Time to check for bagworms
By ROBERT KESSLER Penn State Cooperative Extension Franklin County office

Robert Kessler is an extension educator specializing in consumer horticulture and energy issues.

COMING EVENTS

July 7 - Twilight Meeting (Cover Crops), 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Dennis and Joe Musser's farm, Newburg.

Aug. 19 - Horticulture Gardens Open House, Gardens and Cut Flower Arranging Franklin County Master Gardeners and Franklin County Extension, 10 a.m., Call 263-9226 for information.

Aug. 27 - Tomato Tasting Day, Franklin County Cooperative Extension and Penn State Master Gardeners, Noon, Horticulture Gardens, Rain or Shine.

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TWILIGHT MEETING -

COVER CROPS

There will be a Twilight Meeting Monday, July 7 at Dennis and Joe Musser's farm (field close to Dream farms), 13123 Mongul Road, Newburg, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The public is invited to see the benefit of planting cover crops and the Nitrogen source that is available for the field corn crop from planting legumes. We will be taking soil tests and using the Chlorophyll meter reading to predict the need for side dress of Nitrogen fertilizer. If you want to cut fertilizer costs this may be the way to do it.

BAGWORMS

Homeowners who had bagworms in their evergreens last year should be checking them and probably spraying them now to prevent damage this year. All of the overwintering eggs should have hatched by now and the worms are small and may be difficult to notice if you try to find them, but look closely at the tree for tiny bags made from plant debris.

Bagworms are a problem, especially on arborvitae, which is their favorite host, but they also will be on juniper, pine and spruce. They can also get on none vergreen trees like black locust, honey locust and sycamore.

The bagworm overwinters as eggs in last year's bags. Most people will mistake these for small pine cones. These eggs hatch in June and the bagworm spins a silk bag and starts feeding. If left uncontrolled, they will continue to feed and get larger until August when they will attach their bag to a branch and pupae. The males will emerge and are able to fly to the female who stays in her bag and she lays her eggs in the bag and dies.

The problem with bagworms is as they get large, they eat more and more of the green tissue. Once plants like arborvitae lose their needles, they won't grow back, so if bagworms are left unnoticed, they can cause severe injury to your landscape.

As you inspect your trees and if you notice the small bags, the most effective control is to pick them off the branch. You can also spray your trees with Bt (bacillus thuringensious), which you can purchase at a garden center. It is a bacterium which will kill young larvae. If they get too big, this material will no longer work and you will have to resort to a material like Sevin.

GYPSY MOTH UPDATE

The gypsy moth season is winding down in our area and the good news is that the defoliation is not as bad as many of us feared. Last year was a very serious year and many thought this year would be a disaster. But there are two natural controls for the gypsy moth larvae. One is a virus and the other is a fungus. Both of these need to have periods of wet cool weather in the spring to become active and provide control. That didn't happen the last few springs and the gypsy moth population exploded.

This year you remember we had a long rainy cool spell in late April through early May. This provided the proper conditions for both of the natural controls to work. According to Zack Roeder, service forester at Michaux Forest, there are some areas that did have defoliation and I am sure some people did see defoliation, but not to the extent that we had this past year.

The gypsy moth has started to pupae and soon the moths will emerge. The female moths do not fly, but they cling to the trunk of the tree and the males fly to them. If you destroy the females then you can reduce the egg laying on your trees. Once the female mates, she lays hundreds of eggs in an egg mass on the tree. You can scrape these off into a coffee can or some container and destroy them. You can do this from the time egg laying is done until next April when they start to hatch.

If you had an area that was damaged this year by gypsy moth contact the Franklin County Planning office to get on the list to be sprayed next year.

JAPANESE BEETLES

Late June to early July is the time of year we expect to start seeing Japanese Beetles arriving. While there are other insects that are grubs in our lawn the Japanese beetle is the one that also feeds as adult.

Last year our area was very dry over the time when egg lay occurred and it is expected that most of the eggs did not survive, which could mean a low population of Japanese beetles. However, you could be in an area that had a timely rain or two and you will see Japanese beetles.

Start watching your landscape for signs that you have some on your plants. Roses and grapes are some of the first plants that they may feed on, but they are not fussy eaters, so most plants can be eaten. But it is important to find the first beetles and pick them off immediately and drop them into soapy water. If you let them feed, pheromones are released to signal to others to join the buffet they found. By doing a lot of checking over the next several weeks, you can determine if you have any in your area and if you do then getting rid of the first arrivals could reduce your feeding damage in your yard.