Editor’s Note: Most of the activities featured in this newsletter took place before the U.S. and Washington State responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing distance learning measures. Emphasis on electronic and other novel extension methods will be highlighted in the Quarter 2 newsletter. Visit for the latest WSU Coronavirus COVID-19 updates.
Grafting Gains Traction in Vegetable Verticillium Management
Vegetable Horticulture specialist Carol Miles and her team continued outreach on their findings regarding vegetable grafting as a strategy for disease management.
Cucurbitaceae Germplasm Resistance to Verticillium Wilt and Grafting Compatibility with Watermelon by master’s degree candidate Abigail Attavar, research associate Lydia Tymon, and Miles was published in HortScience, describing the team’s process in identifying resistant germplasm that was compatible and had a positive impact on fruit quality.
Miles and PhD candidate Pinki Devi presented key findings and major outcomes on grafting in solanaceous and cucurbitaceae crops to a USDA NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative-funded Vegetable Grafting project working group. Topics covered were:
- Effect of environment on survival of eggplant, pepper, and tomato in a small-scale healing chamber
- Evaluation of four tomato and two eggplant rootstocks that could potentially function as rootstocks for resistance to Verticillium dahliae
- Screening World Vegetable Center eggplant and pepper rootstocks for resistance to Verticillium wilt
- Grafting watermelon using the splice grafting method to increase efficiency, eliminate rootstock regrowth, and reduce costs of transplant production
Urban Video Under Development for Deterring Disease
Pruning away dead and diseased branches is part of a good phytosanitation program in landscape trees and shrubs. Strategic removal and thinning helps stop the spread of disease pathogens and can even discourage proliferation of some insect pests.
To help landscape professionals improve their understanding of effective pruning, Urban IPM Coordinator Carrie Foss has a new training video in production. Entitled Pruning as an IPM Tool, the new video will cover:
- common pruning objectives
- the four distinct types of pruning cuts
- how and when pruning should be employed to manage specific PNW plant problems
- how to prevent the introduction of decay pathogens
- reducing abiotic plant stress with proper pruning
- training of young trees for long-term tree health
This training video features three ISA-certified arborists who share their practical expertise based on scientific principles. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of November 2020 and will be shown to landscape professionals at the 2021 WSU recertification courses. In the spring of 2021, it will be available online as a resource for Master Gardeners, home gardeners, and professionals.
Psexy Psylla Psongs and Other Orchard Innovations
Tree Fruit IPM Extension Specialist Betsy Beers’ team was busy this quarter with 18 presentations at 11 different meetings and four articles in the Good Fruit Grower magazine. Highlights of these activities include:
- PhD student Dowen Jocson was featured in the March 1st issue of Good Fruit Grower for her work on “Psexy Psylla Psongs”, a mating disruption tool under investigation as in integrated pest management strategy. (Link includes article and a video with psylla songs—it’s a fun listen!) This work was also featured in a Tree Fruit Matters newsletter article, Good Vibrations: A potential IPM strategy for pear psylla.
- Beers and PhD student Jim Hepler attended the annual meeting of researchers working on brown marmorated stinkbug (BMSB) with funding from USDA-NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative. Their presentations at the Davis, California sessions included information on non-target impacts to Trissolcus japonicus, a beneficial parasitoid; classical stink bug biocontrol; and netting as a BMSB exclusion barrier.
- Ongoing work in sterile insect release (SIR) as a tool in codling moth management was featured in talks at the Orchard Pest and Disease Management Conference (the largest gathering of tree fruit pest managers in the West, an article in Tree Fruit Matters, and multiple other venues, including the British Columbia Horticulture Forum in Kelowna, BC, where the strategy was first implemented 25 years ago.
Entomology Outreach in Wine Grapes, Hops, and Alfalfa Seed
Washington State IPM Coordinator and Extension Entomologist Doug Walsh addressed the newest invasive pest of concern to our state’s wine grape growers at the Washington Winegrowers Convention. His presentation on Grape Phylloxera (pdf) helped shed light on its complex biology (up to 18 life stages), limitations of chemical intervention, and possible novel approaches to its management.
Walsh presented Integrated Pest Management of Mites on Hops and Integrated Pest Management of Other Pests on Hops to the Hop Research Council at the American Hop Convention in Portland, Oregon. Now in its 65th year, this convention is organized by the Hop Growers of America and was attended by 770 people. Washington is the nation’s #1 producer of hops, with over 70% of the U.S. crop.
Walsh also attended the Western Alfalfa Seed Growers annual Winter Seed Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he presented Enhancing and Protecting Populations of Alfalfa Seed Pollinators and Lygus and Weevils Research Update. The Western Alfalfa Seed Growers Association represents those who grow alfalfa for seed in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Washington enjoys a higher-than-average per-acre yield on alfalfa grown for seed due to its unique mix of native and imported specialty pollinators.
