Peaches Troubled by Brown Rot Fungal Disease (Among Others)

Brown rot fungal disease a challenge to growing peaches.

    Many residents who are growing peaches are observing them turning brown and mushy. The cause is brown rot fungal disease. The fungus is quite problematic in peaches and several other fruit trees, especially with the recent rain and high humidity. Please refer to the spray guide for peaches from the Georgia Pest Management Handbook for homeowners at https://tinyurl.com/ycc9evtl. Scroll down a few pages to where you come to the information on peaches. Make sure you follow all label directions when using pesticides.

   Peaches are a challenge for the home gardener in that they suffer from many insects and diseases and must be sprayed on a schedule to ensure your get peaches. Consider planting fruit trees that do not suffer from the level of pests that peaches do such as blueberries, blackberries and figs.

Flying Ants vs. Winged Termites: What is the Difference

The difference between an ant and a termite.

Many area homeowners are observing swarms of small insects in flight by their homes. Are they ants or termites. Flying ants have constricted waists, the front pair of wings longer than the rear, and elbowed antennae. Termites have a straight waist, both pairs of wings the same size, and straight antennae. If you determine they are termites, the insects may or may not be infesting your home. Have a licensed pest control professional do a thorough inspection to determine if a problem does exist and offer ways to mitigate the infestation. 

Georgia Grown-To-Go Event at Coolray Field

Tents with boxes of produce. People pulled their vehicles up to them where
their vehicles were loaded with the boxes they pre-orederd.

The second Georgia Grown-To-Go Event was held at Coolray Field on June 25. The drive-thru farmers market was made possible through a partnership between Gwinnett County, the Gwinnett Stripers and the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Lindsey Jorstad, Gwinnett County Outreach Manager, said there were a little more than 750 pre-orders made two hours before preordering closed Wednesday. An additional 1,500 to 3,000 boxes were available Thursday as well for day-of sales, she said. Paul Thompson, marketing division director for the Georgia Department of Agriculture, said there were seven farms represented at the event. 
Please refer to the full article from the Gwinnett Daily Post for more on the story: https://tinyurl.com/y7htq6jo.

UGA Extension Gwinnett handed out bags with Extension publications and factsheets
to those who came to get the produce.

Watermelons were among the produce offerred.

Azaleas Troubled by Lacebugs

This azalea plant has a heavy lacebug infestation. It is growing in the full sun
making it more susceptible to the insects.

One of the most common insect pests of azaleas are lacebugs. They are small insects roughly one-eighth of an inch long with lace wings. They have pierce sucking mouth parts that suck fluid out of the leaves. The results are yellow to brown colored leaves that appear unsightly. The insects do not harm the plants; however, they can greatly degrade their appearance. 

Azaleas prefer to grow in sites that are part shade. If planted in full sun, they suffer stress and are more prone to being attacked by these pests. 

Control measures need to start early in the season. You will new leaves coming out that are green with the old ones having the damage from the previous year. Use a systemic insecticide according to label directions.  Bayer Advanced and Ortho have insecticides that are useful.

Bigleaf hydrangea blooms color the summer landscape

Mophead big leaf hydrangeas provide color in the shade

    The bigleaf hydrangeas, also called French, mophead, or snowball hydrangeas, are the most popular and well-known hydrangeas grown in our area. They bloom profusely during the early summer months with pink to dark blue globular clusters of flowers and have thick medium to dark green leaves. The plants are attractive in the landscape and can be used as a specimen, group of plants, or in containers. They are also used in flower arrangements. More than 500 varieties are available in the nursery trade, and they can be divided into two types. The hortensia hydrangeas have giant snowball like blooms. The flat lacecaps have their blooms in an outer ring of large flowers and a mass of tiny fertile ones on the inside.

Lace caps bigleaf hydrangeas.

     Bigleaf hydrangeas are deciduous shrubs and have a rapid growth rate reaching several feet in height. They should be planted in a partly shaded area. The plants prefer a couple of hours of the early morning sun but cannot tolerate hot, dry sites that receive the full afternoon sun. However, avoid deep shade since they require at least three to four hours of morning sunlight daily. Excessive shade will reduce the production of flowers.

    Hydrangeas do not perform well in our heavy clay soils. Add 50 pounds per 10 square feet of organic matter such as peat moss, topsoil, or compost to the soil in the area where they are planted, which will loosen the clay soil by helping to improve aeration and drainage as well as helping retain nutrients and water.  Dig the hole the depth of the rootball and at least twice as wide. When planting, make sure the crown of the plant is level with the top of the hole and no deeper. Avoid fertilization until the plant is established, around four to eight weeks after transplanting. During the growing season, apply a general-purpose fertilizer, such as 10-10-10, in March, May, and July.

     The bigleaf hydrangea has shallow roots and a high water requirement. It should be planted in moderate water-use landscape zones. Excessively dry conditions will cause them to wilt, so the soil needs to be kept evenly moist. When the flowers begin to turn green or brown, remove them. Prune other shoots as necessary to encourage branching and fullness. Any pruning should be finished by August 1st. The new buds will begin forming in late summer for the following year. If the plant has sustained winter injury, prune out the dead or damaged branches. This action will encourage more vegetative growth at the expense of flowers but will be beneficial for the plant's overall health. Sometimes the plants fail to bloom. The cause is most likely freeze damage, excessive nitrogen fertilizer, or pruning at the wrong time of the year.

