This morning master gardeners were made aware of a new pest, the spotted lantern fly. Native to Southeast Asia, it is currently present in Berks county, PA. Local officials there are trying to quarantine the pest. It is yellow and red with black spots, and attacks the phloem of the plant. It has already infected apples, grapes, pine trees and ornamentals.
Regarding corn, a comment was made that currently in the United States the same amount of corn produced today from 84 million acres equals the 1930 corn production from 490 million acres. As we walked in the field corn, various small annual weeds were beginning to emerge. These included marestail, yellow sedge, velvetleaf, crabgrass, and wild garlic. Weeds can be a future problem if the corn is not tall enough to crowd them out. One sample showed 6 weeds within a square foot. If need be a possible herbicide would be used if the weeds get out of control.
The cornfield showed very little damage from cutworm (no cut plants), grubs (no stunting of growth), and slugs (no leaf decay). The cornfield still has good moisture, despite little recent rain. As the corn plant grows and draws more moisture from the ground, additional water (rain) will be needed. The seeds were planted about 2 weeks ago, and are currently in the 2nd collar leaf stage. Currently, the growing point is below ground. At the 4th or 5th leaf stage the growing point is exposed above ground.
Random population counts were performed today in the cornfield. This was done by measuring 17 ½ feet and then counting the number of plants within that space, and then multiplying by 1,000 to estimate the corn production per acre. The random three counts taken were 26, 27 and 27. When multiplied by 1,000 provided 3 estimates of 26,000, 27,000 and 27,000 plants per acre, assuming 30-inch spaces between the rows. One can say that perhaps 30,000 seeds were planted per acre with a germination rate of 90 percent.
The rye field was cut this morning. Later, the rye will be turned over (called tedding) to dry better. Unlike some other grain crops, having a small rainfall on the cut rye will cause the rye color to bleach out to a golden yellow color. This rye, also called long straw, will be used for bedding for the animals. It is not used for feed. Wheat is commonly used for feed.
The soybean seed is a pink seed. This is a treated seed that acts like a fungicide in the early growth stages of the plant. Soybeans were recently planted. Sweet corn and peppers will also be planted.
The oat crop is beginning to wilt. With little recent rain, as the plant is growing, it is pulling more moisture form the soil. Cereal leaf beetle damage can be seen, as well as the beetle itself.
The strawberry plot shows some downy mildew and will need to be monitored. Half of the strawberry plot is slightly taller since it was not cut back in the spring. The hops plot is showing some insect damage of tiny holes in the leaves. The pests were not found.
There few insects found in the insect traps. Only in trap #1 (black cut worm) was there one black cut worm.
