Let’s start by learning how to recognize squash bugs.

The adult bugs are large flat bugs that are dark grey or brownish in color. You might see yellowish stripes or spots around the perimeter of their abdomen. The portion of their abdomen sticking out behind their wings is typically darker, looking almost black. The younger nymphs are much smaller, and start out sort of grayish green with black legs. They get progressively darker as they get larger. Nymphs are often seen in large clusters on the plants. Beware, they like to hide on the bottoms of leaves.

Squash bug eggs will be seen as fairly large, randomly shaped, reddish brown dot clusters. The will mainly be located on the backs of the leaves, often between the veins near where the petiole attaches to the leaf. Occasionally you will see them located on the tops of leaves. The eggs are very distinct and easy to find.

Depending on where you live there will be between 1 and 3 generations produced per year. Northern climates only have 1 generation whereas climates further south can have up to 3. Thus, early control is important, otherwise the 2^nd and 3^rd generations will get larger and larger creating a massive population available to overwinter.

Squash bugs harm your plants by their feeding activities.

While they do not transmit wilt like cucumber beetles, they suck sap and cause severe damage where they have fed. This damage can look similar to wilt. You will often see leaves that are stippled yellow with dying brown spots in areas that squash bugs have fed. The amount of damage will be directly proportional to the quantity of bugs feeding. Thus, it is extremely important to keep their numbers down. A few squash bugs are unlikely to cause your plant any real harm, but many will kill it. And as you might imagine, left to their own devices they multiply rapidly.

Moving on to the squash bug lifecycle, we find that they overwinter as adults. They hide in sheltered places like under plant debris, and near foundations. In the spring these adults emerge and fly to squash plants where they mate and lay eggs. They lay eggs from emergence through mid-summer. You are likely to see everything from just hatched nymphs to adults all at the same time. In the fall any nymphs that haven’t matured die with the first frost, and the adults take shelter for the winter.

Now that we know how to identify squash bugs, and what their lifecycle looks like, how do we keep them from killing our plants?

We just mentioned that the adult bugs overwinter in sheltered places like under plant debris. Thus, one of the first things you should do is clean out your garden. Remove all squash plant debris and destroy it. Also remove weeds in the fall to reduce overwintering sites for the adults. Do your best to kill as many adults as you can so that they can’t overwinter to infest your garden in the spring.

It can also help to remove plant debris during the growing season to reduce the number of places the bugs can hide. You should keep your plants well-watered and fertilized. Strong, sturdy, rapidly growing plants will be better able to cope with some feeding damage than young or unhealthy plants.

Next, you should start scouting your plants in early summer.

Start watching for adult bugs and eggs on your plants. When exactly squash bugs typically appear will depend on where you live. Your local extension or university publications should be able to help you determine exactly when they emerge in your area. Keep in mind that squash bugs like to hide on the bottoms of leaves, and that they also lay their eggs there. It is important to check the bottoms of leaves or you’re likely to miss seeing them until they have built up large numbers.

Any bugs or eggs found should destroyed by squishing them or placing them in soapy water. Once you have found adult squash bugs on your plants, you will want to check them every few days and continue to destroy any adults, nymphs, or eggs that you see. If there is one, there are likely to be others arriving within the next few days and weeks.

Because squash bugs are good at hiding, something that might help you is to set traps for them. Simply lay out boards or a similar object near the plants for them to hide under. Many of the squash bugs will shelter under the boards overnight allowing you to easily collect and destroy them in the morning.

What about using row covers like we do for various other pests?

Unfortunately, while we love row covers for controlling pests in our garden this is one pest where they are minimally effective. Nonetheless, they can still be helpful under a couple different circumstances. Firstly, if you are planting a crop when squash bugs are active, you should cover them with a row cover until the plants are large and flowering. Small seedlings are the most susceptible to dying from squash bugs due to their small size. Keeping the plants protected until they are large can help skew things in your favor.

Secondly, if you have had major problems with squash bugs killing your cucurbit crops several years in a row, you may wish to invest in some parthenocarpic varieties. These are varieties developed for things like growing in greenhouses. They are able to set and mature fruit without pollination. Parthenocarpic varieties can be grown under a row cover for the entire season.

Unfortunately, the drawback to using parthenocarpic seed is that variety choices are very limited. As far as we know, there are only parthenocarpic cucumber and zucchini varieties available. This means that if you wish to grow winter squash, melons or pumpkins you’d still have to remove row covers on those plants.

Pesticides are not usually suggested for home gardeners.

Squash bugs can be difficult for home gardeners to control using pesticides, and pesticides are not recommended. Pesticides are most effective on nymphs, and it can be difficult to get good enough coverage to control them as they are very good at hiding on the undersides of leaves. Plus, you risk harming your pollinators as squash bugs are active while the cucurbit plants are flowering.

We hope this helps you to control this extremely frustrating pest. If you don’t manage to do so this year, don’t give up. Change tactics and try again. If all else fails, avoid growing squash plants for a year or two to allow your garden a pest reset period. Then try again focusing on early pest control.

If you would like to learn more about the pests that might be plaguing your garden, please sign up for our newsletter to get our future articles delivered to your inbox!

Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Squash Bugs: Pests Sucking Life Out of Your Plants first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

How to spot tomato hornworms

The first thing you typically see is not the worm itself. These caterpillars do a remarkably good job of camouflaging themselves. The first sign you often notice is that there are big bald patches on your tomato plants. There will be stems with all the leaves stripped, and you might also notice green fruit eaten. This damage is usually accompanied by large green or black poop pellets all over the ground.

