Wayne County IPM Scouting Notes from June 15 – June 19

Wayne County IPM Notes

(From the Week of June 15 – June 19)

Frank Becker, IPM Program Coordinator

OSU Extension Wayne County

Vegetable Pests

This week I began seeing Japanese Beetles, specifically in sweet corn. These beetles are generalist feeders and will do damage to most any crop. Keep an eye out for the beetles and the defoliation that they can cause. More Info

Flea Beetles are doing damage to a lot of younger transplants. Flea Beetles will utilize weeds as host plants. Keeping your fields free from weeds will help to reduce the populations of flea beetles.

Cucumber Beetles are high in numbers right now. Cucumber Beetles vector the Bacterial Wilt disease so early season control of the beetles is vital to the long-term health of the plant. Also note that as your plants are blooming, the beetles may be in the blossoms. In small enough numbers, they are not detrimental, but they can also damage the fruit from feeding on the blossom and interfering with pollination. Consider the pollinators when planning out treatment options for cucumber beetle.

European Corn Borer moths are out. A trap this week in Wayne County picked up 14 moths. ECB will do damage to both peppers and sweet corn.

Onions are at a point where thrips populations could begin to increase. Consistent rains and small plants had kept the thrips population down, but with onions increasing in size and putting on more leaves, this will be a pest to watch in the next few weeks.

The Imported Cabbageworm larvae, among other worm pests of brassicas, are feeding on cole crops and leafy greens such as kale. Severe foliar feeding could stunt the plant growth or significantly reduce yield.

Vegetable Diseases

            Timber rot is still being found, mostly in high tunnel tomatoes. Botrytis is still being seen too, as is blossom end rot. To manage blossom end rot, it is important to limit moisture stress on a plant, from either too much or not enough moisture. Being consistent in watering and monitoring soil moisture conditions will help to prevent exposing the plant to moisture stress. Proper moisture will also provide conducive conditions for adequate nutrient uptake, given that the nutrients are present at appropriate levels in the soil.

Botrytis is also being seen in onions. This disease is primarily affecting the foliage but can impact the integrity of the bulb if left uncontrolled. Find out more about management of onion diseases here: Growing Onions

Some of the field peppers I am scouting showed signs of damping off. Damping off is caused by soil borne fungi such as Rhizoctonia, Pythium, Fusarium and Phytophthora.

Fruit Pests

With finding Japanese Beetles this week, I would encourage fruit growers to keep a close eye on their trees and small fruit plants. Grapes especially can be a target of the Japanese Beetle and can be defoliated very rapidly. This kind of damage can be detrimental to the yield of the crop. Japanese Beetles will also do damage to the fruit, as seen in the photo to the right, taken in 2019.

SWD traps are out and we will start getting an idea of population numbers within the next week.

Codling Moth and Oriental Fruit Moth traps counts were low but starting to tick up. This week will be an important week in determining the next generation of moths. More on Codling Moth management and additional information from Celeste Welty: Codling Moth

Fruit Diseases

            Now is the time to be managing early season diseases in apples. Scab, rust and powdery mildew are the three main diseases of concern at this point in the season. It may also be appropriate to start considering managing summer diseases such as flyspeck, sooty blotch, and fruit rots.

Strawberry leaf diseases may appear unsightly right now, however, now is not the time to be managing these leaf diseases. Once harvest is done and during patch renovation it is recommended that you address these concerns, either with a fungicide or with resistant plant varieties. This is also a critical time to be watching for fruit rots such as Botrytis.