Extension Educationin Fort Bend County

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The weather this year has brought on a range of atypical landscape pest outbreaks. Most recently, a Mexican White Oak branch was brought in to our office covered with small white dots. After a quick scope inspection of the lower side of the leaves, we spotted hundreds of very small yellow aphids.

Aphids in the home landscape can vary in appearance and in the food they prefer. To view the many species of native aphids, review Bug Guide at https://bugguide.net/node/view/147. Aphid populations rise and fall throughout the year, based off environmental conditions and the presence of natural predators, mostly going unnoticed.

In some cases, environmental conditions and the lack of natural predator populations can cause outbreaks in populations that may warrant temporary efforts on your part to minimize these populations and their impacts on your landscape plants.

It is advised to regularly scout your landscape for early detection of plant pests such as aphids. Symptoms would include yellow or spotted leaves, curled new growth, and the presence of glaze-like honeydew or black sooty mold on the upper surface of leaves. The earlier you can catch outbreaks, the easier it is to respond to: considering the environment, your time and energy, and your pocketbook!

The publication below lays out some good game rules on controlling aphids. The most important part is to not unintentionally harm local beneficial pest predator populations in your control response. This is done by: 1. Simply spraying the underside of the leaves to dislodge the pests, 2. Spraying populations directly with a mild soap or oil solution to impact numbers, and to 3. Introduce beneficial insects such as ladybeetles or lacewings into the area.

https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/aphids-on-shade-trees-and-ornamentals-5-511/

Avoid resulting to the use of chemical insecticides until you’ve exhausted the strategies above and there is economic loss on your part, such as the desired plant declining or dying. These are the fundamentals behind Integrated Pest Management, commonly referred to as IPM.

We’d love to help you identify your landscape pest or disease issues. Reach out to the Fort Bend County Master Gardener hotline for garden advice based on proven research-based strategies. Hotline volunteers are in the office Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 am and can be reached in-person, phone, or by email. Visit https://fbmg.org/contact/ for more information.

Oak leaves showing small white/yellow dots on upper surface. Photo credit: JB Holladay

Underside of oak leaf using scope showing population of yellow aphid. Photo credit: JB Holladay

Authored by James Boone Holladay
County Extension Agent – Horticulture
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Fort Bend County

• What’s going on?
  Currently the Texas Department of Agriculture, working with the USDA, has issued a quarantine
  area in northeast Richmond, Texas to isolate a localized outbreak of Citrus Canker Disease. This
  factsheet is designed to answer common questions and provide action steps for those in need.
• What is it?
  Citrus Canker Disease is caused by a bacterial pathogen. It is a serious disease of all citrus cultivars and some citrus relatives. For more information, visit the link below. http://tinyurl.com/jb4degq
• Where is it?
  The current quarantine area is located in Richmond, and parts of Sugar Land, along Highway 6 surrounding a stretch of FM 1464 at West Airport Blvd. For more information, visit the link below. http://tinyurl.com/hu535ay
• What should I do?
  If you live close to this area and have citrus or citrus relatives planted in your landscape, there are several maintenance and prevention strategies we recommend.
  • Sanitation Practices – Rake up fallen leaves, branches, twigs, and fruit. Double bag these materials and send to landfill, do not compost. Keep the understory mulched well.
  • Avoiding Wounds – Avoid unnecessary pruning or other physical damage done by landscape equipment. Further, use strategies to minimize bird, rodent, or insect damage to trees and fruit.
  • Tree Health – Encouraging overall tree health is always a good practice. For an overview of recommended citrus care visit: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/fact-sheets/citrus/
  • Chemical Prevention – Use approved insecticides to minimize common insect damage. Preventive bactericides common for citrus are copper products. Look for neutralized copper sulfate or copper hydroxide products. Each must be labeled for use on citrus.
• Who should I contact?
  If you suspect your trees to be infected or if you have initial questions about this disease, contact your Fort Bend County Extension Office. Either your local county agent or a certified master gardener hotline representative will eagerly assist you. Please DO NOT transport plant samples (to our office, local nurseries, garden centers, etc.). Instead, we ask that you take representative photos and email those to us for review. If we deem it necessary, we will recommend further steps for you to take.
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension – Fort Bend County Office
    http://fortbend.agrilife.org
    (281) 342-3034
  • Fort Bend County Master Gardener Hotline
    http://FBMG.org
    (281) 341-7068
    FortBendMG@ag.tamu.edu
  • Further Resources
    http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/
    http://saveourcitrus.com

Click here to download a printable version!!!