If you see damage on your plants like this and do a thorough inspection in the areas around where the feeding damage has occurred, you will likely find one or many tomato hornworms. Just like other caterpillars they start as eggs that hatch into small worms that usually go unnoticed until they get large. The appetite of the large worms is incredible resulting in noticeable damage. Left unchecked they can completely defoliate your tomato plants. Though tomato plants are their preferred host, they may also be found munching on other nightshade family plants like eggplants peppers and potatoes.

Tomato hornworms are very distinct and easy to recognize. They are a large green caterpillar up to 4” long. The younger larval phases are less obvious and usually missed. These caterpillars are a yellowish white with no markings on them. The large caterpillars are bright green and have white markings on their sides. They have a large horn on their last abdominal segment giving them their name hornworms.

Tomato hornworm lifecycle

Just like most insects they go through the egg, larvae (caterpillar), pupae and adult moth phases. Moths lay eggs on your tomato plants. These eggs hatch out into the caterpillars that eat your plants. When, the caterpillars are full grown, they pupate. They drop off and bury themselves in the soil. These pupae can hatch and produce a second generation or they may sit dormant into the soil until the following spring.

After the eggs hatch it takes 3-4 weeks for the caterpillars to reach full grown when they drop off the plants to pupate. About 2 weeks after that the second generation moths can hatch to repeat the cycle producing overwintering pupae. You likely won’t see the moths, but they are large grey moths with whitish markings.

Though tomato hornworms can do an impressive amount of damage very quickly, they are easy to control.

For most home gardeners picking the worms off and squishing them provides adequate control. You should make it a habit of checking your plants for hornworms at least a couple times a week during the summer. You will have to look at your plants carefully as the worms can be tricky to spot.

You likely will not notice them until some of the worms get large and defoliate a portion of your plant. If this happens don’t be alarmed. Just thoroughly check your plants for worms every day for a while to prevent more damage. Tomato plants are usually vigorous enough to tolerate some feeding damage without it harming them.

Something else you can do to help control tomato hornworms is till up your soil in the fall. This can help to kill pupae overwintering in the soil. It’s a particularly good idea to do this if you have high hornworm pressure or you think that you missed picking some of the worms off the plant and thus allowed them to pupate.

Lastly, we would like to note that tomato hornworms have a variety of natural predators.

Some predatory insects like ladybugs will eat eggs and young caterpillars. Thus, predatory insects should always be encouraged in your gardens.

Perhaps one of the most interesting predators of tomato hornworms is a type of parasitic wasp, the braconid wasp. This particular wasp lays eggs on the hornworms. When the larvae hatch, they feed off the worm until the wasp larvae is ready to pupate. When the wasps pupate they do so in small cocoons hanging off the hornworm.

If you see a hornworm with little rice like pupae hanging off of it, leave it be. Yes, it looks gross, but that hornworm is dead and not harming your plant any more. Plus, the predatory wasps will hatch from the pupae and go in search of more tomato hornworms to parasitize. By leaving predatory insects such as this alone, you can help nature help you.

We hope this helps you to succeed with your garden this summer. If you would like to read more articles about pests you might encounter in your garden, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter!

Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Tomato Hornworm: Is Something Eating Your Tomatoes? first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

If you haven’t encountered this incorrigible little pest, you should count yourself a lucky gardener, and should still learn to spot the signs of an infestation. As with many pests, getting rid of spider mites when they first show up is a lot easier than managing a large infestation. Spider mites can be extremely difficult to get rid of. In fact, the best course of action for a severely infected potted plant (particularly a houseplant) is to discard the plant.

What is a spider mite?

As their name implies, spider mites are not an insect, but instead an arachnid closely related to ticks and spiders. (This is an important detail to remember when we get down to how to control them.) Spider mites suck plant sap and can severely damage or kill a plant if left uncontrolled. If you do not take measures to control a spider mite infestation, you will at the very least end up with a very unsightly plant that will quickly spread its plague to other susceptible plants in the area. At worst it and all the neighboring plants will end up dead.

While biology and control is the same for all of them, there are actually many different types of spider mites. The most common one is the two spotted spider mite. You will not be able to see the spots without a magnifying glass as these mites are very tiny. But you can see the mites with the naked eye if you know where to look and look carefully.

How can I recognize spider mites on my plants?

You will need to look very carefully at the undersides of the leaves. Spider mites don’t often go on top of the leaves unless the infestation is advanced. If you look at the backs of infected leaves you can typically see tiny little orange-red or sometimes green dots moving about. Tiny dots the size of the dot on this ‘i’ or smaller.

Their damage is typically much, much easier to see than the mites themselves. Leaves of plants with spider mites feeding will have little yellow dots on them. Leaves will yellow and eventually fall off. If the infestation is severe the back of the leaf, or even the whole plant can be covered in ‘spider’ webs. These webs help to protect the spider mites. They make it difficult for you to effectively spray them with contact insecticides. It however can also can make identification of this tiny little pest easy. If you have webs you know you have spider mites not aphids or other common pests.

Spider mites thrives in warm, dry environments. Sounds kind of like your house…or a greenhouse. And it is true, these environments are the PERFECT place for them to thrive. These mites are tiny tiny, and like to hide out on the backs of leaves. This makes them very easy to miss. Often times they are so sneaky, you don’t notice them until there is a very large population present. Plus in these locations, there are no natural predators present to help keep them in check.

You should check your plants regularly

If you are growing a susceptible plant (Passiflora, beans, raspberries, and many houseplants are highly susceptible), it is worth your while to get into the habit of frequently inspecting your plants for signs of infection.

This is particularly important if you put plants outside during the summer and then bring them inside in the fall. They will often bring pests inside with them. Outside a few spider mites weren’t a problem as there was always a lady bug or other predator nearby to eat them, but inside those few mites that rode in on your plant can become a major problem in a month’s time.

Under warm dry conditions (like in that cozy living room of yours) they can complete their full life cycle in less than a week. This means they can get out of hand FAST!

