The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The NDSU Plant Diagnostic Lab is a tremendous resource that relatively few people know about.
The lab has been serving North Dakotans for more than 40 years, helping to identify pest and disease problems in lawns, gardens and crop fields.
Just last week, I submitted to the lab several branches from spruce trees that were losing needles.
Three days later, I received a response saying that the trees were afflicted both by a fungal disease and by spider mites.
The report also gave recommendations regarding treatment.
The goal of the Plant Diagnostic Lab is to provide economical and unbiased services to agricultural professionals, homeowners and individuals.
The analysis fees are modest and often waived entirely when samples are sent in by an Extension agent on behalf of a local resident.
Last year, the staff members in the lab examined more than four thousand plant and insect samples.
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Here are some questions that I have encountered recently.
Q: What can I do to prevent earworms in my sweet corn?
When I was growing up, my dad had good success controlling earworms by putting a dab of mineral oil on the silks at the end of the ear.
The oil suffocates the worms as they move from the silk tips down to the kernels.
The current recommendation is to use vegetable or corn oil rather than mineral oil.
You may want to add a touch of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Btk) to the oil as well.
Btk is a natural bacterial insecticide that is widely used by organic growers (trade names include Dipel and Thuricide).
Timing is critical. The oil should be applied when the silks reach their full length and begin to wilt and turn brown (this is 5–6 days after 50% of the corn has begun to show silks).
Q: How can I control the suckers growing around my chokecherry trees?
Aspen, poplar, birch, plum and chokecherry are notorious for having suckers which sprout up from the roots.
The simplest and best strategy for control is to prune the suckers off at the soil surface.
Do not apply herbicides because they can be translocated to the main tree, resulting in its death.
Some commercial products (Sucker Punch, SuckerStopper) claim to control suckers, without harming the main tree.
However, I haven’t been able to find any research results verifying the effectiveness of those products.
Q: Do I need to water my lawn?
There are two approaches to managing lawns in regard to irrigation.
One approach is to apply water on an “as-needed” basis.
Most lawns need about an inch of water per week to remain green.
The water can be from rainfall, sprinkler irrigation or a combination of both sources.
The recommendation is to water deeply and infrequently rather than every day or every other day.
The second approach is to simply let your lawn go dormant during hot, dry weather.
It’s a normal process, and most lawns will recover quickly when growing conditions improve in late summer or early autumn.
If you have questions about your lawn and garden, please contact me in the Foster County Extension Office (652-2581, [email protected]).
