This year has been one of the hardest years to garden due to diseases. Vegetable diseases, fruit diseases, flower diseases....you get the picture. Nothing seems to be immune except for weeds which are thriving. The best management strategy begins with knowing exactly what's wrong. Although there are a lot of diseases running rampant this summer we are also seeing a lot of problems just due to the cool wet weather.
So the question is--how do I accurately diagnose what's wrong? The best first step is to contact the Extension Office, preferably by bringing in a sample for diagnosis. This is easily the best and fastest way. E-mail is always a great option as well. You can e-mail me questions (with pictures if you have them!) at carol.schreiber@uky.edu. You can also post your questions to this blog.
Another call I've also been getting lately is about bagworms. Lots of bagworms. And of course the question is--What can I spray? Unfortunately, the answer at this stage of the game is nothing but pick them off. For more information on controlling bagworms check out the following link to UK Entomology's Entfact 440--Controlling Bagworms in the Landscape at http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef440.asp.
July is coming very swiftly to a close andwe're heading into a new school year. Be careful on the streets as the students start back and have a great fall!