So what is a discerning gardener to do about this terrible pest?

First off, monitor your plants. This is particularly important when transitioning plants indoors for the winter. Make it a habit to take a quick glance at the backs of a few leaves when you water. Its essential to turn leaves over to check the backs, particularly where the petiole (leaf stem) is attached. This is where spider mites prefer to hide.

Also, avoid spraying pesticides unnecessarily outdoors, particularly broad spectrum ones. This can inadvertently kill off beneficial insects and cause outbreaks of pests such as spider mites. This is probably the most common reason for a severe outdoor spider mite problem. Typically there are enough natural spider mite predators in an outdoor garden to prevent spider mite outbreaks. However, frequently spraying pesticides in your garden will kill all the beneficial insects causing the spider mite population to explode. Why? Because of a seemingly unimportant, but key detail briefly mentioned earlier. Spider mites are arachnids not insects. The commonly use broad spectrum insecticides do not kill them, but they absolutely do kill everyone who wants to eat them.

Purchased spider mite predators can help

There are many natural predators for spider mites. Some of which are even available for purchase to release in your garden. If you have ongoing spider mite problems in your garden, consider purchasing spider mite predators to release. You must select species that fit your situation and climate, and you must cease making frequent pesticide applications so that they can establish a breeding population. In the absence of pesticides spider mite predators can and will establish populations in a garden preventing future outbreaks. Biological control of pests is a topic we will explore further in a future blog post.

Other things you can do to help include spraying the plants with water. Remember spider mites thrive in hot, dry, low humidity environments. Increasing humidity can help make the area less desirable. Additionally stressed plants, particularly water stressed plants are more susceptible to being attacked and less able to withstand a spider mite attack, so keeping plants well watered, fertilized and rapidly growing can help.

If you are unfortunate enough to have spider mites show up on a houseplant, isolate it from other plants, and consider discarding it if it is severely infested. If you don’t wish to discard it, or the infestation is mild, remove and destroy severely infested leaves, and leaves that have webbing on them if at all possible. The webbing protects the mites from your attempts to kill them. Removing these web covered, severely infested leaves and destroying them will give you the best chance of saving the plant.

So how do we kill these menaces?

If you haven’t succeeded in preventing or controlling an outbreak with other methods, it is time to consider using a pesticide.

However, before you run to the store and grab the first pesticide you see. Remember that most pesticides do not kill spider mites. As mentioned above most severe spider mite outbreaks FOLLOW the application of pesticides because they kill natural predators but not the spider mites. In fact some very common pesticides like Seven (carbaryl), pyrethroids, and organophosphates have been shown to actually increase the reproduction rate or favor treated populations. Severe outbreaks can occur within days of treating with these chemicals during hot dry weather.

What pesticide should I use?

Whether your plants are inside or outside, we would recommend using the same treatment. Our recommendation would be to use an insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. If your plant has obvious signs of spider mites being present, you will likely have to treat it several times before they are completely killed. You may also achieve control by using spider mite predators. However, if you have a severe infestation it is better to treat the plants with Neem Oil to lower the mite population prior to releasing predators.

There are some other chemicals available that are labeled for spider mite control. But, commercial growers have discovered that spider mites are good at becoming resistant to chemicals quickly, so it is best to use an oil to kill them. OIls are also typically less toxic, safer, and more easily accessible to home gardeners.

Please keep in mind before you spray that oils can burn plant leaves. Do not spray on a water stressed plant, on a hot day, or in direct sun. In hot weather, it is best to spray on a cloudy day. If you can’t do that spray in the morning/evening so that the leaves will be dry before the sun gets onto them. This will prevent the sun from burning your plant with the oil. It is also a good idea to test on a few leaves before spraying the whole plant if you are unsure of how the plant reacts to being sprayed with a horticultural oil.

Our pesticide of choice is Neem Oil. It is a plant extract and considered organic. It is is quite safe for humans, pollinators and the environment. It also works well to kill spider mites with the caveat that thorough coverage is essential. You must spray the leaves front and back covering every inch of the plant. It needs to contact the spider mites to kill them. You will likely need to repeat applications to completely clear up an infestation.

As with any pesticide, please be sure to read the entire label and thoroughly follow the directions. We also encourage you to consult with local extension agents if you have questions about using pesticides.

Key points to remember

Spider mites are an aggressive plant pest that can disfigure or kill your plants if left unchecked. They are sneaky little invaders who love indoor conditions and can hide from you until their population has gotten huge.

They are arachnids NOT insects and cannot be killed by most pesticides. An outbreak can be caused or worsened by common pesticides such as Seven.

You can control them using predatory insects, cultural methods, and organic pesticides such as Neem Oil.

Now that you’re familiar with spider mites, and the havoc they can cause, you’re fully prepared to prevent them from invading your plants!

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Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post How To Spot And Control Spider Mites first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

Biological pest control is simply using nature rather than chemicals to control pests. It can include using predatory insects, parasites, pathogens or even competitors to suppress pest populations. This happens to be an area of interest that we as a community are actively researching and learning more about every day. Biological pest control is becoming more and more important. Pesticides are becoming less effective due to pests developing resistance. New research keeps showing pesticides to be unsafe and harmful to the environment. Plus consumers want pesticide free food.

Biological pest control is wonderful because it is easy and safe to use. It reduces or eliminates the use of pesticides, and it avoids harming non-target species. Perhaps best of all, predatory insects can establish self-sustaining populations. These populations can continue to keep pest under control long after you initially introduced them.

In many cases, your garden pests are already being kept below damaging levels by native populations of biological pest control.

