Sulfur and copper can be sprayed when temperatures are between 55 and 85 F and weather is wet, to protect leaves from infection.  These "least toxic" options are less effective when overhead irrigation is applied.

Copper can be sprayed to protect leaves when weather is wet and warm.  

Woody Plants:  Ash, maple, rose, sycamore, and  many other deciduous trees and shrubs. 

Vegetables: Members of the Cucurbitaceae family (cucumber,squash), raspberry.

Keep irrigation off leaves. 

Vegetables: Remove and destroy diseased twigs and leaves. Plant on raised beds and use plastic mulches to avoid splashing.

Raspberries: Remove and destroy old fruiting canes; use resistant cultivars such as Heritage, Meeker.  

Woody Plants: Prune out dead wood and the water sprouts.  Avoid drought stress by watering in dry spells and keeping the root zone mulched.

Vegetables: If weather is wet and temperatures >50°F, protect leaves with copper sprays as soon as leaves are fully expanded, copper and sulfur can injure sensitive plants like cucurbits, especially cucumber.
Raspberries: Avoid excessive Nitrogen fertilization.  Bordeaux or Lime sulfur mix when first green tissue appears (timing is critical -too early is ineffective).
Woody Plants:  Chemical control is usually not needed.  Only needed if prolonged wet periods between 45-55ºF. Occurs during bud break and early shoot growth. Cooper is the least toxic option.

Aphid outbreaks are encouraged by cool, wet spring weather because their populations increase more rapidly than their natural enemies in this climate. Aphid outbreaks may also occur if controls used to treat other pests harm aphid predators (i.e., syrphid fly and lacewing larvae, ladybird beetles). Certain controls are more toxic to predators than others (see treatment options). Excessive fertilization, especially nitrogen, causes plants to maintain succulent growth, and may encourage aphids. Use less soluble nitrogen fertilizers (ammonium or urea-based forms or compost). Avoid pruning that encourages early spring growth. On aphid-susceptible species, prune in late spring after aphids arrive and prune a little at a time. Stop pruning before the end of July so you don't encourage a fall flush of growth.

Check aphid populations regularly, especially in the spring when temperatures are between 60 - 80º F and new, succulent growth is present. Appropriate control methods vary by season. During aphids' dormant season, check for eggs (in late winter) to decide if a dormant control will be required. Check ten twigs per tree. If 30 to 50% have eggs, a dormant oil treatment may be helpful. 

In early spring, check ten terminal shoots weekly; look especially at leaf undersides. If 25-50% of the terminals on young trees and shrubs are infested, some control may be required. Older, large trees can usually tolerate 50% or more terminal infestation before control is necessary. Check for predators. If predators are present at a ratio of 1:5, control is usually not required. If leaf curling is occurring already, treat immediately, especially on aphid-susceptible species like plum and green ash. 

Mechanical:

Yellow sticky traps are useful to catch winged aphids, particularly in indoor growing situations, as long as populations are not too high. Sticky traps may catch some predator species as well as aphids.

Botanical:

Neem oil (Margosan-O, Bioneem, Greenlight, or Azatin) is best applied 2-3 times in succession, 7-10 days apart. Spray in the evening. It has a short activity period. Repeat applications!

Pyrethrum/Pyrethrin works best if combined with insecticidal soap: add 1/2 to 1 Tbsp. per gallon. Spray in the evening. This botanical has an extremely rapid breakdown rate, especially in sunlight. It also has a very short activity period. Repeat applications and spot spray if possible. It can harm predators and parasites.

Aphid outbreaks are encouraged by cool, wet spring weather because their populations increase more rapidly than their natural enemies in this climate. Aphid outbreaks may also occur if controls used to treat other pests harm aphid predators (i.e., syrphid fly and lacewing larvae, ladybird beetles). Certain controls are more toxic to predators than others (see treatment options). Excessive fertilization, especially nitrogen, causes plants to maintain succulent growth, and may encourage aphids. Use less soluble nitrogen fertilizers (ammonium or urea-based forms or compost). Avoid pruning that encourages early spring growth. On aphid-susceptible species, prune in late spring after aphids arrive and prune a little at a time. Stop pruning before the end of July so you don't encourage a fall flush of growth.

