Gorgeous weather for the CTFANY meeting and nice to see lots of growers and others! Thanks, Kendra and all your crew.
GDD and spotted lanternfly – some research folks in PA think that the GDD required for the complete life cycle of the spotted lanternfly might limit its spread north – even though the eggs could survive the cold. That’s good news!
Judging by questions at the meeting – Fir fern rust is out now. Yellowing and dropping needles are probably what you will notice. A closer look and you will see the fungus popping its white fuzzy aecia out of the backs of needles. I’ve mostly seen it on Concolor but it can affect others http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/firfernrust.pdf.
It is usually just an occasional pest – not showing up every year. Wet spring, perhaps? You can remove the alternate host – ferns – from the farm, but the spores do move quite a distance.
And one sample with what we decided were teethmarks. Voles, perhaps?
Thanks for bringing us samples! We do see the most interesting things.
What to scout for now:
Cryptomeria scale crawlers – 600-800 GDD
Just finishing the first spray window at the coolest locations I’m following and almost ready to start again at the warmest (1750-2130 GDD)
Japanese beetle adults – 1029-2154 GDD
Two spotted spider mites– 1300-2000 GDD
Pine needle scale 2nd generation– 1290-1917 GDD
Cryptomeria scale crawlers – 600-800 GDD
Have a great week!