Lexington, KY 40546
Online at: www.uky.edu/KPN
Number 1229
CORN
-Cutworm Reports
-Herbicide Issues in Flood-Damaged Corn
Fields
TOBACCO
-Disease Update for May 2010
FRUIT CROPS
-Plum Curculio
SHADE TREES & ORNAMENTALS
-Rose Rosette Disease Symptoms Appearing
Now
-Bagworms
CORN
Cutworm Reports
By Ric Bessin
Last week, we received reports of cutworms; this is
from the Green River area in western Kentucky.
While all of our corn has insecticide seed treatments
and these seed treatments often reduce damage by
cutworms, these treatments can be overwhelmed by
high cutworm numbers and substantial damage can
occur even on seedlings from treated seed.
Considerable damage can be done over a short
period of time, particularly during the cool weather
as corn is growing more slowly and cutworms
continue to feed on small seedlings. Particularly
with the cooler temperatures we’ve had during the
past couple of weeks and the slower seedling
growth, it is important to scout fields regularly for
initial signs of cutworm damage. Fields should be
scouted, even if they have had a preventive
treatment. Some Bt hybrids technologies provide
some protection to cutworms, others do not.
The best strategy will be to scout fields and use
rescue treatments as necessary. This has always
been the most cost effective when scouting is done
May 11, 2010
HOUSEHOLD
-Some Insects to Expect After High Water
PESTICIDE NEWS & VIEWS
-EPA Announces Request for Voluntary
Cancellation of Methyl Parathion
-Pesticides and Flooding
DIAGNOSTIC LAB HIGHLIGHTS
INSECT TRAP COUNT
regularly (2 to 3 times per week). Treat when 3% of
the stand is cut and 2 or more larvae (1" or smaller)
are found per 100 plants. The worst strategy will be
to do nothing and leave cutworm losses to chance.
Judging by what has been observed to our south,
this is the year that it may pay to monitor carefully
for this corn pest.
With the cooler soils of the past two weeks, while
scouting for cutworms, it is also helpful to watch
for wireworm activity. Instead of cut plants, look
for ‘deadhearts’ and dying plants. There are no
effective rescue treatments for wireworms, so the
only decision would be to replant or not, but
generally it takes stand reductions in excess of 30%
to justify that.
Herbicide Issues in Flood-Damaged Corn Fields
By Jim Martin and J.D. Green
The following are herbicide related issues involving
flood damage corn fields:
1. Previous Herbicides Applied May Affect
What Crop to Plant: The specific
herbicide(s) used in the initial planting may
 determine what crop can be planted in flood
damaged fields. See Corn & Soybean
News April 2007, Vol 7 Issue 5
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CornSoy/corns
oy7_5.htm#3
2. Adding More Herbicide to Replant Corn:
The need to add more herbicide will depend
on specific field situations. In some cases,
where a previous soil-residual herbicide
had been applied, relying on postemergence
treatments following corn replanting may
be the best option for weed control
throughout the remainder of the season. If
additional soil-residual herbicide is desired
the maximum amount that can be reapplied
depends on the products used. For
example, if the previous amount of atrazine
applied was 1.5 lb ai/A, then an additional
amount of 1.0 lb ai/A can be applied up to a
maximum total of 2.5 lb ai/A of atrazine
per season. For other herbicide active
ingredients consult the label for maximum
use rate guidelines.
3. Controlling Surviving Corn Plants to
Replant: If there are surviving corn plants,
it may be necessary to use a burndown
herbicide program. It will be more
challenging to control surviving corn plants
if the field is planted back to corn than if it
is planted to soybeans. For specific options
for controlling corn prior to replanting back
to corn see page 29 in the Corn Section of
the Extension publication “Weed Control
Recommendations for Kentucky Grain
Crops 2010” AGR-6
http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/agr/agr
6/02.pdf. There are several foliar-applied
herbicides available to control corn in
soybeans. If corn plants have the Roundup
Ready (glyphosate – tolerant) trait, consider
such options as Asure II, Fusilade DX,
Fusion, Poast, Select and Select MAX. If
corn plants do not have the glyhosate
tolerant trait then glyphosate is an effective
and economical option as a burndown
treatment or as an “in crop” treatment in
Roundup Ready soybean.
TOBACCO
Disease Update for May 2010
By Kenny Seebold
Seedling diseases. A number of problems have
begun to crop up in float beds around Kentucky,
some related to the heat wave that took place back
in April and others to the heavy rains that fell
recently. Over the past week, we have seen a huge
spike in reports of target spot along with a few
cases of Pythium root rot. At the moment, the
‘strongest’ fungicide we can recommend for target
spot is mancozeb (Dithane, Manzate, or
Penncozeb). These products should be applied at a
rate of 0.5 lb/100 gallons of spray mix (equivalent
to 1 level teaspoon of product per gallon), and
applied as a fine mist to seedlings. Good coverage
can be achieved by using 3-5 gallons per 1000 sq.
ft. of bed on small to medium-sized plants, and 5-10
gallons on larger plants. Apply weekly until
setting, and also make sure that plants are clipped
regularly to open up the canopy. This improves
airflow, and in conjunction with proper ventilation,
should help slow target spot down considerably.
Blue mold. As of May 11, there have been no cases
of blue mold reported to the North American Plant
Disease Forecast Center at NC State University.
We will continue to monitor blue mold throughout
the season and will report any findings of the
disease as quickly as possible.
For more information on tobacco diseases and
current status of problems in Kentucky, visit the
KY Tobacco Disease Information Page at
www.uky.edu/Ag/KPN/kyblue/kyblue.htm.
FRUIT CROPS
Plum Curculio
By Ric Bessin
Petal fall has past and growers are in a struggle to
thin the fruit load on their trees. If growers haven’t
done so yet, they should control for plum curculio.
This insect will become active over the next one to
two weeks. I have received a report of some plum
curculio damage last week.
Currently, we don’t have a reliable method to
monitor for this insect. The pyramid-shaped Tedder
trap does catch the weevils and a beat sheet will
also knock them from limbs. But we still
recommend that growers apply a spray for plum
curculio at petal fall and 10 to 14 days later at first
cover. There are a number of products that
effectively control plum curculio that also control
codling moth and Oriental fruit moth during this
early period.
SHADE TREES & ORNAMENTALS
Rose Rosette Disease Symptoms Appearing Now
By John Hartman
Symptoms. This lethal disease of multiflora rose
also affects cultivated roses. Earliest symptoms
include increased growth of shoots with red
coloration and distortion and dwarfing of leaves
(Figure 1). Affected shoots appear to be more
succulent than normal and they develop a
proliferation of thorns (Figure 2). This abnormal
overabundance of thorns is a useful field symptom
for diagnosis, because the new shoots of many roses
are naturally reddish colored (Figure 3). Diseased
shoots are not winter-hardy and will produce few
blooms or flowers may be deformed. Infected
plants produce fewer roots than normal. The
disease progresses to the rest of the plant until all
the new growth is affected and the plant declines or
is killed in winter. Roses may succumb in just one
season, or symptoms may continue for another
season or two.