       The level of aluminum compounds in the plants is the mechanism that determines the flower color. Higher levels of aluminum cause the flowers to be a deep blue. The color is light blue when only minimal quantities are present. If aluminum is absent, then the flowers are pink. Soil pH has an indirect impact on flower color. It determines the level of aluminum available for plant absorption. At a pH of 5.0 or lower, aluminum is more soluble, and thus the roots can absorb more of it. At a pH of 7.0 or higher, aluminum levels decrease. If you want blue flowers, you can acidify the soil by adding ½ cup of wettable sulfur per 10 square feet. For pink flowers, apply one cup of dolomitic limestone per 10 square feet to raise the pH. It may take a year or more before color changes are observable. 

     Bigleaf hydrangeas are a worthy addition to the garden. If given the right growing conditions, the plants will put on a show with their colorful blooms.

For more information, please refer to the website of the American Hydrangea Society at www.americanhydrangeasociety.org.

Crape myrtles produce attractive displays of flowers during the summer

Crape myrtles are attractive low maintenance flowering trees

    One of the most beautiful ornamental plants in the landscape is the crape myrtle. During the summer months, these plants bloom produce many blooms while needing minimum maintenance. They are long-lived, can tolerate dry conditions after becoming established, and are relatively free of disease and insect difficulties. Crape myrtles have an extensive range of colors from red and pink to lavender and white. The plants can range from less than 3 feet to more than 20 feet, depending on cultivar, and its plant of great versatility. It performs well in confined spaces and is well-suited for small areas. Crape myrtles develop several main stems, with multi-trunk crape myrtles being preferable to single stem plants.  

     Crape myrtles grow under adverse soil conditions but perform better if planted in soil that has been well prepared. Like with other ornamentals trees and shrubs, dig the hole twice the width of the root ball and no deeper than the top of the root ball. Fill in the hole with the backfill that was dug out after removing rocks and other debris. Research has shown that organic matter amendments are not necessary when planting in individual holes. Water the plants thoroughly once a week until the plants become established. After that, crape myrtles can tolerate extended dry spells; however, supplemental watering enhances flowering. Avoid applications of fertilizers high in nitrogen, which causes the plant to produce fewer flowers and more vegetative growth susceptible to pests and, if fertilized in the fall, more vulnerable to cold damage. Light applications of fertilizers in spring and summer are all that is needed.

     The most common pest on crape myrtles is powdery mildew. It appears as a white to grayish powder on the surfaces of leaves, flowers, and new shoots. It is most frequent are the plants are growing in shady, damp locations with poor air circulation and prefer dry, warm days and cool night temperatures and high humidity. To control the fungus, locate plants in full sun and planting resistant varieties like ‘Natchez,’ ‘Muskogee,’ ‘Sioux,’ and ‘Tuskegee.’ Chemical control of powdery mildew is difficult to achieve. Sometimes tiny insects called aphids infest the crape myrtles and secrete a sugary substance that causes black sooty mold. The aphids can be controlled by applications of insecticidal soaps or summer horticultural oils. Crape myrtle flowers on new growth of the season, so you can prune plants any time during the late winter or early spring before growth begins without flower buds.

   Pruning the crape myrtles allows for the development of an abundance of new shoots and flowers. Do not prune in the early fall before frost since it forces new growth, thus preventing the plant from going dormant, leading to freezing damage. The best time to prune is in the winter months during dormancy. However, very little pruning is necessary, and often people prune crape myrtles far more than is necessary.

    With minimal efforts, crape myrtles are a beautiful addition to the landscape. No landscape is complete without them.

Area Lawns Being Troubled by Fungal Disease

The UGA Extension Gwinnett office has received numerous calls from residents concerned about dead spots appearing on their lawns. In most cases the cause is a fungal disease. The conditions have been favorable for their development in the past couple of weeks. The warm days, cool nights and abundant moisture have caused these diseases to become problematic.
    The most common one is brown patch and large patch diseases, which are both caused by the same fungus, Rhizoctonia solani. Brown patch attacks cool season grasses such as tall fescue. It also causes leaf spots and "smoke rings" -- thin, brown borders around the diseased patches, which are one to two feet in diameter. The symptoms are most frequently observed in the early morning.The disease is more prevalent during the summer months. Remember cool season grasses thrive in cooler weather and can suffer stress during the heat of our summers. It also causes leaf spots and "smoke rings" -- thin, brown borders around the diseased patches that appear most frequently in the early morning.

        Brown patch disease attacks cool season grasses, such as tall fescue.  

               Photograph by Lee Miller, University of Missouri  

    Large patch disease affects warm season grasses such as bermudagrass, zoysiagrass and centipedegrass. It has a some what different appearance than brown patch. the rings are considerably larger, two to ten feet in diameter. On the outer edges, a light brown to orange color appears. Sometimes the fungus can come back year after year in the same location. It occurs on the leaf sheaths forming a reddish brown to black water soaked lesions. The foliage dies back from the top to the base of the blade. Large patch disease is more prevalent in the fall and spring, but is also troublesome during the summer. 

Large patch disease attacks warm season grasses such as bermudagrass.
Photograph by Barb Corwin, Turfgrass Diagnostics

   For control, avoid applying too much high nitrogen fertilizer on the lawn, which promotes the fungus. Have you soil tested through UGA Extension Gwinnett and fertilize according to recommendations. Water earlier in the day before noon to allow for the grass to dry before the evening. Make sure you mow your lawn at the correct height, and the blade is sharpened. A dull mower blade shreds the ends of the grass making them more susceptible to pests and gives it an off-color appearance. Aerate with a hollow tine aerator of your lawn has not been done so in the past three years.
   Fungicides can be applied according to label directions to help suppress the fungus and reduce its ability to spread. Examples include Spectracide Immunox and the Bayer Advanced and Ortho products.