In 2012, China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) suspended importation of apples produced in Washington State due to repeated incursion of diseases. The red and golden delicious apples purchased were afflicted with Sphaeropsis rot, bull’s-eye rot and speck rot. It wasn’t until this year, just last month, after intensive work with the…
A study performed at Pennsylvania State University and funded by the USDA, finds that bees which feed on a natural diet of pollen develop a stronger resistance to pesticides than those honey bees being fed artificial replacements. Honey bees are exposed to numerous pesticides when foraging for pollen whether in their natural habitat or when…
Plum Pox Virus (PPV) is a pathogen with the potential to devastate populations of peach, plum and other stone fruit trees. The United States and Canada maintain strict protocols and implement zero tolerance regarding discoveries of PPV in any nurseries or orchards. Aggressive and effective, but costly, eradication efforts have taken place in Pennsylvania, New…
Rose rosette is a novel threat to seemingly all cultivars of roses, even those previously known and used specifically for their disease resistance. Symptoms include: increased shoot elongation, reddish discoloration of shoots and foliage, abundant clustering of small shoots (also called “witches broom”), spiraling growth of main stem, less space between leaf shoots, distorted leaves, prolific…
The pathogen that causes boxwood blight, Calonectria pseudonaviculata, is able to infect every species in the Buxaceae family. A recent article in Plant Health Progress, authored by Dr. Jim LaMondia of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), states that both Allegheny spurge, Pachysandra procumbens, and the more commonly planted Japanese spurge, Pachysandra terminalis, are potential hosts for…
Managed Microcosm Maintaining your lawn and landscape and protecting them from pests and disease provides more benefits than just aesthetic value. Landscape conservation, pest control, disease prevention and lawn maintenance are beneficial to your household financially and aesthetically, but they also provide ecological benefits to your local community and region as well as for wildlife…
