Scorch is Plant Stress

I have 5 choke berry bushes by the house and they all show plant stress. They have done this in previous years. It isn't best for any plant but usually not life threatening. Leaf scorch, as this is called, is when the plant is loosing (transpiring) more water than it is taking in. For more information on scorch, go to http://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=586#S

Onion Harvest

The onion crop was pulled this weekend. I'm surprised they did as well as they did. Cool weather is usually needed for good growth. The frequent, shallow watering and some nitrogen must have done the trick. These onions will "cure" on our covered porch until the necks dry up. Keeping them in a dry and airy location until use is best. Or as I just got off the phone with a grower, chopping them up and putting them in the freezer is a sure way to store them.

Squash plant death

This zucchini squash bit the dust. I cut the stem open to look for squash vine borer. None discovered. There were not many roots when I pulled it up. Guessing it was a root issue. I would be surprised if it was over-watered which would cause root death. I'm not sure what went wrong.

Squash bugs

I'm having a bumper crop of squash bugs this year on my one pumpkin plant. It will be a busy fourth of July fighting for freedom for this pumpkin to survive!

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