Great to see the rain and cooler weather, but you will still have to water those fruit trees and berries to get nice plump fruit.
There are few serious insect pests at this point in the summer. The one exception is poplar borer. We are seeing Poplar borer egg-laying activity (fresh sawdust and sap running) on Aspen tree trunks now. If you find sawdust on your Aspen trunks, now is the time to apply an insecticide trunk spray. The least-toxic option is Pyrethrin. The hard-pesticide options are synthetic pyrethroids such as cyfluthrin or permethrin.
Probably one more spray on your apples for codling moth if you have not done so, unless its an early variety like transparent that will be ripe soon. Pick up any fallen apples off the ground as this will help reduce the numbers of codling moths for next year.
Most aphid populations are decreasing in our sample sites. There is no need to spray for these pests this late in the season. Mark woody shrubs and trees that have mites now and remember to treat them with a dormant oil spray next spring.
Powdery mildew is being seen on maple trees now, try to keep water off leaves, or water mid morning to give the foliage time to dry. Most cases are not severe enough to spray a fungicide.
Cedar-apple rust is causing yellow to orange spots on hawthorn trees now. It is to late to spray, instead spray sulfur next spring when leaves emerge.
Black rotten looking spots on the bottom of your tomatoes is called blossom end rot. It is caused by a watering imbalance which inhibits the plants ability to take up calcium. A calcium supplement like rot stop will help reduce the problem. It is mostly seen with container grown tomatoes.
Fall webworm caterpillars are forming silken webs in apple, cherry and chokecherry trees now. Cut out limb or spray with Bt (bacillus thuringensis) to control them.
It’s that time of year approaching that some insects such as stink bugs, boxelder bugs and conifer leaf-footed bugs want to migrate indoors, so be sure to repair screens and caulk around doors and windows to stop them from coming in. I have also notice spiders coming indoors, just boys looking for a date, got confused, toss them back out.