Check aphid populations regularly, especially in the spring when temperatures are between 60 - 80º F and new, succulent growth is present. Appropriate control methods vary by season. During aphids' dormant season, check for eggs (in late winter) to decide if a dormant control will be required. Check ten twigs per tree. If 30 to 50% have eggs, a dormant oil treatment may be helpful. 

In early spring, check ten terminal shoots weekly; look especially at leaf undersides. If 25-50% of the terminals on young trees and shrubs are infested, some control may be required. Older, large trees can usually tolerate 50% or more terminal infestation before control is necessary. Check for predators. If predators are present at a ratio of 1:5, control is usually not required. If leaf curling is occurring already, treat immediately, especially on aphid-susceptible species like plum and green ash. 

Mechanical:

Yellow sticky traps are useful to catch winged aphids, particularly in indoor growing situations, as long as populations are not too high. Sticky traps may catch some predator species as well as aphids.

Botanical:

Neem oil (Margosan-O, Bioneem, Greenlight, or Azatin) is best applied 2-3 times in succession, 7-10 days apart. Spray in the evening. It has a short activity period. Repeat applications!

Pyrethrum/Pyrethrin works best if combined with insecticidal soap: add 1/2 to 1 Tbsp. per gallon. Spray in the evening. This botanical has an extremely rapid breakdown rate, especially in sunlight. It also has a very short activity period. Repeat applications and spot spray if possible. It can harm predators and parasites.

Apple, cherry, hawthorn, mountain ash, pear, and willow

Several native parasitic insects have provided adequate control, including a species of tachinid fly and species of braconid, ichneumonid, and chalid wasps. Spiders, pathogens, and other predators have also contributed to control.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt-K). Treat newly hatched larvae, before leaves curl. This works best when temperatures are warm (>50ºF). 

Chemical:

Spinosad - Treat by spraying newly hatched larvae.

Azadirachtin (neem extract)

Apple and crabapple. Pear is host to another species of Venturia.

Keep water off of leaves and branches. Rake up and destroy infected leaves in the fall. Use resistant cultivars. Shred infected leaves to help speed up decomposition.  Pruning to increase airflow.

See Disease Resistant Apple Cultivars

In some studies, compost tea was effective as a preventative, while in other studies, compost tea had no effect.
Seranade MAX - label states it should be tank mixed with another fungicide.

Sulfur when the weather is wet and warm (see life cycle). Must be reapplied when precipitation (or irrigation) is >1 inch since the last application. Immunox or captan, if infection periods are high when leaves are first expanding - Check Pest Alert phone line:  (406) 258-3820.  

Grand and Douglas Fir under the age of 30 years primarily, but also occurring in many other conifers and hardwoods.

Corn, celery, beets, peppers, lettuce, and other vegetables.

Blacklight traps catch male and female moths; pheromone traps catch only the males. Both traps are most effective as indicators of population levels.

Ash.

Ash

Asparagus and related crops.

The larvae feed on asparagus berries; shake off the berries onto a sheet and destroy them. 

Chemical:

Vegetables: Carrots, celery, lettuce, parsnips .

Flowers:  Asters, Echinacea, and annual flowers such as zinnia.

Spray Bordeaux Mix on woody perennials as buds begin to break in the spring. Protect with copper sprays if rain and warm (65 - 75° F.) weather occur. For vegetable crops, treat seed with hot water or bleach and use 2 year rotations. On vegetable crops, protect from rain and frost with floating row covers. 

Tomatoes and peppers.

Keep water off of leaves. Use a 3 year rotation. Treat seed with hot (122° F.) water for 25 minutes or 20% bleach solution for 20-40 minutes.  Carry out proper sanitation in the greenhouse or field to minimize infection.   Spray copper during wet, warm (>75° F.) weather.  Applications of Sonata or Seranade (Bacillus subtilis QST 713) on 7-14 day intervals.

