During the winter months, home orchard owners need to protect their fruit trees from rabbits and voles. But hold off on any pruning until after the worst of the cold, winter weather has passed.
Rabbits and voles injure fruit trees by chewing the bark from the lower trunk and portions of the roots. This damage may kill or severely weaken the trees.
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Autumn has arrived in Kentucky and, as leaves change color and fall from trees, it is time to focus on landscape sanitation. Good sanitation practices can help reduce disease-causing pathogens. These organisms can survive for months or years on dead plant material or in soil, causing infections in subsequent years. Elimination of disease-causing organisms reduces the need for chemical controls and can improve the effectiveness of disease management practices. Following these sanitation practices both in autumn and throughout the growing season can reduce disease pressure in home and commercial landscapes. Continue reading
While monitoring vegetable and soybean fields in the Lexington area, I have noticed that the number of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) adults has dropped off as the numbers of nymphs on these crops has remained constant. Last year, BMSB began to gather on the sides of homes the first week in September. This makes me believe that BMSB is changing its behavior from plant feeding to begin searching for overwintering sites, possibly your home. I did spot 15 BMSB on the side of my house on Saturday. So, over the next several weeks we should expect BMSB to gather on buildings in search of suitable overwintering sites. Once inside buildings they will remain active until mid-spring. Continue reading
You may have noticed your home being invaded by an assortment of pests this fall, including Asian lady beetles, boxelder bugs, crickets, spiders and black soldier beetle larvae. These creatures typically visit homes that provide easy entry this time of year, often seeking refuge from changing weather. Continue reading
I know some of you out there are having squash and zucchini problems this year and you aren’t alone. A week ago, I noticed my first and most prolific zucchini plant starting to yellow and wilt. I checked the stem to see if there were any squash borers and sure enough there were a couple a cracks in the stem and some saw dust like stem bits hanging out beside the cracks. Hoping to save the plant I stuck a sharp wire into the holes hoping to kill the borers and covered it with soil (like the U.K. entomologists say). Saturday the plant was just about gone, so I pulled it up, dissected the stem and found 7 one-inch long borers about as big around as a pencil munching away! I have to admit I took great pleasure avenging my beloved zucchini plants death. Continue reading
Nothing can ruin a mouthwatering tomato more than reaching for one on the vine only to find an ugly, flattened spot on it. If the ugly spot is located on the fruit opposite the stem end, it is likely blossom end rot, a disease caused by a lack of calcium that commonly occurs in tomatoes but can also affect eggplant, peppers and many cucurbits. Continue reading
Tomatoes are the one vegetable—or fruit, botanically speaking—that most of us look forward to when we plant our gardens in the spring, however; this year more than most it seems diseases are lurking around every corner threatening to destroy our harvest. There are dozens of diseases that can infect tomatoes, however, it is usually a handful that cause major problems. Continue reading
Kentucky Hort News 