By Boone Holladay
County Extension Agent-Horticulture

As of early July, we are seeing the hatch of the second generation of Walnut Caterpillars feeding on pecan foliage. It is critical for tree health that we address these leaf feeders the best way we can. With the spring floods and now hot and dry conditions, trees are very prone to stress. Leaf loss right now would be devastating to the ongoing health of the trees. For quality control of these pests, you may have to turn to an insecticide product, though many specialized and safe options are on the table.
For commercial orchards, products such as Intrepid and Confirm have minimal to no impact on non-target insects such as beneficials or bees. These are insect growth regulators and would need to be sprayed into the canopy for them to work effectively. What we have recently observed is that orchards that were treated for Pecan Nut Casebearer in spring are not showing significant populations of Walnut Caterpillar now. That’s a good thing!
The safest products for homeowner situations is Bt (Dipel, Thuricide, Caterpillar Killer) and products with Spinosad (such as Green Light Lawn and Garden with Spinosad). These products need to be applied to the leaves where caterpillars are actively feeding. One of the safest contact insecticides is wetable Sevin (Carbaryl). Apply with soap or a surfactant to get better pest contact.
If you cannot reach the top of the tree where the caterpillars are feeding, you may be able to catch them when they move down the tree and cluster to molt. This is usually about 6 to 15 feet up the tree and easy to spot with a little inspection. If you can catch them then, you can spray the cluster with dish soap and water (10 drops to 24 oz. of water), insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, or approved contact insecticides.
Be aware of the potential for acute poisoning to pets and wildlife if you use some chemical pesticides on these in-sects. With the large populations of these, ingestion of treated insects by birds and other beneficial organisms may prove harmful.
We ask that if you scout any young populations of the Walnut Caterpillar in your area, that you contact our office at http://fortbend.agrilife.org. We will then visit the area to confirm the outbreak and if confirmed, will add it to our mapping. Thanks in advance for your help.

By Peggy d’Hemecourt
President & Earth-Kind Specialist, Fort Bend Master Gardeners

As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. Unless you’re talking about a plant, in which case you might say “…, the tough keep growing”. That’s what we gardeners hope for when we landscape with tough plants. We expect them to be heat and drought tolerant and resistant to insects and disease. But seldom do we expect tough plants to be flood survivors. That’s exactly what happened though, to many of the Coral Drift Roses growing around the gazebo at Richmond’s Wessendorff Park, planted and cared for by city staff and members of Keep Richmond Beautiful.
On May 28th, as the Brazos River was rising and creeping ever closer to Wessendorff Park, the roses were putting on quite a show and their caregivers wondered how they would fare, and even if a preemptive rescue might be in order. But with more important matters to be addressed, nature was allowed to take its course. And nature didn’t waste any time. The next day, on May 29th, at 11:00 am, the river at Richmond was at moderate flood stage and flood waters began lapping up around the gazebo and encroaching on the rose beds. By 5:00 that afternoon, only the tops of the plants could be seen above the flood waters.
The Brazos kept rising, and on June 2nd, it crested at over 54 feet. Flood water was three to four feet deep under the gazebo. Needless to say, the casual ob-server would never know that roses had been blooming around the gazebo only days earlier.
The roses remained submerged for ten days. When they emerged from the flood waters they were covered in mud, their leaves brown and hanging on to stems that, surprisingly, were showing some green. A week and a day later, green, leafless stems were observed on most of the plants and one of the roses had sprouted new leaves. By June 22nd, new growth was observed on many of the roses.
While it may still be too soon to say with certainty, many of the Coral Drift Roses that adorned the gazebo at Wessendorff Park in Richmond before the flood may return to their former beauty. Tough, as pertains to plants, has taken on a whole new significance. Nature can be resilient. We gardeners may need to be patient following natural disasters and let her take her course.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service – Fort Bend County

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service – Fort Bend County will again offer honeybee swarm traps to the community. For many years, the Extension Service has referred calls to beekeepers for help in dealing with honey bee problems. In cooperation with the Fort Bend Beekeepers Association, the Rosenberg Extension office can now provide a specially constructed trap to lure swarms of honey bees away from homes and structures. Honey bees are cavity nesters and the trap offers a desirable home as an alternative to moving into a location that would be in conflict with people. Luring the bees into a trap avoids the costly help of a bee removal service or exterminator after they have established themselves in the wall or soffit of someone’s house. According to County Extension Agent Boone Holladay, “Trapping may avoid a new infes-tation but, unfortunately, it cannot lure bees out of an existing nest. Preventing an existing colo-ny from becoming a source of new problems is our plan.”

