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PEST WATCH: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) causes damage to agricultural crops and is an annoyance to homeowners.
Beginning in September, BMSB adults aggregate in large masses often on the sides of homes and other buildings. They enter structures to avoid cold weather. While stink bugs are not known to harm people or cause damage to buildings, they can be quite distressing when large numbers of individuals enter households.

Brown mamorated stink bug on holly (Todd Murray)

Sealing cracks, mending screens, and screening vents mechanically exclude BMSB adults from entering houses. When aggregations begin to form, regular vacuuming of BMSB adults has helped reduce the number entering houses.
If you suspect you have BMSBs in a new region of Washington State, please collect a sample in a crush-proof container, note the date and specific location, and place it in a freezer until you can take it to your local WSU Extension office or local Master Gardener clinic.

For more information on the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug see WSU’s Pest Watch: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug FS079E.

Submitted by: Todd Murray, October 5, 2015

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Protect Your Young Apple Trees from Renegade Rabbits

If you have seen cute little bunny rabbits romping in your young orchard over the summer, don’t be surprised if you start seeing damage to your young fruit trees. Rabbits nip off the tops and gouge the bark of stems in winter. During winter, rabbits and hares remove “chips” of bark and wood from thin-barked woody plants, sometimes girdling the entire trunk.

Washington State is home to several species of rabbits and hares. Of these, only the snowshoe hare and the introduced Eastern Cottontail commonly damage gardens, orchards and landscapes.
To prevent winter damage to your young trees and shrubs from “wascally wabbits”, you can keep them away from the plants by:

• using wire or plastic tree guards, or
• wrapping lower trunks with burlap or wire mesh, or
• using rabbit-proof fencing, or
• applying rabbit repellents registered for home use.

Remember to reduce hiding places near your garden or orchard by eliminating thick brush, including brush piles, and by placing screens over openings under outbuildings. This will help reduce the number of rabbits and hares around your home and protect your landscape plants.

Submitted by: Dave Pehling, September 28, 2015

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Why are my conifers losing foliage?

In the fall, after a long, dry summer, an evergreen conifer may not have enough resources to sustain all of its green foliage; thus, it will shed its oldest foliage (i.e., the foliage found on the innermost part of a branch). In doing so, the tree is prioritizing its resources. The oldest foliage is the least productive because it has become dirty over time and, being on the interior of the branch, receives the least amount of sunlight. The tree will sacrifice this older foliage in favor of the newer, more productive foliage.

1241608-PPT_bugwood_Ladd_Livingston_needleloss

Ladd Livingston, Idaho Dept of Lands, bugwood.org

Although the tree’s appearance may be somewhat alarming, this seasonal foliage loss is a normal part of conifer growth. The foliage loss is particularly noticeable in western redcedar, where it is referred to as “flagging.”

Seasonal foliage loss can also be particularly pronounced in pines. Some years seem to have particularly pronounced seasonal dieback, depending on weather patterns and other stress factors. Thus, even when a tree has excessive interior needle loss, it is not necessarily an indicator of disease, insect attack, or other unhealthy conditions. There are some insects and disease agents that tend to attack a tree’s oldest foliage, but these agents usually leave signs of their activity, such as chewing or speckling across the older foliage.

You’ll find more information about seasonal foliage loss here.

Submitted by: Tim Kohlhauff, September 21, 2015

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European Chafer

In 2001, European chafer grubs were discovered infesting lawns in New Westminster, the greater Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada, less than 15 miles from the northernmost border town in Washington State. The risk of movement from infested areas via human activity is high.

Larvae are the damaging stage of the European chafer. They commonly prefer to feed on cereal plants like turf grasses and wheat. They have also been found feeding on the fine roots of broadleaf plants and conifers. In turf, larvae feed in the root zone up to the root crowns. Secondary pests such as raccoons and skunks peel back turf to feed on the grubs, causing significant damage to lawns.

April to May and September to October are the best times to monitor for the grubs because this is when they are the easiest to spot (i.e., at their largest stage).

For more information, see Pest Watch: European Chafer.

Submitted by Sharon Collman, September 14, 2015

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Last Call for Tomatoes!

Those of you growing tomatoes should be harvesting them. So how did you do? Did you have lots of red tomatoes, mostly green or very few? Tomatoes can be very temperamental, and, if not cared for correctly, you can end up with few fruit or mostly green tomatoes. Now is the time to write notes about what did and didn’t work in your garden, so you’ll have something to refer to this winter when you’re planning next year’s plantings.

Harvest

Pick tomato fruits when they reach mature color but still retain some firmness. Size and color will depend on the plant variety selected—yellow, orange, pink, purple, and green varieties exist, as well as the typical red varieties. Tomatoes usually ripen about one month after the fruit begins to show. As the fruits continue to ripen, they will begin to lose firmness, and the flavor may be affected. Tomatoes can be picked early, after the fruit begins to change color, and will continue to ripen off the vine, with best results occurring at temperatures from 68°F to 77°F.