Each year, specimens of garden roses with canes

having excessive thorns and abnormal shoot
development are observed in the Plant Disease
Diagnostic Laboratory. Whether plants come from
a small backyard rose bed or from the enormous
rose collection open to the public at the U.K.
Arboretum (over 2,000 different rose cultivars,
many of them of historic interest), such symptoms
should be a concern to the grower. Affected roses
are suffering from a disease called rose rosette.

Rose rosette disease may be found affecting roses

(genus Rosa) throughout Kentucky. Its main host is
multiflora rose (R. multiflora), a thorny plant
originally introduced into the United states from the
orient. Although originally promoted as a Figure 1. Rose
conservation plant and “living fence,” multiflora rosette-infected
rose is now usually considered a noxious weed. shoot with red
Thus, because rose rosette disease kills multiflora coloration,
Figure 2. Rose cane
rose, it is considered helpful in the attempt to distorted leaves,
with excessive
manage this weed. The cause of rose rosette and excessive
thorns due to rose
thorns on rose rosette infection.
disease was thought to be a virus, but recent
stem.
research suggests that a phytoplasma infection is
responsible for the symptoms. In nature, it is
spread by a tiny eriophyid mite (Phyllacoptes
fructiphylus), but it can also be transmitted by
grafting. Research at Iowa State University
suggests that rose rosette can be augmented in the
field so that stands of multiflora rose become Figure 3. Normal shoot
decimated over time. development on rose with red
coloration of the new shoots.
Emerging leaves have a
normal shape.
Disease management. Infected plants must be
removed and destroyed so that the pathogen is not
spread to healthy plants nearby. Care must be taken
to avoid scattering disease-carrying mites to the
other plants. Early detection is essential. Rose
rosette disease is normally systemic in the plant, but
at the first indication of infection on a shoot, it
might help to clip off the affected shoot in hopes
that the rest of the plant is still unaffected.
Multiflora rose could be a reservoir for the disease
so they should be removed from the neighborhood
of cultivated roses. Over a three-year interval,
research done at Iowa State University suggests that
the disease can spread from multiflora rose to
cultivated roses up to 100 meters, but not 150 or
300 meters from infected plants. Hopefully, if
multiflora roses are absent from more than a length-
of-football-field distance in all directions from the
rose bed, the garden roses should be safe from
infection. Nevertheless, in Kentucky, examples of
rose rosette disease have been observed in rose beds
where multiflora rose was thought to be absent from
the neighborhood, or at least not within a few
hundred meters of the affected garden. In these
cases, perhaps the grower has not been able to make
an exhaustive search for the source of inoculum.
Rose rosette could be found in nursery stock, so
growers will want to purchase new roses from
reliable sources.
As it feeds and grows, the larva enlarges its bag and
withdraws into it when disturbed. Small larvae feed
on leaf surface tissue. Because of their cryptic
nature, it is easy to overlook infestations. Older
larvae strip evergreens of their needles and devour
whole leaves of susceptible deciduous species,
leaving only the larger veins. Mature larvae attach
their bags to twigs and transform into the pupa or
resting stage before becoming an adult.
When many small bagworms are feeding, an
insecticide may be needed to prevent serious
damage. The best time to treat is while the larvae
are still small (less than 1/2-inch long). In
Kentucky, this is usually in early June. Small larvae
are more vulnerable to insecticides, and inflict less
damage.
Carefully inspect susceptible landscape plants,
especially evergreens, for last year’s bags. Young
bagworms are harder to see; look closely for the
small, upright bags which have the appearance of
tiny ice cream cones constructed of bits of plant
material. Preventive treatment is often justified on
plants that were heavily infested with bagworms the
previous year.
Example insecticides for control of caterpillars on
home landscape trees. (Products in bold are for use
by commercial applicators only.)

Active ingredient Brand names

Bagworms Organophosphate / Broad-spectrum, relatively
By Lee Townsend Carbamate short residue on foliage
Acephate Orthene Tree and Shrub
Figure 4. Newly
Insecticide
hatched bagworm Carbaryl Sevin, Carbaryl
feeding on oak leaf Botanicals Relatively broad-spectrum,
surface. Larger larvae short residue on foliage
will chew holes in the
Azadiractin Azatin XL, Bon-Neem
leaves.
(+insecticidal soap)