Grape Gang Garners Awards, Delivers Nationwide Extension
Extension Viticulturist Michelle Moyer also spoke about phylloxera, along with another new pest, at the Washington Winegrowers Convention. Her presentation New Pests: Phylloxera and Spotted Lanternfly (pdf) included review, history, and the role rootstocks play in phylloxera management. Washington State has historically used own-rooted grapevines, but the presence of phylloxera in the state is prompting an interest in grafting desired varieties onto resistant rootstock. Moyer’s group also earned a variety of prizes for their posters:
- Margaret McCoy took 1st place among graduate students for Optimizing Airblast Sprayers for Vineyards by Adjusting Air Assistance (pdf)
- Bernadette (Bernie) Gagnier (pictured) took 3rd place among undergraduates for Using Biology to Time Post-Plant Management of Northern Root-knot Nematode (pdf)
- Moyer took 1st place in the professional category for Rootstocks for Nematode Management in a Vineyard Replant Scenario: An Update (pdf)
Moyer also made presentations at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium (on managing mildew with UV light) in Sacramento, CA; at the Ohio Grape and Wine Conference (including hosting an all-day workshop on fungicide resistance); and at BEV NY (on the FRAME fungicide resistance project).
Finally, Moyer’s colleagues on the Extension IPM Team would like to join the entire wine industry in congratulating her on winning the prestigious Extension Distinction Award from the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, recognizing her outstanding outreach program.
Indoor Hives: The New Normal for Honey Bees?
And speaking of pollinators, Honey Bee Health Specialist Brandon Hopkins and his colleagues in the WSU Honey Bee and Pollinator Research and Education program celebrated the Grand Opening and ribbon-cutting of their new research facility on March 6. Described in last quarter’s newsletter, the building and grounds will provide a host of new opportunities for the bee team.
New outreach activities for Hopkins include the development and extension/outreach around a novel IPM technique centered on the use of indoor storage of honey bee colonies. While not a new idea, indoor colony storage is becoming more widely used and has many potential benefits. The refinement of this management technique has the potential to decrease overall use of pesticides (miticides) in hives and reduce labor inputs for commercial beekeepers while reducing levels of varroa mites, a serious pest of honey bee. Hopkins wrote the Introduction and provided content on handling and preparation of colonies for a new publication entitled Indoor Storage of Honey Bee Colonies in the United States, a project in cooperation with Project Apis m and Healthy Hives 2020. The first edition (pdf) of this resource was published February 14, 2020.
New Tools for Weed Management in Small Grains
Small Grains Extension Specialist Drew Lyon launched a new blog, Weeders of the West, in early March. A well-timed offering given the current period of distance learning, the new blog features posts from Lyon and other Pacific Northwest weed scientist to help growers manage weeds. A Timely Topic article, Introducing the Weeders of the West Blog, describes the purpose and hopes for the new blog. Earlier in the quarter, Lyon spoke at multiple winter grower meetings, including presentations on the biology and management of smooth scouringrush and rush skeletonweed.
Lyon also worked with the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resources Sciences IT to develop an Herbicide Resistant Weeds Map that utilizes data developed by Dr. Ian Burke’s Herbicide Resistance Testing Program. The interactive map allows users to see the location of weed biotypes resistant to various herbicides. Users can click on a county of interest and see the weed species identified as resistant, then click into more detail (i.e., screening results) as desired. A Timely Topic article, Herbicide Resistance: Coming to a Farm Near You, describes the new tool.
Mint Research Update, Several Crop Surveys Planned
Research and Extension Communication Specialist Sally O’Neal addressed the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Mint Industry Research Council in Scottsdale, Arizona, in January. Washington is the nation’s #1 producer of spearmint oil and #3 producer of peppermint oil, with a combined production value of $54 million to the state in 2019. She presented the final report on a 2-year project, Monitoring and Management of Mint Root Borer on Mint, and gave a progress report and continuation proposal for Nitrogen and Water Management on Spearmint.
Also in this quarter, O’Neal worked with the staff at WSU’s Social and Economic Sciences Research Center (SESRC) to formulate a plan for a series of follow-up (summative) surveys to evaluate the success of selected Extension IPM outreach programs. Initial (formative) surveys were conducted among growers of onion, potato, alfalfa seed, and wine grapes in 2018. Follow-up surveys that will assess increases in grower knowledge and adoption of IPM practices will be deployed in June 2020 for onion, December/January 2020/2021 for potato, and April 2021 for both alfalfa seed and wine grape. These surveys will utilize the Tailored Design Method developed by WSU Regents Professor Don Dillman.
Potato Presentations and Onion Outreach
Regional Vegetable Specialist Tim Waters presented Lygus Feeding on Potatoes: Final Report on Damage Symptomology and Potential for Impact on Yield and Quality (pdf) at the Washington Oregon Potato Conference. This January conference is attended by 1200 industry members. His 2018-2019 research in Paterson, Pasco, and Moxee showed that Lygus, formerly disregarded as a potato pest, negatively impact plant health and tuber quality.
Waters also presented at a variety of other venues this quarter including the Columbia Basin Crop Consultants short course in Moses Lake, a Lamb Weston potato growers meeting, and an AgriNorthwest growers meeting. Topics ranged from use of fungicides in potato production, encouraging use of scouting and thresholds in insect pest management, and general IPM in both potatoes and onions.
With team member Sally O’Neal, Waters has begun work on the summative use of IPM in potato production survey mentioned above and slated for delivery next quarter.