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Archived Bug Blog Entries

If you are going to do a bake-out anyway for sanitation of the greenhouse, there may be some benefit in putting your new pots of soil in the greenhouse at the time of the bake-out.

At our research greenhouses in the Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, we often observe fungus gnat adults as quickly as 10-14 days following potting into fresh, bagged commercial soilless media. Since the life cycle from egg to adult takes 20-26 days, this observation suggests that the immature forms were present in the bagged media when purchased. Anecdotal reports from other research institutions agreed with our observations, and it was documented by at the University of Illinois in a report published in 2004. Another explanation for the infestation at our greenhouses, in cases where the plantings were rooted cuttings rather than seed, was that the fungus gnats were on the roots of plants prior to transplanting into the fresh soil mix.

Continue reading “Greenhouse “Bake-Out” to Control Fungus Gnats” »

It’s that time of the year again — a time when you may think you can afford to forget about growing for a while and you close or wind down your operation for a few months. If you close up you clean up, button up, then batten down the hatches so to speak. And if you wind down, instead, you reduce the heat, water less, and make your plants comfy for the up-coming cold months. This is perfectly fine, perfectly understandable — it’s been a hard year, you’re wiped out and deserve a break — so we wish you a happy off season.

Continue reading “Releasing Biocontrols in the Fall” »

Two-legged and four-legged creatures have something in common with many of the six and eight legged creatures out there: The cold months are not well-tolerated. Some insects and mites curl up and die having completed their life’s reproductive mission. They’ve laid their eggs, but will never see their offspring. Others enter a quiescent state similar to hibernation — in other words they shut down until the warmer months return. (I know some two-legged creatures that look upon this practice with a certain fondness.) Some bugs, however, seek warmth where it is available and try to make a go of it during the colder months. If you’re a grower, some of these critters may be a cause for concern.

Continue reading “Coming in Out of the Cold” »

Will a procrastinator succeed with biological pest control? Probably not. The reason is a simple one: Reaction time. Reaction, as defined, is a response to a stimulus. The stimulus in this case is the presence of pests. The reaction time being how long the person discovering said pests takes action. The response type isn’t that important, not at first. The choices are basically manual eradication (pinching, trapping, etc.), chemical (spray ‘em to death), or biocontrol (good bugs, yeah). What’s of the most importance is the reaction time. If one waits too long, the control choices become more limited and the pest population gets larger and more difficult to control. Waiting too long can lead to one having to use a fast-acting, omnipotent broad-spectrum insecticide as the only viable response. This may be all fine and good for the regular pesticide user, but if you are into biocontrol, waiting may be akin to shoot oneself in the foot. If you’re serious about biocontrol, waiting can kill your program.

Continue reading “Reaction Time” »

When you go to the store to buy shampoo there are myriad choices, but basically the offerings are all the same, at least as it comes to application: Wet your hair, deposit a small amount of shampoo in the palm of your hand, a puddle of ‘poo equivalent to the diameter of a dime or quarter, depending on how much hair you have. Then you lather the shampoo into your hair. Oh, and we can’t forget: “Rinse and repeat.” There is a lot of product consistency. The shopper knows this and either has a brand preference or chooses on price, comparing the per-ounce-price. Simple, right?

Continue reading “Buying Nematodes” »

How do you plan on dealing with your pests this season? Do you plan to control them with pesticides (and this includes those botanicals)? It’s understandable if you said yes. After all, isn’t modern chemistry great? Seriously. Lots of amazing things come from the chemist’s lab. Amazing, though, is sort of a subjective word. It depends on what things you’re talking about. One person’s miracle might be another person’s curse. Same is true of pesticides, some think they are an absolute blessing while others see them (more accurately we’ll add with our own subjectivity) as planet killers. In an attempt to be objective, let’s take a look at both sides of this.

Continue reading “Out of Sight…” »