Microbials Caterpillar specific, most
effective against small
larvae
Bagworm eggs hatch from mid- to late May in Bacillus Bonide Bacillus
central Kentucky. Scores of tiny larvae disperse thuringiensis (Bt) Thuringiensis Concentrate,
from each female’s bag and begin to feed on the toxin - Caterpillar Dipel, Green Light BT
surface of leaves. Each uses silk and bits of plant specific Worm Killer, Thuricide
material to make a small bag that protects and Spinosad Captain Jack’s Deadbug
camouflages them. Brew Concentrate
 ferti-lome Borer, Bagworm,
Spinosad (cont’d) Leafminer & Tent
Caterpillar Spray; Green
Light Lawn & Garden
Spray Spinosad
Concentrate. Conserve SC
Pyrethroids Broad-spectrum, relatively
long residue
Bifenthrin Ortho Max Lawn & Garden
Insect Killer Concentrate.
TalstarOne
Cyfluthrin Bayer Multi-Insect Killer.
Tempo
Gamma- Bonide Caterpillar Killer,
Cyhalothrin Spectracide Triazicide
Once & Done Insect Killer.
Scimitar
Permethrin Bonide Eight Insect Control
Yard & Garden, many other
brands. Astro
HOUSEHOLD
Some Insects to Expect After High Water
By Lee Townsend
Non-biting midges and gnats probably will be
abundant over the next 2 to 3 weeks. Small gnats,
ranging from pale, green to larger, darker species,
often are very abundant after excess rainfall and
high water. They can be a nuisance and may cause
concern but they do not bite and are not harmful.
Typically, the gnats do not feed on anything and
live for just a few days. They can be controlled by
direct sprays of an aerosol insecticide containing
pyrethrins if necessary. Gnats and midges breed in
low areas that are slow to drain and dry.
Springtails are small, wingless
insects that are very abundant in
moist leaf litter or soils with
high levels of organic matter.
They come in a range of colors
and hop around like tiny fleas.
Springtails typically feed on
decaying plant material or fungi
Figure 5. Image of that grow in humid areas. They
springtails.
can enter homes from around the foundation or
openings to crawlspaces. In some cases, springtails
can live for some time in damp areas of houses and
buildings that meet their moisture needs.
Springtails are not harmful but their presence in an
area indicates moist conditions that may come from
things such as water leaks or condensation from
sweaty pipes. Correcting these problems will end
the infestation and the potential for more serious
water or mold damage in a structure. Using a fan or
dehumidifier to increase ventilation and to provide
a drying effect in the home can be very effective as
can repair of plumbing leaks and dripping pipes.
These actions will eliminate the moisture that
springtails need for food and survival.
Aerosol insecticides that are labeled for indoor
insect control can be used to reduce springtails
temporarily but this does not correct the moisture or
humidity problems that allow the insects to thrive.
Outside the home, remove excessive mulch, moist
leaves, prune shrubbery and ground cover, and
eliminate low, moist areas around the house
foundation to permit proper air circulation. Remove
wet, moldy wood or other moldy items.
Water collected in most any container can become a
source of house mosquitoes in just a few days.
Empty water from barrels, buckets, discarded tires,
cans and other vessels as soon as possible. Also,
check clogged gutters and flat roofs which have
poor drainage.
Bury or dispose of organic matter animal carcasses
in the best manner practical. Several species of flies,
such as blow flies, house flies, and stable flies can
begin to use these materials for breeding sites
posing a nuisance and public health threat over the
next few weeks.
PESTICIDE NEWS & VIEWS
EPA Announces Request for Voluntary
Cancellation of Methyl Parathion
By Ric Bessin and Doug Johnson
The EPA announced that it has received requests
from the registrants to voluntarily cancel all product
registrations containing methyl parathion, a
restricted-use organophosphate insecticide. In
Kentucky this would affect registrations on corn
(field, sweet, and pop), cotton, soybeans, wheat,
oats, barley, onions, and white potatoes. These
requests would terminate the last methyl parathion
products registered for use in the U.S., effective
December 31, 2012. End-use products will not be
sold after August 31, 2013, and end-use products
cannot legally be used after December 31, 2013.
All end use product labels will be amended to
reflect the last legal use date.
a dust. Use care when handling these containers,
since they may be so weak and soggy that they will
break when handled. Some pesticides may have
unpredictable reactions in the presence of water.
Modified from
http://www.agdepartment.com/PDFFiles/DealingPesticidesFloo
ding.pdf
DIAGNOSTIC LAB HIGHLIGHTS
By Julie Beale and Paul Bachi

