Category: Question of the Week
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Question of the Week – Passionflower
This week, the question was: What is this crazy looking flower? This is a passion flower (Passiflora incarnata). Passion flower is fast-growing vine that is native to the Southeast. It shows up on the edges of fields and wooded areas, and many grow it in their yards as an ornamental. The flowers are attractive to…
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Question of the Week – Root-knot Nematodes
This week, the question was: What is wrong with these okra roots? The galling on these roots was caused by root-knot nematodes (RKN). We see nematodes build up in the soil when susceptible crops are planted in the same fields or beds year after year. Crop rotation is an important management strategy, but there is…
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Question of the Week – Squash Beetles
This week, the question was: What is this critter that was found on the underside of a cucumber leaf? This spiky looking thing is a squash beetle larva. This is one of two species in the lady beetle family that feed on vegetable crops. The other is the Mexican bean beetle. Squash beetle adults look…
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Question of the Week – Pickleworm
This week, the question was: What caused the hole in the side of this cucumber? (Nothing is wrong with the color. This cultivar is called Silver Slicer.) This week’s question is a review from a post Tom Bilbo wrote recently about pickleworms. Pickleworms feed on the blooms and tunnel into the developing fruit of cucurbit…
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Question of the Week – Assassin Bug
This week, the question was: What is going on here, and which one of these is the good guy? Here we see an assassin bug that has caught and is feeding on a lady beetle. Normally, both of these insects are good guys, though when assassin bugs get hungry, they will eat just about anything…
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Question of the Week – Pigweed
This week, the question was: What is this weed coming up in a field that was disked recently? This is a pigweed seedling, specifically Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri). Pigweeds are some of the most aggressive weeds that farmers battle. They are able to germinate and grow quickly in poor field conditions, outcompeting crops for water,…
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Question of the Week – Leafminers
This week, the question was: What is wrong with these muscadines? These muscadines have been fed on by the larvae of a leafminer (a species of fly (Diptera)). Adults lay their eggs on the surface of a fruit, stem, or leaf of a plant and the larvae tunnel in the tissue of the plant forming…
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Question of the Week – Bacterial Wilt
This week, the question was: Why is this row of tomato plants dead, but the next row is perfectly healthy? The row on the left has succumbed to bacterial wilt. In the row on the right are grafted plants that had bacterial wilt resistance. You can see the night and day difference between the grafted…
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Question of the Week – Kudzu
This week, the question was: What invasive plant develops this attractive pink flower? These are kudzu flowers. You can see the characteristic trifoliate kudzu leaves in the background. Kudzu is one of our most common invasive plants in the Southeast. Interestingly, it was introduced intentionally in the early 1900s as a cheap livestock forage and…
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Question of the Week – Armillaria Root Rot
This week, the question was: What is growing at the base of this peach tree? These are mushrooms from the fungal root disease Armillaria Root Rot (Armillaria spp.). This soil-borne disease is of major concern for the stone fruit industry as it causes premature tree decline. There are currently no resistant rootstocks available. Therefore, cultural…
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