Septoria Leaf Spot (Tomatoes) Description: The most destructive of all tomato problems Small brown spots appear on bottom leaves first. Leaves gradually turn yellow and die as the disease works its way upwards. Premature death of vine significantly reduces tomato production. Solution: Use Soap-Shield® Fungicidal Soap or Copper Dust starting after setting out plants, then every 7-10 days. Apply more […]

Slugs Description: : Brown to grayish, up to 2″ long, looks like a snail without a shell. Eggs are laid in jelly-like masses under debris in damp areas. Slugs live a year or more and develop slowly. In spring, they are one of the first pests to feed on seedlings and ornamentals, eating large holes and leaving a slimy trail. […]

Soft Rot (Onions) Description: Soft rot can cause significant losses in stored onions. It is spread by splashing rain and by mechanical or insect damage. The bulb is infected through the neck tissue of maturing plants. Solution: Spray Soap-Shield® Fungicidal Soap on plants when warm, wet/humid conditions prevail, right up to time of harvest. Allow onion tops to dry before […]

Sooty Blotch and Fly Speck (Apples & Pears) Description: These two diseases often occur together because they have similar, and numerous, wild hosts. Sooty blotch and fly speck are most likely to develop when temperatures are between 65° and 80°F and when humidity is high. This combination occurs most frequently when nighttime temperatures remain above 65° to 70°F during summer, […]

Spinach Leafminer Description: Adult is a small black and yellow fly (seldom seen).The adult fly lays eggs on underside of leaves; tiny yellowish larvae (1/8″ long) hatch and tunnel inside leaves. Several generations develop each summer. It is the most destructive pest of spinach; also infests red beets. Tunnels cause whitish dead areas, making the leaves undesirable; plant growth may […]

Squash Bug Description: Up to 5/8″ long. When newly hatched, they have reddish heads and legs, and green bodies. Later, heads and legs turn black, and the body turns a light to dark gray. They suck sap from leaves of all vine crops, causing rapid wilting which becomes black and crisp. During early part of growing season, vine crops are […]

Apple Maggot Description: Adult apple maggot is a fly, slightly smaller than a common housefly. Apple maggots overwinter as pupae in the top 2-3″ of soil. The adult flies emerge from early June to early September. Adult females do not lay eggs for the first 8-10 days after they emerge. Then they wander over apples, crabapples, plums and other crops, […]

Squash Mosaic Virus (Cucurbits) Description: Green and yellow curled leaves; warty, misshapen, and spotted fruits. Aphids spread virus to squash plants. Also attacks cucumber, pepper, tomato and melon plants. Solution: Spray regularly with Oil-AwayTM Insecticidal Spray, or PyolaTM Insecticidal Spray to control aphids. Start as soon as plants are above ground; once virus has infected the plant, it is too […]

Squash Vine Borer Description: White larva with brown head, up to 1″ long. Preferred foods: pumpkin, squash, cantaloupe, cucumber and gourd vines. A small pile of “sawdust” where the vine meets the soil is a sure sign that you have squash vine borers. Once you notice the first “sawdust,” it will not be long until the leaves wilt and the […]

Vine & Root Weevils Description: Adults emerge mid-May to late July. About 5-6 weeks later, eggs hatch into grubs which search out roots to feed on. Grubs feed all season. The worst injury occurs when overwintering grubs feed on roots in spring; plants may fail to put out new growth and die. Since adults feed only at night (making characteristic […]