Most commonly: aspen, poplar, willow, and elm; also affects fruit trees, ash, birch, fir, maple, mountain ash, and pines.

Cucurbits (cucumber, squash).

Awide range of vegetables including lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussell sprouts, beets, tomato, bean, onion, and asparagus.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt-K). Treat newly hatched larvae. This works best when temperatures are warm (>50ºF). 

Chokecherry, plums, cherries, and other trees and shrubs in the genus Prunus.

Potatoes (subspecies of this bacterium affect other crops including sugar beets and sunflowers).

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi and other plants in the cabbage family, radish.

Use 2-3 year rotations and destroy infected plants. Grow resistant varieties.

Spray copper if weather is wet.

Treat seed with hot (120° F.) water 30 minutes before planting.

Rose

Start at bud break with a lime-sulfur delayed dormant spray.  Protect new leaves with sulfur if weather is wet and warm.  Sprays every one to two weeks if you have had past infections. Captan, potassium bicarbonate or fixed copper sprays may be used in rotation.  

Strawberries, clematis, euonymus, lilac, rhododendron.

Parasitic nematodes (Steinernema carpocapsae) applied to black plastic mulched strawberries in the drip irrigation system twice, once in the spring and again in late summer, reduced black vine weevil by 50%.

Parasitic nematodes (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) applied at 5,000/pot effectively controlled black vine weevil in Maryland. H. bacteriophora efficacy is reduced at soil temperatures below 68° F. Late summer application is recommended in western Montana. Keep soil moist after application. These nematodes do better in pots if sub-irrigated rather than overhead-irrigated.

Beauveria bassiana is a fungus which causes a disease known as the white muscadine disease in insects. When spores of this fungus come in contact with the cuticle (skin) of susceptible insects, they germinate and grow directly through the cuticle to the inner body of their host. Here the fungus proliferates throughout the insect's body, producing toxins and draining the insect of nutrients, eventually killing it. Therefore, unlike bacterial and viral pathogens of insects, Beauveria and other fungal pathogens infect the insect with contact and do not need to be consumed by their host to cause infection.  Trade names Botanigard or Naturalis.

Various species of serviceberry (Amelanchier).

This disease is most common in woodland or stream bottom habitat.  Spores are released in the spring, they germinate in bark fissures or axils of leaves or buds, and the fungus then invades the twigs.  Where summers are dry here in the Northwest, the first crop of leaves may be cast and replaced at midsummer by a secound crop more sickly than the first.

Boxelder, ash, and maple.

Birch.

Keep birch well watered during the dry months of July and August. Mulch with 1 - 3" of composted wood bark. Remove and discard limbs with raised ridges on the bark and/or top dieback in late winter. DO NOT PRUNE after the first of May - fresh wounds attract adults. Betula nigra (River Birch) Heritage is somewhat resistant.

Preventative insecticide applications of carbaryl to the trunk and lower limbs in early summer when adults are active.  Check Pest Alert Hotline (258-3820) for timing.

Soil injections of imidacloprid in late fall.

Pine or other conifers (usually only at high elevations). See fir, spruce.

Under cover of snow, the fungus envelops the branch (fungus grows at 26 - 32°F) in a gray mycelium.  After snowmelt and exposure the fungus stops growing and turns a dark brown.   The secound winter, fruiting bodies develop under the snow.

Ash

Cabbage family plants (cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale), beans(pods), celery, lettuce, radish, tomatoes.

Traps are available to catch male cabbage looper moths.

Spray Bt if you find 1 worm per 2 plants. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) must be ingested by worms before it has any effect. Good coverage of upper and lower leaf surfaces is important. Use lots of water and insecticidal soap as a sticker (1-1/2 oz/gal) when spraying Bt. Using a feeding attractant, such as molasses (½ - 1 oz/gal), may improve control. Bt breaks down rapidly in sunlight (usually within 24 hours). It is best to apply it in the evening. Bt is washed off leaves by rainfall of 1/2 to 1 inch and thus must be reapplied if rain occurs within a few hours of application. Bt is most effective if sprayed when temperatures are above 45° F. Use Bt within 2 years of purchase - it does not store well. 