You might have seen this biological control taking care of tomato hornworms. This is one of the most obvious visual examples we can think of. Quite often hornworms will appear in a garden. Shortly thereafter you will see dead larvae with large white things hanging off of them. There is a parasitic wasp that reliably shows up in our garden along with the hornworms. This wasp is busy killing the larvae for us. In this case, the worst thing we could do would be to spray a pesticide. Rather, we can help encourage the beneficial insects by leaving the larvae she has laid her eggs in on the plant.

Another example of a pest commonly controlled by natural predators is spider mites. As you might know, spider mites can be a difficult to control menace on greenhouse crops or house plants. And yet, though we know they are present in the environment, there are rarely spider mite outbreaks outdoors. Plants that spent the entire summer outdoors often have a spider mite outbreak when moved indoors for the winter. Why? Because the natural predators do a fantastic job of keeping spider mite populations low until you move plants into an artificial environment.

The only other time we typically see large spider mite outbreaks in the garden is following the application of broad spectrum pesticides.

There is a lesson to be learned here. This shows just how easily we can disrupt the balance in nature. In this case, the broad spectrum pesticide killed off all of the spider mite predators. What it did not kill off was the the spider mites. This allows the spider mite population to explode to devastating proportions almost overnight. Then you must spray to save the plants from spider mites. This kills any predators that survived the first spray creating a viscous cycle. Sadly, the problem your pesticide created might not re-balance itself until winter when the spider mites are killed off by cold.

This is why it is extremely important only to use pesticides if absolutely necessary. It is also equally important to make sure you are using them appropriately, and are using the correct pesticide for each pest. Select pesticides carefully with the beneficial insects in mind. Choose pesticides most likely to harm the pest while doing the least harm to predators. So for example, rather than spraying a broad spectrum contact insecticide, use Bt or a systemic that requires ingestion of plant material to kill.

Another Important Note: It is not necessary to eliminate every single pest from your garden.

This is part of cultivating a habitat that is full of resources for the predators so that they can establish breeding populations. Sometimes we get carried away with an almost obsessive need to have a ‘sterile’ garden. ‘Sterile’ is not necessary or even ideal. You simply need to keep the pest populations suppressed to a level at which they are not causing any real damage.

Understanding this can be an important part of establishing a predator population. Unless your biological control is something like a pathogen, it needs to feed on something. If you eliminate the food source the predators will either die of starvation or move elsewhere looking for food.

Many predator adults also require food sources such as pollen, nectar, or even honeydew from aphids throughout the season. They also require overwintering sites. Therefore, adding diversity of plants and leaving natural areas can help the predators to establish a population in your garden. Many of these insects benefit from the same types of plants and natural areas that our native pollinators do, so by working towards creating a pollinator haven, you will also be working towards establishing habitat for healthy, stable, biological pest control populations.

What to do if you have a pest problem natural biological control is not taking care of

Unfortunately, sometimes Mother Nature needs some help. This can be because we have created an unnatural monoculture of plants, used too many pesticides, or planted plants in a bad location which makes them stressed and prone to problems. Or maybe our predator population died out over the winter. Some predators are not capable of overwintering in all parts of the country. Others might not have had appropriate habitat available to them in your garden.

If you have found yourself in a situation with a pest problem, fortunately, there is a dizzying variety of biological control options available to purchase. Many of these are beneficial insects you simply sprinkle around the problem areas. Sometimes you need to do a knock down spray of a mild insecticide such as Neem Oil to reduce the populations prior to adding predators.

Some pests have a variety of predators available. Others have only a few. Some predators are generalists. Others have a very specific target. There are sometimes even different ideal predators for different temperatures, seasons, and climates.

It is important to do your research prior to purchasing predators.

Unfortunately, it is beyond the scope of this article to discuss details of all the different options for each pest. However, there is a wealth of information online available both from University publications, and also from the companies producing and selling the beneficial insects. An extension agent, or biological control sales rep should be more than willing and able to help you select the correct predator and release schedule for your specific pest.

So next time you have a pest problem in your garden we encourage you to stop and consider other options before you pull out the pesticides!

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Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Pesticides Are Out. Biological Pest Control Is In. first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

There are a variety of different scale species and scale affects a variety of ornamental plants such as hollies, boxwoods, crape myrtles, and palms–not just magnolias. Different scale species attack different hosts, but the general guidelines regarding control remain the same.

What is scale?

Scale is an unusual insect that looks very different from most insects. Because of the unique features that give it the name ‘scale’, it can be very hard to treat. Once plants have it, it can be very difficult or impossible to get them ‘clean’ again.

The common name of scale refers to the appearance of the adult female insects (males are rarely seen). In fact they don’t look like insects at all, just a round bump resembling a fish scale on the plant stem. They can be various colors but many times are white. These are adult females that are hunkered down in place and are very hard to kill. They have a waxy coating/shell which gives them the scale appearance and they typically do not move. Nor do not have any visible wings, legs, etc. They don’t look like an insect or even alive.

Don’t let their odd or benign appearance fool you though. They are busily sucking the sap and life out of your plants. As with many pests, a healthy plant grown in an environment that isn’t sprayed with pesticides typically won’t have a harmful level of scale infestation. Predators such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps keep them under control.

Unfortunately, sometimes it can get out of hand and need to be controlled by you. This was the case with this magnolia. Despite being grown in a no spray environment, due to terrible weather circumstances, the tree was very stressed. It was planted in a poorly drained location during a season with too much rain and a lot of flooding. Scale can also be a problem that gets out of hand quickly in a controlled environment such as on houseplants.

So how do you control scale?

The short answer: with difficulty. In fact, if the plant isn’t valuable, disposing of it is probably the best course of action. It is best if you can prevent an infestation rather than trying to treat one. When you purchase new plants it is worth while to check them over thoroughly first. Avoid buying them if they have any signs of scale.

