Category: Question of the Week
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Question of the Week – Squash Vine Borer
This week, the question was: What is this critter resting on a zucchini flower bud? This is the adult form of the squash vine borer. The female moth lays eggs on the leaves and stems of squash and zucchini plants. A tiny caterpillar hatches from the egg and bores into the stems to feed. We…
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Question of the Week – Phyllody
This week, the question was: What is going on with these strawberries? These strawberries are exhibiting a condition known as “phyllody” where floral parts become leafy. Though it usually affects only a small amount of berries, we see phyllody in our fields pretty much every year. Phyllody can be infectious (caused by a phytoplasm vectored…
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Question of the Week – Leafcutter Bee
This week, the question was: What created these near perfectly circular holes around the margin of this muscadine leaf? These holes were created by leafcutter bees while collecting materials to build their nests. These are native bees that are important pollinators of numerous species of wildflowers and cultivated crops. Leafcutter bees use the cut pieces…
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Question of the Week – Fourlined Plant Bug
This week, the question was: What is this critter on this sunflower leaf? This is a fourlined plant bug. This small insect is commonly seen in the spring and usually disappears by early summer. It is a relatively minor pest of numerous plants including brassicas, cucurbits, beans, and members of the Solanaceae family, though it…
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Question of the Week – Stinkhorns
This week, the question was: What are these weird-looking things coming out of the leaf litter in a wooded area? These are stinkhorn mushrooms, not aliens. Stinkhorns are different from other mushrooms which disperse their spores by releasing them into the air. Instead, they produce their spores in a sticky substance known as the gleba.…
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Question of the Week – Mantid Ootheca
This week, the question was: What is this on the underside of this crepe myrtle limb? This is a praying mantid ootheca. An ootheca is a protective structure in which the adult female lays her eggs. It is constructed out of a frothy secretion from her ovipositor that dries into a hard, foam-like material. The…
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Question of the Week – Genetic Mutation
This week, the question was: What is going on with this squash plant? The yellow venation in this plant was caused by some sort of genetic mutation. While attractive, mutations like this may affect the performance (yield) or marketability of a plant. Sometimes new cultivars are developed from genetic mutations that are viewed as desirable,…
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Question of the Week – Boron or Pollination
This week, the question was: What is wrong with this strawberry? This funky shape is the result of either poor pollination or a boron deficiency. The easiest way to distinguish the cause is by taking a tissue sample to look at nutrient levels in the plants. If misshaped berries are common across the whole field,…
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Question of the Week – Virus
This week, the question was: What’s going on with this tie-dyed-looking wild mustard? This wild mustard is suffering from a virus. Numerous viruses affect plants in the brassica family and may be transmitted by aphids, flea beetles, cucumber beetles, or by seed. Viruses may cause a variety of symptoms including stunting, leaf distortion, mosaic patterns,…
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Question of the Week – Cold Damage
This week, the question was: What happened to these strawberry plants? This photo was taken just a couple days after the cold a few weeks ago. Weather stations near this field recorded a low of 22 degrees. These few plants were at the end of a row where the wind blew off the row cover.…
The South Carolina Grower 