Flies and wasps parasitize these worms. Eggs and larvae are both fed upon by other beneficial insects and birds.

Carrots, celery

Plant late to avoid larva cycle (after June 1). Avoid following sod with your carrot crop. Cover crop with row covers as soon as seedlings emerge. Don't harvest late in the year and don't overwinter carrots in the soil.

Carrots, celery, parsnip

Use a 3-year rotation.  Cover new seed beds with floating row cover.

Parasitic nematodes can be somewhat effective against larvae. Apply when planting and water in. 

Check plants regularly; if more than one adult is seen per 10 foot row, spray pyrethrum.

Rust occurs anywhere that perennial hosts (juniper, cedar, etc.) grow near their deciduous hosts(apple, hawthorn).

Optimal temperatures for rust infections are 64-70° F. High temperatures (>85° F.) and dry weather discourage rust disease.

Irrigate early enough in the day so that plant surfaces have time to dry before the cooler temperatures of evening. Keep irrigation off of leaves, branches, and trunk.

Prune plants for good air circulation.

Plant resistant varieties.

Sulfur or copper soap sprays can be effective if sprayed preventatively in the spring when rust infection periods occur(wet with temperatures 60-70ºF).

Beets, carrots, celery, cucurbits (cucumber, squash), eggplant, tomatoes (different species on each vegetable). Also found on perennial flowers, Roses, Dogwood, and Viburnum leaves.

Grow resistant varieties. Soak seed in 122° F. water for 25 minutes before sowing. Use a three-year rotation between each susceptible vegetable crop (ie: tomatoes, carrots, lettuce). Keep water off leaves. Increase air movement by staking if possible.

To encourage new leaf growth, use foliar fish fertilizer each time you irrigate.

Spray sulfur, copper or neem at first sign of the disease. (Cucurbits are very copper sensitive; test your varieties before spraying; use copper sprays very sparingly, and never on bright, sunny days with temperatures above 80 to 85° F).

Dog-day cicada: Boxelder and cottonwood;
Putnam's cicada: Crabapple, maple, mountain ash, oak, pear.

Apples, pears, and (on RARE occasions) plums.

Codling moths over winter as larvae underneath apple tree bark or occasionally in the soil at the base of host trees. Adults emerge in the spring when temperatures reach 50° F. Optimum temperature for codling moth development is 68-81° F. Cool temperatures (<55° F) and rainy weather limit codling moth flight and thus mating. High temperatures (>92° F) also limit codling moth flight.

After mating, codling moth adults lay eggs singly on or near the fruit. Each moth lays between 30-130 eggs. Eggs hatch and tiny white (1/8" long) codling moth larva feed on apple fruit surface producing shallow, brown, sawdusty spots. Within 4 to 48 hours larva begin to tunnel into the fruit within days. Larva develop inside fruit, then leave the fruit and crawl down the tree trunk to pupate on tree bark or in the soil. There are 2-3 generations of codling moths in Missoula per year.

Predation removes 10-20% of codling moth eggs laid in unsprayed orchards. Major predators of codling moth eggs are minute pirate bugs, earwigs, lacewings, predatory thrips, spiders, birds, ground beetles, and native parasitic wasps.

Trichogramma wasp releases have been used as one tool in an integrated codling moth control program in Washington state.

Codling moth granulosis virus sprayed repeatedly to coincide with egg hatch reduced codling moth injury 60-80% in California tests.  In Colorado Organic orchards, granulosis virus (Cydx and Virosoft) is sprayed at 1st hatch (250-300 degree day hours after 1st male moth catch) and then bi-monthly through second generation larval hatch.  Colorado orchardists use Spinosad (Entrust) alternating with granulosis bi-monthly.

Bacillus thuringiensis may have limited efficacy against codling moth larvae if it is sprayed repeatedly every 3-5 days to coincide with first and second generation larval hatch. It is best used in combination with other management tools.

