Welcome to the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System's
Vegetable Pest Message
2009

This message is being recorded on Friday afternoon September 18th by Jude Boucher.

This week's message will cover:

  • Upcoming conferences

  • Corn earworm

  • Cercospora leaf spot on beans

Upcoming conferences
On Tuesday, November 3, there will be a day-long Greenhouse and High Tunnel Tomato Conference at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, MA.  Pre-registration price will be $40. This conference sold out 2 years ago, so it is recommended to pre-register if you want to attend this year.  Contact Leanne Pundt at 860-626-6855 or Tina Smith at 413-545-5306 for more information, or to register on-line go to: www.umass.edu/umext/floriculture/upcoming_events/index.html. 

On Monday, December 14, the day before the New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference starts at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, NH, there will be a Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Workshop aimed at training you on how to avoid human microbial pathogens as you pack foods on your farm. You'll learn how to prepare for the USDA's third-party audit process and how to prepare a farm GAP plan.  To register or for more information contact: Shirley Floyd at 413 545-4420 or at mietlicki@umext.umass.edu.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, December 15-17 the New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference will be held at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, NH.  There will be 30 different educational sessions with over 140 individual talks, about a dozen farmer-to- farmer discussion groups on hot topics, a trade show with over 100 vendors and a chance to meet and talk with other farmers and specialists at the evening happy hours.  You'll be receiving registration material in the mail in the next week or two, or you can go to www.newenglandvfc.org for more information or to register on-line or contact Jude at 860 875-3331, or you can write me at jude.boucher@uconn.edu. 

Finally, on Thursday January 21, we will host the annual Connecticut Vegetable and Small Fruit Growers Conference here at the Tolland County Extension Office.  We have some talks lined up on late blight, marketing and sweet corn production that you won't want to miss. Contact Jude for more information. 

Corn earworm
CEW moth counts in pheromone traps remained about the same this week in Shelton and Berlin and dropped slightly in East Hartford.  Shelton captured 1 or 2 moths per night and is on a 4 or 5 day schedule on fresh silking corn, Berlin captured just 0.7 moths per night and is on a 5 day schedule, and East Hartford was down to just 0.5 moths per night and is now on a six day schedule on fresh silking corn.  Growers are stretching these intervals by 1 day due to the cool temperatures.

Here is a list of infestations found at different sites while scouting sweet corn this past week. *means that the planting is over threshold and should be sprayed. MW=mid-whorl, LW= late-whorl, PT=pre-tassel, S=silk. 

Town % infested plants Stage of planting ECB  & FAW moths / week CEW moths/N
Shelton 10%* FAW PT  0 ECB 1-2 = 4-5 day schedule
Berlin      0 ECB 0.7 = 5-day schedule
East Hartford      0 ECB 0.5 = 6-day schedule

Cercospora leaf spot on beans
One grower found small brown spots with concentric rings that resembled early blight lesions on his lower older bean leaves this week.  The UConn diagnostic lab identified these as Cercospora leaf spots which can spread to the pods. This disease can be controlled with either copper or chlorothalonil, the active ingredient in Bravo.  It also helps to rotate next season to a cereal crop like sweet corn to prevent this experience next season. 

Cercospora leaf spot on beans.click image for a larger view.
 

Image: David B. Langston, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org
click image to see a larger view

That's all for this season.  Thanks for calling the pest message this season. We hope you found it helpful and we hope to see you this winter at one of the workshops or conferences.

Jude Boucher

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The information in this material is for educational purposes. The recommendations contained are based on the best available knowledge at the time of printing. Any reference to commercial products, trade or brand names is for information only, and no endorsement or approval is intended. The Cooperative Extension system does not guarantee or warrant the standard of any product referenced or imply approval of the product to the exclusion of others which also may be available.All agrochemicals/pesticides listed are registered for suggested uses in accordance with federal and Connecticut state laws and regulations as of the date of printing. If the information does not agree with current labeling, follow the label instructions. The label is the law.Warning! Agrochemicals/pesticides are dangerous. Read and follow all instructions and safety precautions on labels. Carefully handle and store agrochemicals/pesticides in originally labeled containers immediately in a safe manner and place. Contact the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for current regulations.The user of this information assumes all risks for personal injury or property damage.Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Kirklyn M. Kerr, Director, Cooperative Extension System, The University of Connecticut, Storrs. The Connecticut Cooperative Extension System offers its programs to persons regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability and is an equal opportunity employer.

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