37July 3, 2013
July has arrived but the hot and humid weather has felt like July for a few weeks. Come on summer polar air!
The heat and humidity has given rise to a huge outbreak of insects in our gardens. Earwigs are eating away at all kinds of plants. Over the past weekend, I lost count on how many customers came into the store with leaf samples from holly bushes. The holly leaves were covered with scale. Rose bushes have had trouble with caterpillars eating the leaves. The list could go on and on. You may not like being out in the hot weather, but you need to check your plants for signs of insect damage. If you can catch a problem early, you can treat your plants and prevent major damage to your plants.
Hot and humid weather can also give rise to fungus diseases on your plants. Over the weekend, there were many customers who brought in leaf samples that showed early signs of fungus diseases. One leaf sample showed signs of powdery mildew on a squash plant. This seemed early in the season for this disease to show up on squash leaves. The important thing is that you check your plants and begin treatment if you see signs of fungus diseases on your plants.
There are some plants that you can be sure that will develop fungus diseases when we have hot and humid weather. If you have tall phlox, bee balm, verbena, cucumber, squash and rose bushes to name a few, you want to head off the start of diseases. There is an organic spray that you can use to prevent diseases from attacking your plants. It is called Serenade. It is sprayed onto the leaves of the plant. We have been selling it at the store for several years and it has proved effective at preventing diseases on plants.
On Sunday, we had numerous people tell us that they had found Japanese Beetles on their plants. This beetle can destroy leaves on your plants very quickly. If you spray your plants with a product called Neen, it will not only kill the Japanese beetles, it also acts as a repellent to keep them away from your plants.
Don’t forget to get those beetle traps set up ASAP!
Well, that’s all for this week. I hope you have a happy 4 Th of July. The store will be open on the 4Th if you need our expert advice, some flowering plants or if the propane tank needs to be filled.
I’ll talk to you again next week.