Horticulture Hotline 07/09/18
By Bill Lamson-Scribner
A friend of mine that grew hay used to say he could hear
army worms munching on the pasture as they crossed the fields. Since army worms
eat the green leaves off the plant, he would lose big hay dollars to this worm.
Athletic fields, golf courses, and home lawns lose the aesthetic value of the
green grass, and the worms thin the canopy of the grass where weeds will move
in if given a chance. Prostrate growing weeds like spurge, lespedeza and Virginia
Buttonweed seem to come in the fastest.
What bothers me the most is you work all summer on your
grass to have it looking nice, and once it starts to look good, fall army worms
and then sod webworms attack the grass. Look for areas that appeared to have
been mowed low and with a dull blade. You can see that the leaf blades have
been chewed. Also thatch type debris will be churned up on the surface. Moths
will fly low, during the day but mainly in the evening, dropping eggs across
the lawn. Birds and low flying wasps are also predators of army worms. Thanks
to cell phones last year, I took a cool picture of a wasp attacking the head of
an army worm. I think my definition of ‘cool’ has changed over the years.
Since army worms are in direct contact with the ground, they
are very easy to control. Bug Blaster, Bifen, Sevin, Cyonara and Acephate will
all put a hurting on army worms. Thuricide (Bt), EcoVia EC and Spinosad are
organic products that will also work well if you get them while the worms are
small. Since the population of worms is so high and hit so hard, keep your eye
out for a second hatching.
For those of you with St. Augustine and Centipede, keep your
eye out for the sod web worm. Watch for moths in your yard around dusk. If you
begin to see a moth that gets out of the grass, flies for 6-10 feet then lands
again (like a bobwhite quail for you bird hunters) you may want to consider
using one of the above mentioned products. Usually sod web worms would not come
out until September / October; however, with the crazy weather we are having,
scouting for them could not hurt.
If your yard has thatch, drainage, or compaction issues, now
is a great time to address these issues. At Possum’s we have a granular organic
product (BGK 7500) that is full of microorganisms that are thatch eaters. Easy
to apply with a fertilizer spreader and very effective. Some of the zoysia grass
lawns really benefit from regular use of this product.
Gray leaf spot is still alive and doing well. With all the
rain, fire ants are mounding up everywhere – be careful where you step! The
Super Garden Hero showed me two ant bites on his ankles Saturday at the radio
show.
With all the rain, mosquitoes are out and biting, and the
grass is growing like crazy. Scout around your yard for potential breeding
sites for mosquitoes. It is amazing how many areas can hold enough water for a
mosquito to breed.
Always read, understand and follow product label. The
product label is a Federal Law.