Recent agronomic, fruit and vegetable samples in

Pesticides and Flooding
the PDDL have included Pythium root rot,
By Lee Townsend
Rhizoctonia damping off, target spot, and chemical
and nutritional problems on tobacco transplants;
Some pesticide formulations and containers of
leaf curl on peach; black knot on plum; fireblight on
pesticides can survive flooding and be saved for
pear; hail injury on onion; Pythium root rot and
future use. Those which are ruined must be properly
blossom end rot on tomato.
disposed of to minimize their potential harm. In
some cases, pesticides may have contaminated
On ornamentals and turf, we have seen Diplodia tip
waters in flooded areas. Everyone concerned should
blight and brown spot on pine; fire blight on
take responsibility to prevent further contamination.
ornamental pear; Phytophthora root rot on boxwood
and arborvitae; winter injury on boxwood and
Pesticides in unbroken, waterproof containers can
holly; and melting-out (Drechslera) on ryegrass.
usually be salvaged. For example, clear
emulsifiable concentrates (EC) in plastic containers
should be fine. A water leak will give those
formulations a milky appearance. Oil solutions
INSECT TRAP COUNTS
available as Ready To Use without dilution will
April 30-May 7
probably still be effective. If water has gotten into a
container, pour off the oil and return the spray to Location Princeton, Lexington,
the original container. KY KY
Black cutworm 0 34
Labels on salvaged containers will probably be Armyworm 57 428
loosened by floodwaters. They should be firmly Corn earworm 79 16
refastened to the containers, if possible. Unlabeled
European corn 0 0
pesticides are dangerous to the handler and the
borer
environment, since there is the possibility that they
Southwestern 0 0
might not be used correctly. If there is any question
corn borer
about the contents of a container, set it aside for
Fall armyworm 0 0
disposal.

Dispose of any flooded pesticide dusts (D), wettable Graphs of insect trap counts for the 2010 season are available
powders (WP), or soluble powders (SP) packaged on the IPM web site at -http://www.uky.edu/Ag/IPM/ipm.htm.
in paper or cardboard containers according to label View trap counts for Fulton County, Kentucky at -
directions. If pesticides in these containers have http://ces.ca.uky.edu/fulton/InsectTraps
become wet, chemical changes may occur, and the
formulation may become hard and/or lumpy so that
it cannot be properly suspended in water or used as