If you have a houseplant with a light infestation, you may be able to control it by carefully washing the plant to remove all of the scale insects. We would also recommend removing and destroying the most infected branches/leaves if possible. If you decide to take this route, be sure to quarantine the plant and watch it carefully for the scale to return. Do not place discarded plants or infected branches in the compost pile.

What if its a large shrub?

If you are unfortunate enough to have a scale breakout too big to be controlled by wiping them off manually, your best chance of treating scale is when the baby scale known as ‘crawlers’ are active. This is because adult scale is very difficult to kill. It does not move about on the plant to come into contact with surface applied insecticides.

The crawlers are the ones feeding and doing the damage to your plants. However, until they start to come out from under their mother’s protective waxy covering, they are also pretty immune to being killed by a non-systemic spray.

The stage at which the crawlers are active is also when the scale on one plant can be transmitted to another plant. The crawlers can walk or be blown on the wind to other plants. Additionally, they may even be carried by ants to other plants in your yard. Ants wish to farm the scale for the honeydew they produce and may transfer scale to new plants to start a new colony.

The timing of crawler activity varies depending on the scale species and your location. It is important to accurately identify what species of scale you have so that you know when crawlers will be active. University of Wisconsin has an informative article about various different types of common scales that can help you determine what kind of scale you have and when crawlers would be active.

The crawlers are very tiny and you will need a magnifying glass to see them. Ideally when it gets close to the time crawlers should be active, you would monitor with a magnifying glass or tape traps. This will allow you to know when to start spraying to achieve good control.

Once you see them start to emerge its time to start spraying.

Once you notice that the crawlers are active, the whole entire plant should be smothered with horticultural oil. They tree/plant needs to be sprayed very, very thoroughly and applications may need to be repeated if you continue to see active crawlers. It is important to make sure every surface on all the branches and leaves are drenched. Do not just spray the outer portions of the plant. All the branches deep inside the shrub need to be thoroughly sprayed as well. The insects need to be coated with the oil to be smothered. They are typically hiding deep within the plant. If you do not ensure that every surface of the plant is drenched, you will miss killing a large portion of the insects.

If you are having problems with scale infestations, dormant/horticultural oil should also be sprayed in the winter. Well timed and very thorough spraying of horticultural oil on the crawlers and a dormant winter spray usually provides very good control of most scale. This treatment method would be the lowest toxicity, most environmentally friendly way to control scale. Keep in mind, you will likely need to treat a large scale infestation for several years to fully control it.

Please note before you spray:

Oils can severely burn plants when applied in hot weather and in direct sun. If you sprays oil in the summer it should be done on a cloudy day when the temperature is below 90 degrees. Alternatively, spray in the evening when it will have time to completely dry before the sun gets on the leaves. It should also not be done below 32 degrees. Take this into consideration when deciding when to spray your dormant spray. It is also always a good idea to test spray a few leaves prior to spraying the entire plant.

If that is not enough to beat your scale problem

The best cure for scale is probably a combination of oils and a systematic insecticide. There are systemic insecticides such as Imidacloprid that are labeled for some species scale. Insecticides such as Imidacloprid are applied as a soil drench.

These pesticides are often restricted to licensed applicators. It is highly advised to speak to local extension agents or an professional pesticide applicator for advice before applying any pesticides. It is essential to seek positive ID of your scale species and recommendations for an appropriate pesticide from a professional before spraying harmful chemicals. Please also remember that these systemic pesticides WILL kill bees and other pollinators that feed from the plants, so do not spray them on plants that are or will be flowering.

Please also keep in mind that foliar sprays of broad spectrum insecticides like seven, Malathion, or permetherin are NOT RECOMMENDED. They are not effective on scale and are highly toxic to beneficial insects and can cause outbreaks of other pests such as spider mites.

Also ridiculous as it sounds

If there are tons of ants on the scale infected tree, control the ants. The ants want the honeydew made by the scale so they will ‘farm’ the scale. They will protect it from things like the parasitic wasps which normally help to keep it in check.

Lastly, if the tree branches or leaves have turned black during this infestation, this is sooty mold on it. It is often also seen with aphid infestations. The sooty mold is growing on all the honeydew from the scale feeding. If the scale problem is fixed, the sooty mold should resolve itself. The black might look alarming, but isn’t really harmful to the plant. It’s just ugly. Don’t go crazy spraying for or worrying about the sooty mold. The black gunk probably won’t fully disappear until the tree has shed and replaced its leaves. Just focus on getting the plant healthy. Removing the scale will resolve the sooty mold problem.

We hope this article helps you to know what to do if scale ever shows up in your yard.

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The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Everything You Need To Know About The Insect Scale first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

So what is sooty mold, and more importantly, where does it come from?

Sooty mold is as its name implies, a fungus. It is a fungus that is growing on the surface of your plant, car, patio, and anything else underneath the infected tree. Unlike plant disease fungi, it is not directly feeding off of your plants. Sooty mold is growing on the honeydew secretions of insects.

In and of itself sooty mold typically will cause no real harm. Generally, the pest causing the sooty mold is of much more concern. However, in very heavily infested plants, it can reduce the plants ability to do photosynthesis resulting in stunted plant growth. Sooty mold covered leaves may also be more prone to dropping early. Plus, it can also make a really ugly mess of your patio. Fortunately, it can be washed off your car or patio with some scrubbing. Keep in mind though, that until you control the insects secreting the honeydew it is likely to quickly return.

Once you have removed the insect source of honeydew feeding the mold it will gradually disappear as it uses up its food source.

If you have resolved your pest problem, and the sooty mold is still present, do not despair. Your plant will be perfectly fine. There is nothing else that you need to do. Sooty mold may not completely disappear until the plant has shed and replaced its leaves the following spring. While impractical for larger plants, if you really can’t stand looking at the blackened leaves, you may be able to wash some of it off smaller plants.

