and treatment using foliar insecticides when thresholds are exceeded.

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Beware of armyworm on early sweet corn and other crops!

 

Originally posted in the VegNet Newsletter on May 17, 2020

We have detected an extremely large population of armyworm moths in Columbus during the past week. This pest prefers to feed on grasses, including corn, wheat, rye, and grassy weeds, but if those plants are in shortage and if populations of armyworm are large, it can infest other crops including alfalfa, beans, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuces, onions, peppers, and radishes. Infestation can be worse in no-till fields than in tilled fields. Any early-planted fields of these crops should be scouted for presence of armyworm. Scouting is best done near dawn or dusk because armyworm larvae are nocturnal and hide in the soil during the day. The name armyworm is given because of the ability of older larvae to form large aggregations that move together from field to field. Infestations can appear quite suddenly in a field, and much damage can occur in a short period of time.

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Upcoming Session to Focus on Long-term Success in High Tunnel Production

Originally posted in the VegNet Newsletter

Investments in high tunnels and high tunnel production are among the most significant growers can make, especially if the tunnels are stationary (not designed to move) and income from the tunnels is critical to the farm. Getting the most from tunnels from the start and over the long run is important. A session summarizing steps toward that goal will be held on Thursday April 23, beginning at 12 PM ET. The session is part of the OSUE Ag Madness series (https://go.osu.edu/agmadness) and will focus on major challenges and emerging opportunities in high tunnel production. Specific topics will include soil health, and new crops and high tunnel technologies — information for all high tunnel users, regardless of experience. Please see https://agnr.osu.edu/events/agriculture-and-natural-resources-madness to connect and contact Matt Kleinhenz (kleinhenz.1@osu.edu; 330.263.3810) for information. We look forward to seeing you there!

Spring is In Sight

Authors Carri Jagger, Published on February 10, 2020
Originally posted on the Buckeye Yard and Garden OnLine
It's time to start thinking about starting seeds for the vegetable garden

This has been a long, unpredictable, wet winter.  Thank goodness spring is in sight, Thursday March 19th will be the first day of spring.  With this being said, it’s time to start thinking about planning vegetable gardens.  If starting a new garden, soil testing the site where the garden will go is a good idea.  If it is an existing garden and the soil has never been tested, now would be a good time to think about testing it.  Your local OSU Extension office can help you with soil testing.

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Tips for a Successful Zucchini, Squash and Cucumber Harvest

Tim McDermott, OSU Extension Educator- Franklin County ,Previously posted on VegNet Newsletter

For many backyard growers, community gardeners and urban farmers, growing the cucurbits can be a challenge.  This vegetable (fruit?)  family is affected by a large number of garden insects as well as both bacterial and fungal disease.  There are a few tips and tricks that can be used to make sure some harvest makes it to the table or sales booth in 2019.

First thing to do is mind your pollinators.  Cucurbits are commonly dependent on pollinators as they have separate male and female flowers.  Once the flowers emerge, use of pesticides can damage pollinators and lead to decreased harvest.

The male flower is at the bottom right. It is simply a flower at the end of the stem. The female flower of this yellow summer squash is behind the male flower and has an immature fruit at the base.

Scouting is a very important part of the Integrated Pest Management strategy.  I had not seen cucumber beetles in large numbers until the July 4th holiday weekend.  Then I started to see them in moderate to large numbers on my summer squash in central Ohio.

 

Adult Striped Cucumber Beetle. This bug will damage leaves, stems, flowers, and fruit while feeding. It also transmits a bacterial wilt that can rapidly cause death in cucurbit plants.

 

 

This is an adult squash vine borer. They lay eggs at the base of the stems and their larvae then tunnel through the stem of the plant disrupting vascular flow and often killing the plant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These plantings of winter squash, both Waltham Butternut and Buttercup, died over the last weekend in July while the summer squash persisted. Suspects include squash vine borer damage or bacterial wilt from cucumber beetles.

 

Squash bugs are another common pest of cucurbits that can be present in large numbers in plantings.

Squash bug eggs are laid white, then rapidly change color to bronze. They are commonly found on the underside of cucurbit leaves and should be removed immediately when discovered and discarded away from the plants.

This is the juvenile form of squash bugs. They can achieve large numbers fairly rapidly.

Keeping Tomatoes Healthy in Wet Weather

By: Tim McDermott, OSU Extension Educator, Franklin County. Originally posted on Franklin County

We are in the middle of a period of wet weather that is predicted to deliver multiple inches of rain to central Ohio and even more to other soaked parts of our state.  Tomatoes are a crop that can suffer several problems related to heavy rainfall that can shorten the harvest period and affect yield.  There are a few things that the backyard grower, community gardener and urban farmer can do to keep their tomato plants healthy and productive though heavy rain periods.

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Insecticide update for vegetable and fruit crops

By Celeste Welty, OSU Extension Entomologist, (Sourced: VegNet Newsletter)

here have been a few insecticide registrations that have come through since previous updates this past winter (summaries from January are available with these links: https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/u.osu.edu/dist/1/8311/files/2019/02/PAT_Jan2019_1-page-1hvqfhg.pdf and https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/u.osu.edu/dist/1/8311/files/2019/02/Summary_Jan2019_1-page-22nf965.pdf ).

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Using Cover Crops for Weed Control in Spring

By; Tim McDermott, Extension Educator, Ohio State University (Sourced: VegNet Newsletter)

Cover Crops are a valuable tool in the toolbox of the backyard grower, community gardener and urban farmer.  I planted a mix of cover crop species last fall in my community garden plot to keep the soil alive over the winter, prevent erosion and increase soil organic matter.

Winter rye, forage radish, hairy vetch and crimson clover blend

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