“Reproductive swarms usually happen in the springtime when forage is plentiful, so ‘swarm sea-son’ is just around the corner”, Holladay says. (“Absconding” is the term beekeepers use for en-tire colonies that “swarm”, abandoning their nest, usually due to an unsuitable site, pests or disease. Absconding can happen at any time of the year.) A football-sized cluster of bees hanging from a tree limb or on a wooden fence are awaiting the return of scouts that will guide them to a new nest site. The worst advise anyone can receive is “don’t worry, they’ll leave” since the rest of the sentence may well be “and move into your attic.” The clustered swarm may wait a day or two for the scouts to locate a suitable cavity for the colony to occupy. At this point, timely advice from a beekeeper can make a huge difference. Perhaps a beekeeper can capture the swarm and introduce them into a hive as their new home. If not a man-aged hive, hopefully the bees will move into a hollow tree or maybe an abandoned birdhouse. Bees have a heightened sense of smell, so they easily find where bees have lived before.

If honey bees have been a recurring problem or an existing colony might result in more problems, the swarm trap program may be of significant help. Contact the Extension office during business hours at 281- 633-7029 and make arrangements to pick up a honey bee trap. Hang the trap securely about four or five feet above the ground (a tree or wooden fence makes a good trap site). Check the trap frequently and when you notice bees occupying it, call the Extension office immediately. They will have an area beekeeper contact you to remove the trap and move the bees into a managed hive. It is best to move the trap after dark so that all the bees are inside (you don’t want foraging bees to return to find their home is gone). The swarm trap is for a swarm on the move. If you have had bees in structures for some length of time, traps aren’t your answer. Contact the Extension office and we can offer a list of bee removal service providers.

By Boone Holladay, Fort Bend County Extension Agent—Horticulture

There are a couple standards that Texans live by. First, everything is bigger in Texas. Second, if someone says that it can’t be done in Texas, well, we’ll not only prove them wrong, but we’ll do it bigger, better, bolder, and with a little Texas flare added for good measure. Now with that the stage has been set, let’s talk wine grapes!

The viticulture industry in Texas has grown from a tiny niche in the 1980’s up to a big player in the US wine market. This is due to a group of pioneer-minded individuals and a bunch of research and consulting from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Beyond state specialists, Extension has allocated regional viticulture specialists throughout the State. These individuals are knowledgeable on the climate, growing conditions, and varietals that do best in each region. In Fort Bend County, our region is entitled the Gulf Coast region. Yes, this region goes all the way from Orange down the complete Gulf coastline down to Brownsville. That’s quite a bit of diversity.

All this said, I’d like to spend a minute to introduce our new Gulf Coast regional specialist, Ms. Fran Pontasch. Fran has extensive viticulture experience in Texas. Beyond serving in several roles with Extension, she managed vineyards at Messina Hof winery in Bryan. In her recent newsletter Fran quoted “What a privilege it is to visit your vineyards during wildflower season. Every vineyard that I’ve visited so far, has Blanc Du Bois planted. Blanc Du Bois, this region’s first variety to bud, bloom, and ripen is a week or two from blooming in the northern parts of the region and have already set fruit in the Valley.” We are lucky and proud to have Fran on board.

Several weeks ago, I got to spend the day with Fran touring local vineyards; two of the notable vineyards in Fort Bend County and a research grower in Wharton. The primarily message I received that day, was that we have plenty of room to step up grape production in our region. About half of Fort Bend County soils are suitable for commercial wine grape production. This includes loam and sandy loam soils with excellent drainage, mostly found across the north and northwest parts of the county, but found in pockets throughout. The main key is drainage. If you are in are-as that don’t drain off for a day or two after big storms….well, this might not be for you, at least at a commercial scale.

So, if you are interested in growing wine grapes, commercially or for home use, here are a couple options to get you started. First off is the 2016 Black Spanish/Lenoir Symposium held on Friday, May 20, 2016 at the Cat Spring Agricultural Society Hall in Austin, County. Taming the Beast in the Vineyard & Winery: Lenoir or Black Spanish, regardless of what name we give it – this grape grows perfectly in the Gulf Coast region. Across the state, winemakers are making robust red wines. Join us for a day of learning, tasting, and sharing your thoughts. Fee – $75. Pay at the door, includes lunch, materials, and tastings. Beyond this upcoming event, Fran schedules a range of events throughout the calendar. If you are ready to take the plunge, reach out to Fran at fmpontasch@tamu.edu and get signed up for announcement of future events. Next, visit http://winegrapes.tamu.edu for a range of online resources for commercial viticulture producers. Last, but not least, we have a small demonstration vineyard planting here at our offices in Rosenberg. Our disclaimer is that it isn’t currently in great shape, but it will offer clues of what and what not to do. Give us a call at (281) 342-3034 to schedule a guided visit.

To growing wine grapes in Fort Bend County, Cheers!