Floriculture Greenhouse Update

- Jenny Carleo
Greenhouse observations from this week's NE Floriculture Update include:

• Botrytis, Whitefly, and Powdery mildew on tomatoes 
• Thrips on cukes 
• Leaf spot on eggplant 
• Aphids on peppers 

Corn stem weevil

A field of sweet corn in Cape May County has an infestation of corn stem weevil affecting about 1/4 of a 10 acre field.  The adult weevils feed on newly emerged corn seedlings either on the stem or in the whorl causing erratic holes in the leaves and stems.  Other similar pest damage is from slug feeding and billbug, another weevil.  When disturbed the 2-3 mm long weevil drops to the ground where it is nearly invisible due to its salt and pepper coloration.  Serious plant injury has not been seen although some of the smaller seedlings today were heavily damaged and if survive may be stunted in their growth.

Joe Ingerson-Mahar

USDA celebrates 150 years of service!

On May 22, 1865 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Legislation that created The United States Department of Agriculture. Yesterday marked its 150th Anniversary. The above video was made by the USDA to celebrate the occasion.
-Rick VanVranken

Two Social Media Tools to Sustain Ag

GROWMARK promotes cropNAtion, a social media platform for agriculture available in the Apple iTunes store and Google Play, as a 'virtual coffee shop' where farmers can ask questions, share stories and photos, and cultivate relationships.

Farm Family Insurance supports ag sustainability with free Harvest to Hand app that gives consumers "easy access to fresh farm products, events and home-spun goods right at their fingertips" on their iPhone® and iPod touch® and available at the Apple iTunes store. Local food or farm venues can submit details about themselves via this online form.

-Rick VanVranken

White mold in GH & HT: Diagnosis and Control

White mold, or timber rot, caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum can be a serious problem in tomatoes grown in greenhouses and high tunnels.

This photo shows tomato stem with the diagnostic white mycelium and black sclerotia of the white mold fungus.

Webinar: "IPM for Organic farmers-web tools, scouting and IPM"

The North Central SARE program is sponsoring this webinar that will be presented by Beth Bishop, Michigan State University's Enviro Weather Coordinator on how to set up a sound Integrated Pest Management program for your farm and use online tools to assist you predict pest outbreaks as well as give you a heads up of possible pest outbreaks.