Chemical:  

NonOrganic options include carbaryl, malathion, permethrin, and acetamiprid.  Add 1 Tbsp oil and molasses to each gallon of spray.  Spray in the evening.

All solanaceous crops (eggplant, pepper, potato, tomato), especially eggplant and potato.

Deep straw mulch around susceptible solanaceous plants has been shown to suppress the first generation of Colorado potato beetle adults and larvae in late spring/summer.

Research with living mulches of rye/vetch in row middles mowed and left to dry, must cover young plants. As the plants grow above the mulch level, they are susceptible to second generation Colorado potato beetle damage .

In USDA WA study, control using Beauveria bassiana was inadequate until potato plants grew enough to cover bare soil in the row. Beauveria, the biological control fungus, requires high humidity for germination and infection.

The two-spotted stinkbug, Perillus bioculatus, is a good predator of Colorado potato beetle. Five consecutive releases of the bugs, starting when eggs were first present, maintained plots in New Brunswick, Canada, virtually free from Colorado potato beetle.

This stinkbug has been reported feeding on Colorado Potato Beetle in Western Montana. 

Chemical:

Spinosad, Neem Extract or Pyrethrin

Primarily pines, douglas-fir, and dogwood; occasionally other plants.

Spruce, douglas-fir.

Woolly, white nymphs overwinter on the lower surface of needles and near buds. In late spring, large egg masses are laid. Eggs hatch in about 20 days and nymphs move to twig tips to feed on the new needles. Nymphs are full grown in mid-summer and produce a generation of new insects that are both winged and wingless. The wingless form remains on the douglas-fir for a second generation. The winged forms fly to spruce to complete their cycle. 

Pruning out galls is ineffective.

Neem and/or insecticidal soap aimed at the woolly, white aphid stage on spruce or douglas-fir in the spring, just as new growth starts to elongate. Repeat applications may be required. 

Fall applications of soil applied imidacloprid.

Beans, corn, peppers, tomatoes.

Blacklight traps catch male and female moths; pheromone traps catch only the males. Both traps are most effective as indicators of population levels.

Use floating row covers, being sure to remove them when plants bloom so that pollination is not hindered. (Remay has been shown to be the most effective type of floating row cover for these types of pests.)

Botanical:

Biological:

Corn and related crops.

Additions of organic matter have been shown to decrease root worm populations through increased egg predation. Do not plant corn in the same place for 2 years.
Adult beetles can be hand picked.

lamba-cyhalothrin (Spectracide Triacizade once & Done Insect Killer), cyfluthrin, permethrin

Mechanical:

Use floating row covers. REMEMBER to remove the row covers after corn begins to tassel so that good pollination may occur.

Cottonwood, other poplars and willow.

Most borers attack only trees that are stressed due to drought, injury or disease. Consequently, any means of promoting vigorous tree growth should be considered the primary approach for borer management.

Maintaining steady, adequate moisture is most critical to developing tree defenses to borers.

Cottonwood, willow and occasionally other Populus species (aspen, poplar).

Cucurbits (cucumber, squash), peas.

Cucumber beetles overwinter as pupae in woody, weedy areas. They emerge in the spring. Adults lay eggs at the base of host plants; larvae hatch and feed on roots in the soil for about 1 month. There may be two generations per season. 

Grow resistant varieties, when possible

Unbaited yellow sticky traps and traps baited with volatile cucurbit floral extracts, known as TIC (trimethoxybenzene, indole, and trans-cinnamaldehyde) have been shown to trap cucumber beetles. You can make a similar product yourself: Save dried squash fruits. Powder them in the food processor. Bait your own yellow sticky traps with the powder. 

Mechanical:

Biological:

Beans, Chard, beets, peppers, spinach, tomatoes, cucurbits (cucumber, squash), watermelon.

Most young vegetable plants.

Ground beetles, rove beetles, spiders, toads and snakes feed on cutworms. Check for cutworms at night with flashlight and apply granular forms of Bt mixed with bran. Bt sprays are ineffective.

