Indiana Department of Natural Resources sent this bulletin at 04/20/2022 07:35 AM EDT
Weekly Review for April 20, 2022
This informal report by the Division of Entomology & Plant Pathology is a commentary on insects, diseases, and curiosities division staff encounter on a week-to-week basis. Comments and questions about this report are welcome and can be sent to your respective Inspector.
Although the weather hasn’t seemed very spring like here in Northwest Indiana, I was able to get out and inspect a few greenhouses. The greenhouses I looked at were clean except for some Botyrtis on begonia and New Guinea impatiens, spider mites and thrips on spikes, and aphids on fuschia baskets. I was happy to see one greenhouse being very proactive about watching for pests by releasing biocontrol insects to keep the mites in check and yellow sticky cards to watch for pest outbreaks. They also scattered plants that are very desirable to pests throughout the greenhouses to catch any populations of pests that might not be noticed until they become a problem.
Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been out getting into some greenhouses. Most operations are keeping the houses closed up due to cooler weather temperatures and cloud cover. This pushes humidity up and resulted in a couple of places showing the first signs of powdery mildew and what I would consider a little higher than normal rate of Botrytis. Typically, those conditions also suppress mites but don’t let your guard down as I found one rose house with a very healthy population of two-spotted spider mites.
