Eriophyid mites also attack hemlocks pine and spruce, on these trees they do not form galls, and can be seen at the base of the needles, but only with a good hand lens. They can build up to damaging populations on these types of trees. If you see a white hue at the base of the needles you probably have Eriophyid mite. Even high populations of this mite will not usually kill a tree unless it is stressed by other factors, and can for the most part be ignored. If you have a low tolerance to insect damage you can treat these mites with a variety of pesticides. Oil treatments in the spring and fall will help to keep the populations of Eriophyid Mite below damaging populations.
Lacebug, Mites, and Mealybugs are still in low populations.
Still raining and diseases are getting rampant.
Black Knot on Prunus sp. is everywhere.
Fire blight is quite prevalent.
Tar Spot on Maples is now showing up.
We are seeing a lot of a disease on our perennials and annuals.
So what to do now!
Fungicides are generally preventative and not curative so applying once a disease is established will not generally control the disease. A few products will have some curative effects on certain diseases and treatment will stop them spreading to unaffected stock.The best thing to do now is to rouge out infested plants and cut off infected leaves.
Black spot on roses is one of the diseases that is really a problem with all the rain.
Black spot is spread through water splash from infected leaves to other leaves. It is very important to cut off infected leaves. Fungicides can prevent newly emerging leaves from being infected. Wilt Pruf sprayed on leaves before rain will protect new leaves from Black spot, powdery mildew and many of the rain spread diseases but is not registered as a fungicide so you cannot legally use it for this purpose. A new Bio Fungicide has shown promise on many Bacterial and Fungal diseases.
The key to controlling diseases is prevention.
Keep plants well spaced for good air movement.
Watch the weather patterns and if you treat, treat before weather predicted is favorable for a disease.
Keep records of what diseases you have in a year so you know what preventative treatments you might need the following year if weather conditions warrant.
Plant resistant species and varieties when your records show that a disease is a problem in your area.
Control some of the pests that spread diseases such as Leaf Hoppers that spreads Aster Yellows, very early in the year. Clean up your beds in the fall and dispose of litter.
Composting is fine to kill most disease spores if done properly but some diseases
can survive the heat of a compost pile and should not be composted, or only composted in a pile that will not get used for a few years until the disease spores become non-viable.
Some diseases that can survive composting are:
corn smut; clubroot of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and other crucifers; Verticillium wilt of potato, tomato, pepper, and eggplant.
Links for more information:
Bacterial diseases
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