Apple, Ash, Aspen, birch, boxelder, cottonwood, elm, linden, honey locust, maple, mountain ash, oak,poplar, sumac, willow, spruce, and stone fruits.

Symptoms vary depending on host and species of Cytospora. Cankers are usually irregular in shape and elongate when they appear on limbs and trunks. Discoloration of the outer bark may be yellow, brown, red-brown to gray or black depending on the host plant affected. Pimple-like fruiting structures (pycnidia) often develop in the canker areas. Under moist conditions, pycnidia ooze orange, thread-like spore tendrils. On aspen trees, the substance that oozes from the canker is in a liquid form; on cherry and plum trees, it is gummy.

On spruce, dying or dead branches can indicate canker development. Older branches are more susceptible than younger ones. Lesions appear as sunken areas surrounded by swollen callus tissue. Small black fruiting structures may be evident on the canker; however, large amounts of clear amber resin can flow from the infected areas and may obscure the canker location.

• Prune in late spring after trees have leafed out; pruning wounds heal more rapidly at this time.
• Prune at least one foot below any discoloration. Disinfect your pruners between cuts.
• Prune on a dry day.  Avoid overhead irrigation.
• Avoid excessive nitrogen fertilization.Use white reflective paint on young trunks to reduce sunscald wounds.
• Paint the southwest side of tree trunks with white latex paint to avoid winter injury.

The Doromaki procedure is commonly practiced in commercial Japanese orchards. In the spring, cankers are packed with a paste of wet soil (1" thick) from the orchard floor. Vinyl film is wrapped around the packed canker to retain moist soil on the canker. In dry climates the soil may have to be sprinkled to retain moisture during the hot dry months of July and August. The vinyl film is removed the next spring and the soil pack is removed. Trichoderma spp. (Planters box) can be painted onto the cankers and kept moist with the Doromaki procedure. 

Seeds and seedlings of many garden plants.

Plant seeds under temperature conditions that favor rapid germination, or pre-sprout seeds before planting outside. Water plants in the late morning to maximize drying conditions.  Give plants as much air and light as possible.

Cabbage family plants (cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale).

Neem or Spinosad.

Douglas Fir.

Avoid injury to trees. Prune in late winter and remove slash as soon as possible. Mulch conifers with 1 - 3" of composted bark mulch. Keep well watered during July and August, and thin out overcrowded stands of conifers. 

Douglas-fir beetle communicate via chemical messages, called pheromones, and can recruit other beetles by emitting a specific aggregation pheromone. As the tree becomes too full to sustain more beetles, they switch to an anti-aggregation pheromone, essentially sending a no vacancy message to new arrivals. This chemical(MCH) has been commercially synthesized and can be used to protect individual trees from attack.

Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Cucurbits (cucumber, squash), lettuce, onion, pea, spinach.

Spray several times a week throughly covering the entire plant. Spray neem, potassium bicarbonate, or copper at the first sign of disease and repeat if weather is wet.  Caution copper can cause phytotoxicity at high rates.

All species of native and non-native elms. Siberian and Chinese elms are much less susceptible.

Do not prune in the spring! Spring pruning attracts the beetles that spread Dutch elm disease. There are now resistant cultivars available including: 'Cathedral', 'Delaware', 'Homestead', 'Frontier', 'Pioneer', 'Regal, 'Sapporo Autumn Gold', 'Independance', 'Valley Forge', 'New Horizon', 'New Harmony' and 'Patriot'. The 'American Liberty' series are not as resistant as the above cultivars.

Maintain tree vigor and health through proper management through the growing season.

There are reports that tree injections of fungicide have prolonged the lives of infected trees.  Injections must be repeated over the life of the tree ( possibly every other year).  Fungicidal injections (propaconazole, thiabendazole) are useless if the tree shows 25% or more dieback due to the disease.
 

Decomposing organic residue; found on fruit, flowers and corn ears.

Insecticidal soap containing pyrethrum is an effective formulation for controlling earwigs; however, the soap must come in direct contact with the insect so spray it directly on them. Soap that does not come in direct contact will have no effect, nor will it leave residues to control the insects.