End Uses
Tomatoes are a versatile fruit and can be used in a variety of forms: fresh, frozen, juiced, pickled, stewed, dried, preserved and canned. For details on how to use and store tomato fruit, go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation website, which offers research-based recommendations for most methods of home food preservation. Additionally, see publication PNW300 Canning Tomatoes and Tomato Products.

For more tips on growing tomatoes, see our WSU Fact Sheet FS145E, Vegetables: Growing Tomatoes in Home Gardens.

Submitted by: Gary Fredricks, September 8, 2015

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Why Didn’t My Onions form Big Bulbs?

Onions form bulbs in response to day length or the number of hours of daylight. There are two main types of onions: those grown in northern latitudes that bulb in response to long days, and those grown in southern latitudes that bulb in response to short days. The long-day onions grown in Washington will start to bulb when there are 14 hours of daylight. If they are not planted early enough in the spring, bulbing will begin before the plant grows enough to produce a large bulb. When purchasing onion seed, Washington gardeners should be sure to select only long-day onion cultivars.

Big and small onion bulbs

This material is excerpted from the WSU publication Growing Onions in Home Gardens FS097E.

Submitted by: Marianne Ophardt, August 31, 2015

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Harvesting Potatoes for Storage

Potatoes that will be stored through the fall and winter should be harvested when mature. Depending on the cultivar, this will be approximately 70 to 120 days after planting.

Potatoes

The vines will start to die back in late summer or early fall, when the tubers are mature. In regions where wet fall weather may hamper harvest, potato plants may be cut off at the soil surface using pruning shears. Stop irrigating after the tops die back naturally or you cut them off. This promotes wound healing and tuber maturation.

Dig your potatoes approximately 2 weeks after the vines have died back or been cut back. Waiting allows the skin to thicken, so they will not injure as easily when dug.

This material is excerpted from the WSU publication Growing Potatoes in Home Gardens FS118E

Submitted by: Marianne Ophardt, August 24 2015

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2015 Winter Damage to Evergreens: East of the Cascades

Early Fall 2014 proved to be unseasonably warm and dry east of the Cascades. Plant respiration continued at a higher rate than normal for this time of year and, in many cases, irrigation was winterized. This meant that some evergreens were unusually water stressed. The warm and dry fall was followed by unseasonably low temperatures in November. This unusually hard freeze, coupled with the drought stress, meant that many evergreens suffered tissue damage.

Some of the plants seen with winter cold damage are dwarf arborvitae, hinoki cypress, boxwood and ponderosa pine.

Figure 1. Dwarf arborvitae leaf and twig winter cold damage, ranging from leaf necrosis to branch dieback.

Figure 2. Hinoki cypress suffering complete winter kill

While leaf necrosis and branch dieback can be unsightly, most of the plants with this winter cold damage will survive. If the leaf buds were not damaged the plant will grow out of the problem. It is important to wait until late spring or early summer to determine the full extent of the damage.

Figure 3. Boxwood showing leaf and twig winter cold damage along specific areas of the plant, such as the top or side.

Figure 4. Ponderosa pine needle winter cold damage ranges from minor needle tip damage to, in severe cases, complete needle necrosis.

Prune out dead branches to clean up plants. Let the new growth expand and grow to fill in void areas. Careful pruning over the next few years will usually bring back the normal healthy appearance of the plant. If branch dieback goes into the dead zone of conifers, the plant many not return to its original appearance and will need to be replaced.

Submitted by: Paula Dinius, August 13, 2015

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Do woody mulches attract termites, carpenter ants, and other pests?

Many wood-based mulches are not attractive to pest insects but are actually insect repellent. For instance, cedar (Thuja) species produce thujone, which repels clothes moths, cockroaches, termites, carpet beetles, Argentine ants, and odorous house ants. In general, termites prefer higher nutrient woody materials such as cardboard, rather than wood chips.

Termites – courtesy Wikipedia

For more information on wood chip mulches, see “Using Arborist Wood Chips As a Landscape Mulch” WSU Extension Fact Sheet FS160E.

Submitted by: Linda Chalker-Scott, August 10, 2015

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My squash plants are blooming, but no fruit has set. Why not?

For most squashes, the male and the female flowers (distinguished by the round chamber at the base of the flower) are on the same plant. These flowers are dependent on honey bees and other bees to transfer the male pollen to the female flower. Take precautions to minimize insecticide use during flower bloom and encourage bee access and visitation. Inadequately-pollinated female squash flowers may grow, but abort before full fruit development.

Female and male flowers (Rasbak, Wikimedia Commons)