What insects are responsible for causing sooty mold

Aphids and scale are the insects mainly responsible for creating the honeydew sooty mold loves to feed on. Both of them feed on sap from your plants and secrete honeydew as a waste product. This waste product is high in sugar, so it provides an excellent food source for the mold. While aphids and scale are the most common contributors, they are not the only pest that can lead to sooty mold.

The first step in solving the sooty mold problem is to identify what pest you have on your plants. Start by inspecting tender new growth of plants in the areas where sooty mold is present. It can also be helpful to do an internet search to learn what pests are common on the infected plant species.

Don’t forget to consider trees like crape myrtles that might be dripping honeydew on plants beneath them. Every plant with sooty mold might not be infected with a plant pest. Often a tree will drip onto adjacent plants. This will make it look like they have a problem when in reality they do not.

Different pests may require different methods of control. For example, aphids and scale must be treated and managed in very different ways. It is important to identify your pest accurately as treating for the wrong pest can not only not control the problem pest, but it can cause outbreaks of other pests compounding your problem.

Control the ants

One last thing we would like to note is that not only does sooty mold like to feed off of honeydew, but so do ants. If you have a plant that has sooty mold and a lot of ants present, you should take measures to control the ants. There is a good chance that the ants are farming the scale or aphids for the honeydew. In this scenario, the ants are protecting the pest from the beneficial insect predators that would normally keep them under control. Sometimes controlling the ants can go a long way towards resolving your sooty mold problems.

We hope this alleviates your despair over your plants turning black on you, and sets you on the path to a greener garden!

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Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post How To Help Plants Blackened By Sooty Mold first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

What are aphids?

Aphids are small pear shaped insects. They are typically green, but can also be red, brown, black or yellow. They are often seen in clusters almost completely covering a part of a plant. For example, they particularly seem to love rose buds.

There are all sorts of different kinds of aphids, some of which only feed on a particular plant. This is why they can vary in color so much. Fortunately, identifying the specific species is unnecessary, and they all look similarly enough to easily be recognized as aphids. University of Minnesota has excellent pictures of several aphid species.

Aphids have interesting life cycle and reproduction habits.

Their physical characteristics and reproductive habits are based on the season and availability of food. During the warm weather months, female aphids give birth to live young. They do not require males to reproduce. During this time, they can also give rise to winged aphids. They will do this if the food source diminishes or they get over crowded in a given location. The winged aphids can then sail on the wind to other plants.

As the weather cools in the fall, males are produced as part of their survival strategy. These males mate with the females so that the females can lay eggs. Females lay eggs on the plants prior to winter setting in. These eggs overwinter and give rise to the new generation of aphids in the spring. As the weather warms, the eggs hatch producing a new generation of female aphids that will give birth to live young all summer.

How do I recognize aphids in my garden?

Aphids are easy to recognize if they are present in large numbers. You will see tons of little often translucent looking little pear shaped insects all over the leaves or stems of your plants. If they have been there for a while, you will likely also see white ‘dust’ all over the leaves. Sometimes you might notice this prior to seeing the actual aphids. This white ‘dust’ is shed aphid exoskeletons.

Mature aphids, smaller nymphs, and exoskeletons can be seen in this picture of aphids on a January cabbage.

You will notice there are clusters of exoskeletons in areas that currently have no aphids, and clusters of aphids in areas without exoskeletons. They fed on the exoskeleton area then moved on to a younger more tasty leaf. These aphids are feeding on the plant’s sap using slender sucking mouth parts. They like to congregate on new tender growth that is delicate and succulent.

You don’t typically see any aphid damage symptoms on the plant aside from the insects themselves being present. However, if the infestation is bad enough, you might. These symptoms might include twisted leaves, stunted growth, or yellow foliage.

Why do the leaves look wet, and what is this black stuff?

Another symptom of aphid feeding you might see is honeydew and sooty mold. Honeydew is the waste secretion of the aphids. It can look like sticky or wet spots on the surfaces of plant leaves. Honeydew in and of itself is not harmful to the plant. However, it can create a sticky mess if it drips down on anything that is underneath the plant. It can also result in the unsightly growth of sooty mold.

Sooty mold, like honeydew, is not harmful in and of itself. It is very unsightly though. It can cause your plant and anything under and around it where honeydew has dripped to turn an ugly black color. Though they are unsightly, neither sooty mold or honeydew require any treatment. Rather, if you have a problem with sooty mold or honeydew it is important to control the plant pest causing the honeydew secretions. If you control the plant pest, the unsightly sooty mold and honeydew will resolve themselves.

What can I do about the aphids?

As we said before, in many cases treating your plants for aphids is unnecessary. If they are present in low numbers and are not doing any obvious harm to the plants we would recommend monitoring them rather than treating them.

Why you might ask? Aphids have a lot of natural predators in the landscape. Often though you might not see them or realize it. These predators are keeping your aphid population under control. If you spray for aphids and unintentionally kill off your beneficial insects, you risk having an explosion of aphids or other pests like spider mites. These outbreaks are often seen within a week of spraying. It is usually better to let Mother Nature self regulate. Additionally, if you think you need more control than the beneficial insects present seem to be managing there are a variety of predatory insects such as ladybugs available for purchase.

It is a good idea to remove weeds from in and around your garden as they can sometimes harbor massive aphid populations. You can also blast aphid covered plants with a strong spray from a garden hose. This will knock the aphids off, and can also help wash off the unsightly sooty mold that might be present. However unlike pesticides, it will not have a detrimental effect on the beneficial insects present. Unlike the aphids you wash off, any beneficial insects knocked off can fly back onto the plant to resume aphid eating.

Indoor plants will probably need more help

Unfortunately, if you are growing plants indoors in a controlled environment, you will likely have to take aphid control into your own hands. Most houses and greenhouses do not have a population of predatory insects present to control pest outbreaks.

