Army Worms are Chowing

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.

Vacation - Prepare

Horticulture Hotline 07/02/18

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

1. The nasty rascal, the chinch bug in St. Augustine grass has been killing large areas of turf in the Lowcountry. Remember the products that control chinch bugs generally have a short residual. If you are going out of town for any length of time, be sure you treat the lawn before you leave. Sod webworms and armyworms will be out soon as well – you have been warned.
2.  Fleas have been a close second to chinch bugs this year. The wet fall seemed to help increase the flea population. Any pet owner, especially one that has his or her pet sleep in the same room as themselves, cannot stand to be kept up half the night by the sound of their pet scratching fleas, knowing their companion is under attack. Fleas are hard to control. Plan to treat the animal, the house, and the yard. The use of growth regulators will make a near impossible task, much easier. Expect about two weeks to get this pest managed. At Possum’s, we have any organic powder that we developed that is getting good results (diatomaceous earth based) as well as other products and growth regulators.
3. Wasp are out. We sell several “Wasp Freeze” products. The professionals prefer the one by Whitmire (BASF).
4. Japanese beetles have been chowing down. Bifen or Cyonara will take care of them.
5. While driving through neighborhoods localized dry spots are very evident.  These are areas in the yard that turn that bluish gray color from lack of water.  New neighborhoods with young grass and poor soils seem to be most susceptible to these dry areas.  Exposed areas with lots of wind and areas at the beaches also are good candidates for these localized dry spots (Isle of Palms, Kiawah, Sullivan’s Island, Folly Beach).  Adding organic matter to the soil (Cotton Burr Composts or SeaHume), wetting agents, or adjusting sprinkler heads will help with these dry areas.  Remember to water in the early a.m. before the wind picks up, so the grass will dry by nightfall.
6. Moles seem to be particularly active this year.  They just had their young in April and now they are tunneling up a storm.  The young moles are hungry!  Manage the food source in your yard (grubs, crickets) with Lebanon Insect Control and go after the mole with Mole Patrol. 
7. Be sure to change or sharpen that dull mower blade. A sharp blade will give your grass a cleaner cut and will allow less entry points for disease. Inspect your blade for nicks and damage if you are going to continue to use the same blade. Since a mower blade spins at very high speeds, any nicks or bends can lead to the blade being out of balance. When a blade is out of balance, the mower will vibrate (like your tire out of balance on your car) and you could damage the spindle and other parts of your mower that cost far more than a new blade.
8. Look up at your trees. If you have any tree work that needs to be done, I would get it done as soon as possible.  Look for trees that have cavities at the base of the tree and look at the tops for broken limbs, dying tips and weak crotch angles.  Have a tree care professional inspect your trees to be sure it is safe. Most tree companies will inspect for free. Try to get this done before the Lowcountry is in that cone for a direct hit for a hurricane! The tree companies are usually very busy year round in the Lowcountry. 
9. As with all products, you should read and follow product labels.  More is not better when dealing with control products.  Measure your yard so you know your square footage and watch overlapping when applying your products.  Watch the weather forecast to insure the products have a proper amount of time on your lawn prior to any rain.  If the product needs to be watered into the ground, a slow watering by a sprinkler is better than a gully washer from the sky.  A very hard rain can wash products into the storm water drains which are bad for the environment and you have wasted a lot of money.

      Also sweep or blow fertilizers or control products off of hard surfaces when you

      are finished applying them. In the case of fertilizer this may prevent staining, and            most importantly it will keep products from washing through storm drains to the          marshes.

10. With the dry weather we had earlier this year, spider mites have come out in full force. Be sure to use a product labeled for mites when trying to control these plant juice suckers. Mites are not insects, so all insecticides do not control them.
11. Another plant juice sucker that is out in full force is the lace bug on Azaleas. If  the leaves look mottled, flip the leaf over and look very closely for the pest. The lace bug is small and well camouflaged so you might need a magnify glass. Dominion Tree and Shrub will give you long term control of this pest.

                    

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

The Hot Days of Summer

Horticulture Hotline 06/25/18

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

Flies are out and they are gross! With all the outdoor (and sometimes dog friendly) sitting areas to restaurants now days the flies seem to be coming in more contact with humans and humans’ food. Flies spread disease. Flies walk around on some spoiled food in the dumpster, then fly over to some dog poop, land on it, and the next thing you know they are on your food. Gross! Not to mention the nuisance of “shooing” the flies away from your food.

Gray Leaf Spot on St. Augustine grass was something I mentioned earlier this month. If you missed the article and would like to read it, go to possumsupply.com and look under the Horticulture Hotline tab for archived articles. When writing about the cultural practices to minimize Gray Leaf Spot, I failed to mention that you should mow with a sharp mower blade. Some of the mower blades that started the year off sharp are not so sharp anymore. You want a clean cut on the grass blade. No blunt force trauma on your leaf blades. If you were getting surgery, you would want the doctor to use a sharp knife, right?

At the radio show John Quincy (producer of “The Garden Clinic”) brought to Paul (Super Garden Hero) Mulkey and my attention that mosquitoes kill over 1,000,000 people a year. The deadliest insect in the world. Protect yourself! Reduce breeding sites when you can especially around your yard. Mosquitoes can breed in something as small as a bottle cap.  

Indian Hawthorn (AKA Raphs) have long finished blooming and can be pruned as needed. Watch out for the leaf spot disease that attacks these plants. If your plant’s foliage is thinning and it has spots on its leaves, there is a good chance your plant is under attack.  Honor Guard does a good job of keeping this fungus in check; however, this disease will always be out there so regular spraying is a must. Also, when spraying fungicides, it is important to switch chemical classes to avoid resistance. If they do not need pruning, hold off, because pruning encourages new growth and the disease likes new leaves.  

If you are taking a vacation this summer and have St. Augustine grass, be sure to put out an insecticide to protect your lawn from ‘the nasty rascal, the chinch bug’. Chinch bugs can do serious damage in a very short period of time. They love and multiple greatly in hot, dry weather, so this year has been a very bountiful year for them. Bug Blaster, ECO VIA (National Organics Program compliant), or Allectus (a newer product with some long-term control) should help you manage this lawn terrorist.

Azaleas are getting ready to set their flower buds for next year, so it is very important to do any pruning on these plants right away. Even if you pruned them hard right after they bloomed, you can still do any touch up pruning to manage any growth that might have occurred since the last pruning. An application of KeyPlex or Mighty Plant should help them set more blooms for next year. Watch out for lace bugs sucking on your plants.

Any of the repeat blooming azaleas (Encore, Red Slipper) should be pruned right after they flower. If you prune fairly hard, you will likely lose some of the next flush of blooms; however, they should get back in sync fairly quickly, providing you multiple blooms.

A general rule of thumb is to be sure all your spring blooming plants have been pruned. Gardenias (unless they repeat in August), Camellias, Spirea, Forsythia, flowering quince …

If you haven’t fertilized your lawn, shrubs and trees, a midsummer feeding is a good idea. With the heavy rains we had earlier and all the growing plants and lawn have been doing, some food would be a great idea. I’m seeing a lot of yellow grass in my travels. A soil test is always the best guide for fertilization.

Dry spots (aka mystery fungus), snakes, Japanese Beetles, baby mole crickets killing, ants, aphids, chiggers, fleas, roaches, rats and high temperatures are all hot topics at Possum’s.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.