Pollinator Fact Sheets Added to Hortsense
Urban IPM Coordinator Carrie Foss reports the addition of 17 fact sheets to the Hortsense Pollinator portal. The new fact sheets include general information about pollinators, ideas for creating pollinator habitat in urban gardens, and descriptions of a wide variety of pollinators present in the Pacific Northwest. Content and most photos were provided by WSU Entomologist David James. Bees discussed include:
- Colletidae (polyester and yellow-faced bees)
- Andrenidae (mining and miner bees)
- Halictidae (alkali, sweat, and cuckoo bees)
- Megachilidae (leafcutter, mason, and carder bees)
- Apidae (long-horned, digger, bumble, and honey bees)
Hortsense is a popular WSU resource that provides gardeners with information on how to manage plant insect, weed, and disease problems through IPM. Foss’ team is currently setting the stage for a total rebuild of the site to improve its functionality and utility while retaining the content that home gardeners, Master Gardeners, and other users have come to rely on. Look for a release of the overhauled website in 2022.
Bee Team Focuses on Colony Tracking and Health
Honey Bee Health Specialist Brandon Hopkins and his team have been training beekeepers to use Nectar, an app that uses precision tracking data to aid in IPM decision making, decrease colony losses, and increase sustainability. To date, almost 10,000 colonies have been tracked.
The team provided outreach assistance to a Washington beekeeper whose hives exhibited a suspected Nosema ceranae infection, which was confirmed by WSU Honey Bee Diagnostic Lab and treated. The surviving hives went on to pollinate canola, blueberries, and other crops. The team has also been sampling hives across the state for the annual USDA APHIS National Honey Bee Survey.
Post-doctoral researchers Rae Olsson and Kelly Kulhanek have been conducting outreach including Kulhanek’s participation in the Adams County Noxious Weed Control Board’s Pesticide Management in Cattle and Rangeland Operations webinar and Olsson’s presentation to the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association.
Indoor Storage of Honey Bee Colonies in the USA is now available in a web-based format The print and PDF versions (pdf) of the popular publication were also updated this quarter.
Basic and Novel Grape IPM Ideas Presented
Extension Viticulturist Michelle Moyer published the spring edition of Viticulture and Enology Extension News (VEEN), which included articles on leafminers, mechanical canopy cooling, and drone-based water-status imagery as well as updates on Washington Wine Commission funding and FRAME* Networks resources (*Fungicide Resistance Assessment, Mitigation and Extension).
Moyer and her team have been working closely with the Washington State Department of Agriculture on their Japanese Beetle awareness program. Moyer and Gwen Hoheisel produced a fact sheet (pdf) about this new invasive pest. Sightings should be reported via PestProgram@agr.wa.gov or 1-800-443-6684.
Short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) light has known disinfectant properties, and Moyer’s team has been investigating using it as an alternative treatment for powdery mildew, a concept she presented at a Washington Advancements in Viticulture and Enology (WAVE) research event in May.
In cooperation with industry, Moyer presents an annual Viticulture Intern Boot Camp each June. This year’s participants learned how to: identify pests and diseases, including scouting and sampling techniques; identify cold damage; estimate yield in vineyards; and distinguish between various nutrient deficiencies. Each participant received a copy of the Field Guide for Integrated Pest Management in Pacific Northwest Vineyards and the 2021 Pest Management Guide for Grapes in Washington.
Updates to Vegetable Grafting Web Portal
Vegetable Horticulture Specialist Carol Miles and her team updated their Grafting Vegetables web portal this quarter. Users can access the latest research-based information on the preparation of seedlings for grafting, new grafting methods, and the use of grafted tomato, eggplant, watermelon, and other melon plants as a biological disease management practice and to increase cold tolerance.
New information on the website includes the fact sheet Watermelon Splice Grafting with Both Cotyledons Removed from the Rootstock (pdf), by Miles and PhD graduate student Pinki Devi which describes a grafting method developed by Miles’ research team that eliminates rootstock regrowth while increasing the ease of grafting.
The team also published Class Lesson: The Science behind Vegetable Grafting (pdf), an educational curriculum written for K-12 STEM education. This curriculum is based on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) with the goal of engaging students in scientific thinking and practices. The comprehensive curriculum includes a timeline, materials list, links to PowerPoint presentations and fact sheets, detailed instructions, costs associated with conducting the activities, and a form for evaluating knowledge gained.
New Tools and Resources for Wheat and Barley Growers
Small Grains Extension Specialist Drew Lyon announced the addition of an Insecticide MOA and Comparison web tool to the WSU Wheat & Small Grains Tool Box. Developed by Dale Whaley, it allows users to search by trade name, by active ingredient, by MOA (mode of action) group, and trade name by crop group and insect.
The team released their first smartphone app, the WSU small grains Variety Selection tool. Spearheaded by Clark Neely, the app includes information on several varieties of wheat and barley and its database includes variety ratings for disease and insect resistance.
Lyon continues to host the Wheat Beat Podcast and contribute to the Weeders of the West blog. His post Occasional Tillage and Herbicide Resistance promotes the benefits of changing up regimens in the battle against weeds and herbicide resistance, introducing a degree of tillage in a no-till system just as you would introduce no-till tactics to a tillage-heavy system. Other IPM-related topics in this quarter’s blog included:
- Precision vs. Uniform Spraying by Judit Barroso
- Herbicide Weed Resistance, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture by Joel Felix
- The Future of Weed Control by Doug Finkelnburg
For links to the tools, calculators, blog, podcasts, and all things IPM, visit the WSU Wheat & Small Grains website.
Twitter and SWD News for Tree Fruit Growers
Tree Fruit IPM Extension Specialist Betsy Beers and her team are pleased to announce their new presence on Twitter. Check out @BeersLab for tweets about postharvest field trials in cherry (with Tobin Northfield @NorthfieldTobin and Adrian Marshall @BugCatchrAdrian), a behind-the-scenes look at their Journal of Economic Entomology article on miticidal properties of erythritol sweetener (with Rebecca Schmidt @Phytoseiid), and more!
Beers continues her work on the invasive spotted wing drosophila (SWD) with updates to the SWD section of the Orchard Pest Management website, an article on SWD IPM in the WSU Tree Fruit Fruit Matters newsletter, and the recent hire of post-doctoral researcher Dylan Beal, whose work will focus on this pest.
Other updates to the popular Orchard Pest Management website include the addition of high-resolution photos. Many of the major pests such as codling moth and pear psylla already have updated photo galleries, with more updated pest and beneficial insect photos to come in the weeks ahead. Colleagues are encouraged to utilize these photos within their own IPM education programs; contact Chris Sater for attribution information.