Vegetable Pests
In sweet corn, the European corn borer (ECB) larvae are still doing damage. This week I started seeing some corn earworm (CEW) damage as well. The ECB trap counts dropped and showed little activity but the CEW traps started to increase in numbers. Even if the ECB activity seems to be slowing down, you need to be scouting your sweet corn for the CEW as well.
Squash bug egg mass on a zucchini leaf. F. Becker photo.
Squash Bugs have started to make their presence known. I have started seeing squash bug adults, primarily in summer squash plantings. I have also started to find squash bug egg masses. Large numbers of squash bugs feeding can cause leaves to yellow and eventually die which can significantly reduce yield.
Flea beetles are still very active and on a wide range of plants. Damage can be seen primarily on cole crops and potatoes.
Potato Leaf Hoppers (PLH) have high populations in several crops this year. PLH cause “hopper burn” on the leaves on which they are feeding. I have seen this damage to potatoes and green beans. Some of the PLH populations within green bean plantings have been incredibly high, in some cases, over 40 PLH per single leaf.
Potato leaf hoppers feeding on a green bean leaf. F. Becker photo.
Hopper burn from potato leaf hopper feeding on green beans. F. Becker photo
Vegetable Diseases
Downy Mildew has been confirmed in Medina County. Cucumber growers should have started a spray program for the cucurbit downy mildew.
Powdery mildew is starting to show up on cucurbit crops around the state. I have not yet had any cases in Wayne County, but this disease should be watched for closely.
Cucurbit downy mildew on cucumber leaves. F. Becker photo.
Some field tomatoes are showing symptoms of early blight. Early blight is a common tomato disease which gets its start typically on the older, lower leaves. If not treated, early blight can cause significant defoliation of a plant.
In some melon patches, specifically in cantaloupe, there is some Alternaria leaf blight showing up. This disease primarily affects the foliage but if the infection is severe enough, it may also infect the fruit.
Fruit Pests
Spotted Wing Drosophila numbers are still increasing. The trap counts were up again this week, with all the traps being in blueberry patches.
Codling Moth and Oriental Fruit Moth trap counts were low again this week and showed very little activity.
I started to find red mites in apple orchards throughout the county. Feeding by large populations of red mites can cause leaves to “bronze” and when left uncontrolled, this heavy feeding could result in leaf drop and a reduced size and quality of the crop. This hot and dry weather has been ideal for the red mite populations to get established in orchards. Read more on Red Mite Management.
Mites feeding on an apple leaf. F. Becker photo.
Fruit Diseases
Alternaria leaf blotch can be found on some apple trees right now. This can be made worse by red mite infestations. With high populations of mites and the leaf blotch, severe defoliation can occur.
Apple and peach growers should continue their spray programs to manage fruit rots and diseases such as flyspeck and sooty blotch. Managing Apple and Peach Summer Diseases
Grapes should be starting to get some color to them. At this point, most varieties of grapes should be resistant to black rot. Growers with varieties of grapes that are not resistant to downy mildew should consider a spray program.