Tobacco hornworm

Found this tobacco hornworm feeding on my Mt. Bell cherry tomato this morning. This tomato is in a container on the deck. Earlier, had the tomato hornworm found floating in rain water in the field planting tomatoes. I picked this guy off for my control measure.

Squash bug

The squash bugs have really been active laying eggs on my one pumpkin plant. I've been squashing the adults and scraping the eggs off, but can't keep up. Hatch of the young is any day now. An insecticide treatment will be applied according to the label to reduce their population. Squash bug information is at
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/entml2/MF2508.pdf

Herbicide on Tomato

This younger tomato plant absorbed some phenoxy herbicide showing up on a few leaves that are distorted. 2,4-D vapor drift is the usual agent. This amount will not cause much injury. In previous years, my whole plants were damaged to the point they never produced. Once it occurs, there isn't any cure. Prevention is the only solution.

Tomato Hornworm

This tomato hornworm was found next to my tomatoes in a film of water trapped on the black plastic mulch. I didn't find any missing leaves, but the size would indicate it had been feeding for sometime. The storm on Thursday must of dislodge it. Hand removal is easiest for a typical tomato planting. Many insecticides are available for treatment. To learn more about them, click on link. http://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/DesktopModules/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=1729

Coneflower Problem

I started this PowWow coneflower from seed last year. The only one I got out of my ten seeds. It bloomed a little last fall. I was looking forward to a big splash of color this year. Instead, it got infected with a disease called aster yellows. That's how gardening goes sometimes. To learn about aster yellows go to http://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/DesktopModules/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=1577 This plant is no more in the landscape.

Apricot Harvest

Harvest is wrapping up on the apricot. You want the fruit to be nicely colored with no green background. I treated it twice for Oriental fruit moth. About a third of the fruit had larvae to cut out of the fruit. I've never been a fan of canned apricots. Fresh is the only way to go for me.

Genista Caterpillar

I found this Genista Caterpillar on my Baptisia after reading the K-State Research and Extenison Entomology newsletter. To read more, go to
http://www.entomology.ksu.edu/doc5018.ashx

Ripe Black raspberry

Normally, I harvest my first black raspberry around father's day. I harvested my first one yesterday. I'm thankful that it has cooled off. It should make the berries sweeter. It is easy to tell when they are ripe. They easily separate from the plant.