Fortunately, aphids are fairly easy to control. A mild pesticide such as Neem Oil or Insecticidal Soap is usually sufficient to control them. These insecticides are relatively harmless to most beneficial insects and humans. They are contact insecticides so the aphids need to be exposed to them to be killed. For this reason, the plants will need to be sprayed thoroughly. Be sure to get the undersides of all the leaves. Repeat applications can be made until the aphids have been eliminated. These mild pesticides will likely also be sufficient if you need to reduce the aphid population on an outdoor plant.

If you do decide to use a more toxic pesticide then this, please be sure to read the label carefully, and use it responsibly. Many of these pesticides can make aphid outbreaks worse by killing off beneficial insects. They are also extremely toxic to pollinators, so do not spray them on flowering plants, or plants that will be flowering soon. As always, if you are unsure, it is best to talk to a local extension agent or pest control company for guidance.

We hope this helps you take control of your next aphid outbreak!

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Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Those Little Green Bugs Covering Your Plant Are Aphids first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

Harlequin bugs are capable of killing a Brassica crop if left unchecked. They are not picky and will feed on broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, collards, mustards, turnips, horseradish radishes, etc. Once they finish demolishing your Brassicas, they can also migrate onto other crops such as tomatoes, peppers, asparagus, beans, potatoes, fruit trees, field crops. They can feed on most anything desirable you might be growing to eat.

Harlequin bugs don’t truly hibernate. This means that they can and will be active as soon as you plant out your earliest crops. However, in our experience, they can be a particularly large problem on heat stressed cold crops—both later on in the spring and in the early fall.

They are sap sucking insects. They spend their whole lives starting from the time they hatch sucking the sap out of your plant’s leaves. Not only are they sucking your plant’s precious ‘blood’ but they are also damaging the leaf tissue with their feeding activities leaving brown spots. The combination of sap sucking and leaf damage can result in the entire plant eventually browning, wilting and dying.

Recognizing these destructive pests

The good news is that Harlequin bugs are gaudy at all life stages. They are not good at camouflage. They hatch out of very distinct looking black and white striped egg clusters. These clusters are typically found on the backs of leaves. If you find egg clusters, remove and destroy them!

These eggs hatch out into very small round bugs called nymphs. They go through 5 or 6 nymph stages over the course of 1-2 months before becoming mature adults capable of mating. Each nymph stage is larger and slightly different looking. They start out small with very little orange on them, but get larger and more orange at each phase. Nymph pictures are scattered throughout this article. Plus University of Florida has additional pictures of some nymph stages.

How do we control them?

To begin with there are a couple cultural practices that you should use to help keep down their numbers, and to prevent them from overwintering in your garden. Before you implement any of the following techniques, it is important to make sure that you are controlling all the wild mustard type weeds that Harlequin bugs like to feed on. If you are not controlling the weeds in and around your garden other cultural control methods will not be as effective.

If you have low numbers of Harlequin bugs present, handpicking them can provide sufficient control. This is particularly true if you pick and destroy the adults in the spring and fall as they are going into/emerging from hibernation. Killing as many overwintering adults as possible reduces the number that will be present to lay eggs in the spring.

What if there are too many to hand pick?

Another technique that you can use if you have large numbers of the present is planting a trap crop. Plant a mustard crop very early in the season, once the bugs have all migrated over to the trap crop you can spray, burn or otherwise destroy them on the trap plants. Then you can plant your actual crop after you have destroyed a large percentage of the overwintered adults.

Perhaps most importantly

Probably one of the most important cultural control methods is to destroy all crop residue in the fall after your crops are harvested. This way the bugs will not be able to overwinter on the crop residues. Additionally, if you live somewhere that the season is long enough to grow both a spring and a fall Brassica crop, it is a good idea to destroy all crop residue after harvesting your spring crops.

Do not allow any heat stressed Brassicas to remain in your garden during the summer. They will breed Harlequin bugs like crazy. Instead remove all of them and allow your garden to go a couple months devoid of anything in the Brassica family so that the bugs migrate elsewhere. Once your garden has been devoid of Brassicas for a few months, the Harlequin bugs should have moved on. Then you can plant your fall crop.

Because adult Harlequin bugs will overwinter in your garden it can be tricky to eliminate them completely. However, using the above techniques combined with insect barrier should keep their numbers very low. The same insect barrier used to protect your crops from cabbage worms should prevent Harlequin bug problems as well. Since adults overwinter on debris in your garden, check underneath your insect barrier periodically to make sure you don’t have any pests that hatched out underneath it.

Chemical methods of control

A combination of the above methods will likely be enough to control Harlequin bug populations for most homeowners. We would encourage you to try growing all your Brassica family crops under row covers before resorting to pesticides. Row covers can save you a lot of time and frustration.

If row covers and cultural practices are not to be enough to prevent Harlequin bug damage, there are a variety of common pesticides labeled for killing Harlequin bugs. Pyrethroid and carbaryl are examples of some pesticides commonly used for Harlequin bugs. Be sure to check with a local extension agent if you have any questions about using pesticides. Also be sure to read and follow all label directions carefully.

Next time you see a beautiful black and orange bug crawling around in your garden, admire its beauty, and then squish it before it has a chance to destroy your hard worked for crops.

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The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post The Harlequin Bug: A Closer Look At This Beautiful Pest first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.

Now saying cabbage worms is a bit inaccurate. These caterpillars feed on any member of the Brassica family. Though they prefer broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts, they will also feed on mustards, turnips, radishes, kale and other greens you might have in their garden. They might even be caught munching on your tomatoes if they get desperate.

But where did they come from?

Since cabbage worms will feed on any member of the Brassica family, they came from around. They aren’t picky eaters. There are plenty of wild weeds around almost any neighborhood they can live on.

