IPM Notes from September 4, 2014

Winter rye is now growing in what was the sweet cornfield. More weeds are accumulating toward the backend of the field, since it is slightly lower, and more rainwater and moisture accumulate there.

The field corn is more dented. The kernel tips are beginning to get black layering, as the corn is becoming drier. The cob is still moist. The corn is expected to be harvested in about 2 weeks.

There is some concern that the popcorn, since it was planted later, may not be harvested in time. The popcorn looks healthy, but is showing some deer damage. Also, there is some corn borer damage and frass.

The high weeds noted between the popcorn and field corn were lambsquarters, spiny amaranth, jimsonweed and fall panicum.

The soybean plants look healthy and are as tall as they've ever been. The Palmer Amaranth weed mentioned last week was misidentified, so as of now there doesn’t appear to be any of these weeds at the BCCAC. This will still need to be monitored in the future. The soybean nodules look a healthy pink. The plants are showing insect damage from aphids, Japanese beetles, grasshoppers and stinkbugs, but not enough to be concerned. When a stinkbug pierces the pod, moisture and disease can result to the pod. Having many stinkbugs in the soybean plants can be a problem.

In the demonstration plots the Spanish peanut crop is beginning to show some foliar leaf disease and will need to be monitored. The pepper plants are showing some leaf drop from perhaps too much rain. The ever-bearing strawberries are still producing fruit, and the June bearing plants look large and healthy. Sulfur and water was used on the blueberries yesterday to lower the pH.

Below are the summaries for the insects caught in the three insect traps.

Trap 1 (Fall Armyworm) – 2 moths, 1 fall armyworm
Trap 2 (Fall Armyworm) –7 fall armyworm, 1 each spider & wasp.
Trap 3 (European Corn Borer – changed 8/14/14) – None

IPM Notes from August 28, 2014

The open field where the sweet corn was growing has been seeded with a cover crop, winter rye, to prevent erosion and provide good tilth to the soil. If winter rye planted to early, it can be affected by the Hessian fly.

The field corn is in the dent stage. The kernels currently don't show the black layer formation, and the milk line may need to come down a little more. Most of the husks have open ears where moisture can enter, along with sap beetles. If there were an early frost, the corn would even need more time to dry down. More importantly, the open ears can lead to disease such as mycotoxins. Preferably one would want a tighter husk.

There is some concern that the popcorn, since it was planted later, may not be harvested in time. The popcorn will be of the red and yellow variety. The soybean plants look healthy, but within this field there appears to be the weed Palmer Amaranth. This is taller than the other Amaranth weeds, with longer petioles. The issue with this weed is that it's very difficult to eradicate, and has been spreading up to the Northeast. This will need to be monitored.

In the demonstration plots the pepper plants have made a nice comeback for the season, and the garden-in-a-bag plants have been doing better with water and fertilization. The strawberry and blueberry plants were watered Wednesday and look good. The peanut plants have some yellowing and may need additional potassium. The peanut and sorghum plants add two unique crops to the demonstration plots.

Below are the summaries for the insects caught in the three insect traps.

Trap 1 (Black Cut Worm) – 1 each - ladybug, click beetle, noctuid
Trap 2 (Fall Armyworm) –1 each - bumble bee, chafer, fall armyworm. noctuid
Trap 3 (Fall Armyworm – changed 8/14/14) – 2 each – noctuid, fly, 1 each – bee, small wasp