New Hop IPM Guide on the Horizon
Research and Extension Communication Specialist Sally O’Neal has been working to update the Field Guide for Integrated Pest Management in Hops: Pocket Edition. The previous edition of this popular, pocket-sized resource for use by hop workers in the field was produced in 2010. The long-awaited Second Edition should hit the presses late in 2020 and be released this winter. With the addition of new pests and diseases plus larger and even better photos, the new guide will include approximately 265 full-color photos designed to aid in in-field identification of scores of pests, pest damage, beneficial organisms, and common maladies in hop plants. As before, the guide is bilingual, with text in both English and Spanish. The guide is a joint effort of Washington State University, Oregon State University, University of Idaho, and USDA-ARS and will be available through the Washington Hop Commission and in electronic format on the Hop Growers of America website. The Second Edition focuses exclusively on IPM in the Pacific Northwest, where the vast majority of U.S. hops are grown.
The First Edition (pdf) can be viewed on the Hop Growers of America website, with the new edition launching electronically as well as in print in 2021.
On the Vanguard for Phylloxera in Washington Vineyards
Washington State IPM Coordinator and Extension Entomologist Doug Walsh is leading a grape phylloxera project funded by the Washington State Wine Commission. The project began in July 1, 2020 in response to the growing presence of this tiny, root-feeding insect in Washington State wine grape vineyards.
Phylloxera are present in vineyards worldwide and have had devastating impacts on the wine grape industries in many countries. The primary means of managing phylloxera is planting desirable, phylloxera-susceptible wine grape varietals that have been grafted onto phylloxera-resistant rootstocks. In fact, due to a historical lack of phylloxera presence in the Pacific Northwest, Washington State has been one of the few major grape-growing regions where grapes are planted on their own rootstocks. That will likely change to some degree moving forward, but in the meantime, Walsh and his co-PIs (Extension Viticulturist Michelle Moyer, Viticulture Researcher Markus Keller, and Regional Extension Specialist Gwen Hoheisel) are working to determine the scope and severity of the state’s infestation.
Washington wine grape growers who have identified phylloxera in their vineyards are encouraged to contact Walsh, Moyer, and/or Hoheisel to take part, confidentially, in their survey work. The team is also conducting systemic insecticide efficacy trials, studying phylloxera biology to determine life cycle and number of generations in our region, and developing means of early detection. The research and extension activities will continue into next year.
Potato Presentations and Onion Outreach
Regional Vegetable Specialist Tim Waters took part in a virtual tour for federal agencies and industry organized by National Potato Council in July. The tour included over 160 participants from EPA, USDA, and the potato industry. Waters made a presentation on IPM in Washington potatoes and participated in discussions about topics including which pesticides are chosen for specific situations and why.
Waters conducted one-on-one outreach (primarily via telephone due to COVID-19) with several growers and crop consultants this quarter about onion thrips management in onions and Colorado potato beetle management in potato. Potato beetle continues to increase in incidence and growers are seeking input about when to treat and what to use.
Working with team member Sally O’Neal and the WSU Social & Economic Sciences Research Center, Waters conducted a survey of IPM practices among onion growers of Washington State early this summer. Results will be compared with a similar survey taken two years prior to assess changes grower practices including knowledge and adoption of IPM tactics. Responses are in and data are being analyzed and will be available later this fall. Grower comments included, “We appreciate the WSU Onion IPM vital research and feedback to help onion growers to continue to produce high yields and quality” and “Excellent information and research, thank you,” so I guess you could say Waters is on the right track.
Protecting and Promoting Vineyard Health Virtually
Extension Viticulturist Michelle Moyer, in addition to launching the aforementioned phylloxera project with Doug Walsh, continued her virtual outreach this summer with appearances including a presentation on powdery mildew management in cooperation with Westover Vineyard Advising and a Wave Minute interview, More on Disease Resistance Varieties, in which she discussed the role certain, perhaps less well-known, varieties with disease resistance could be strategically planted and used to enhance vineyard sustainability.
Moyer also edited the fall edition of Viticulture & Enology Extension News (VEEN), (pdf) which includes articles on pesticide recertification and licensing options and opportunities, appearance and biology of leafminers in Washington vineyards, a new crop- and site-specific app from WSU’s AgWeatherNet called AWNfarm, and an update on smoke exposure in vineyards in the wake of this summer/fall fires. Dates and access information for upcoming events are also provided in the VEEN newsletter.
Follow the work of Moyer and the rest of the Viticulture Extension team on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up to receive crop-specific Extension emails including information on wine, juice, and/or table grapes (as well as other crops and commodities) at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture website.
Grafting Works Wonders for Watermelon
Recent research by Vegetable Horticulture Specialist Carol Miles and PhD candidate Pinki Devi was featured in Vegetable Growers News, Morning Ag Clips, and WSU Insider / CAHNRS News in the months of August and September. Their study found that splice grafting with both cotyledons removed from the rootstock can be an effective propagation strategy for watermelon. This splice grafting method increases grafting efficiency, eliminates rootstock regrowth, and could significantly decrease the cost of grafting watermelon transplants.
In July, an article by Devi, Miles, and Penelope Perkins-Veazie (North Carolina State University) was published in HortScience. “Rootstock and Plastic Mulch Effect on Watermelon Flowering and Fruit Maturity in a Verticillium dahliae–Infested Field” describes the potential grafted watermelon has to increase yield in the United States in the presence of the soil-borne disease verticillium wilt caused by Verticillium dahliae. The researchers found that grafting decreased disease severity and that 5 cfu (colony forming units, a bacteriology measurement) of V. dahliae per gram of soil may be a threshold for impact on watermelon fruit yield.
Devi and Miles also gave oral (Increasing efficacy and survival of watermelon grafted without cotyledons) and poster (Plastic mulch and rootstocks assessment on flowering, harvest date and fruit quality of grafted watermelon) presentations at the American Society for Horticultural Science annual conference (virtual) in August.
Virtual Field Days Highlight Summer Small Grains Outreach
Small Grains Extension Specialist Drew Lyon, with coauthors Andrew Hulting and Judit Barroso (Oregon State University) and Joan Campbell (University of Idaho), produced a revised edition of Integrated Management of Downy Brome in Winter Wheat. The revised version includes information on the CoAXium wheat production system and harvest weed seed control, both of which are promising new technologies that have emerged since the release of the original version in 2015.
Five Virtual Farm/Field Day sessions were conducted this quarter, each of which offered a series of videos meaningful to the small grain and allied crop growers of eastern Washington. Production concerns including variety selection and crop rotation were addressed, along with IPM-specific topics including:
- Italian Ryegrass and Downy Brome Control
- Cephalosporium Stripe Management in winter wheat
- An overview of rhizoctonia, wheat streak mosaic, Pythium, eyespot, barley yellow dwarf, and other diseases by the WSU Plant Pest Diagnostic Clinic
- Trials with weed-sensing sprayers in Weed-IT System for Chemical Fallow
These and other videos from the WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences can be accessed at the WSU CAHNRS YouTube website.