As you probably know, caterpillars turn into moths and butterflies, so it is easy for them to relocate from the weeds to your garden. When you planted broccoli (one of their favorite foods) the cabbage worm moth in your neighborhood took notice and moved to your yard. You might have even noticed white or brown moths fluttering around near your broccoli plants prior to having a problem. They were busy laying eggs all over your plants.

And then….

Your plants are full of holes. Immediately. Well, actually not quite immediately, but it doesn’t take long. Shortly after the moths lay eggs eggs a zillion tiny little caterpillars emerged and started munching on your plants. So many of them can hatch at the same time, and they eat so fast that they can seemingly devastate a broccoli plant almost overnight.

Now there are two different types of cabbage worms commonly seen. A slightly fuzzy green cabbage worm and one with yellow stripes called the cross striped cabbage worm. In our experience, the cross striped one appears in greater numbers and is more devastating. This is because the green cabbage worm eggs are laid individually, and the cross striped cabbage worm eggs are laid in clusters of up to 25 eggs.

Cross Striped Cabbage Worms

Cross striped cabbage worms also tend to leave unpleasant webs in your heads of broccoli where they have been feeding. The good news about these worms on a fall crop is that they seem to disappear quite quickly as the weather cools. They however can be a huge ongoing problem on spring crops. They start out very small and like to feed on the undersides of leaves, so they can do a lot of damage before they becomes highly visible.

Green Cabbage Worms

The green cabbage worm is less of a menace in our opinion. Because eggs of this species are laid individually you will typically only have 1 worm on a leaf rather than dozens. They will also often appear on the tops of leaves, so are visible and easy to pick off and destroy. This makes them a bit easier to get ahead of. Unfortunately these caterpillars are much more cold tolerant. They can still be out there munching on our broccoli heads in December–long after there has been a hard freeze.

Not to worry though

In our opinion, they are one of the easiest garden pests to control, and even if your plants have been severely eaten, they can recover and go on to produce a nice crop once you have controlled the worms. Our 2023 crop is proof of that.

That fall we were in the midst of a drought, and it was a very hot fall. Both of these things contributed to slow growing, stressed plants. Coupling that with the continued high pest pressure that we had been struggling with all summer was a bad combination. By the end of September, this resulted in our Brassica crop looking like the first picture below. These poor plants were covered in both types of cabbage worms and Harlequin bugs.

These pictures are from September 25th and November 4^th. Despite being eaten down to almost nothing, these plants recovered and produced a beautiful crop in just over a month’s time.

So how do you control cabbage worms?

The best way to control cabbage worms is by growing your Brassicas underneath insect barrier. This is particularly true if you live in an area that has a lot of cabbage worms. Unlike other crops, like tomatoes and zucchini, your Brassicas do not require pollination for you to get a crop. This means that you can cover the plants with insect barrier at planting and leave it over them until harvest.

This is what we typically do in our garden, and we have no cabbage worm problems. If the moths cannot lay eggs on your plants, you will not have problems with worms eating them. In our experience this is much easier and more effective for home gardeners than spraying your plants.

In the fall of 2023 we did not put insect barrier over our Brassica crop because there had been so many Harlequin bugs all over our garden (another Brassica pest we will cover in a future blog post). In hind site we probably should have covered them anyways as they were absolutely demolished by cabbage worms.

What is insect barrier?

Insect barrier is a very lightweight fabric that allows light and water to go through it. If you take care of it, you can likely use it for several seasons. We like to bend metal wire hoops over our plants to suspend the insect barrier above them. We then anchor the sides down with soil and bricks. You don’t want the insect barrier to be touching the plants. This can sometimes allow the moths to lay eggs on your plants through the fabric. After we put the insect barrier on at planting, we only remove it to weed or to harvest the crop. Watering can be done through the cloth.

If you decide to use insect barrier it is imperative that you put it on immediately after planting. It is also important that you remove it only briefly to weed or harvest. Cabbage moths don’t take long to lay eggs, so if you leave the insect barrier off all afternoon or overnight you might end up with a crop of worms under your insect barrier.

Also, equally as important is to thoroughly check over purchased plants. If you buy plants that have been kept outdoors prior to you purchasing them, they may already have cabbage worm eggs on them. Check the plants over thoroughly before you plant them–particularly on the undersides of leaves. You should also monitor them after planting to make sure no worms hatch out in the first week after planting them under the insect barrier.

If you live in an area with low cabbage worm pressure.

You can also stay ahead of cabbage worms by taking a few minutes every day to pick off and squish any worms or eggs you see. Since we don’t spray our vegetable garden with any chemicals organic or otherwise, this is the route we took in 2023 to salvage our devastated crop. Picking worms daily coupled with some rain and cooler weather had our plants growing new healthy leaves in a couple weeks time. This is much more time consuming than covering plants with insect barrier, but it can work if you are diligent about doing it. This method works better in more northern climates where the cross striped cabbage moth isn’t prevalent.

Our least preferred method

And of course there is also the option of spraying your plants. This can leave you with less than desirable results. Most common insecticides will result in inadequate control of cabbage worms. Do not spray your plants with these as they can be harmful to the parasitic wasps that are the natural enemies of cabbage worms.

You can spray the plants with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) early in the season to control the cabbage worms. Most insecticides that do kill cabbage worms will only be effective if the worms are still very small. If you have large worms on your plants spraying is not effective and you will need pick the worms off manually. This is why we suggest simply growing the plants under insect barrier. Then there is no concern about correctly timing pesticide applications or pesticide failure.

We hope this guide helps you to grow a beautiful worm free broccoli crop this spring!

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Please remember

The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.

The post Help! Something Is Eating My Broccoli. Its Cabbage Worms first appeared on Snowdrop Farm.