From bigblue.oit.unc.edu!concert!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!emory!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.near.net!news2.near.net!news.delphi.com!usenet Mon Jul 18 13:27:43 EDT 1994 Article: 38676 of rec.gardens Path: bigblue.oit.unc.edu!concert!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!emory!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.near.net!news2.near.net!news.delphi.com!usenet From: LFWILK Newsgroups: rec.gardens Subject: Blueberries FAQ: Diseases,Pests,& Solutions Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 00:06:33 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) Lines: 106 Message-ID: <5QzxinB.lfwilk@delphi.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: bos1g.delphi.com BLUEBERRIES: DISEASES/PESTS & SOLUTIONS (FAQ) I'm just a novice, but I recently bought a house in New England that has 155 blueberry bushes on the property, so I'm trying to learn as much as I can about them. Before he left for the Pacific Northwest (to plant a cherry orchard), the previous owner (a very active 90-year-old with a real talent for gardening) gave me a few lessons on how to care for the blueberries (as well as the apples, peaches, plums, apricots, self-pollinating vegetables, herbs, roses, and several varieties of flowers on the property). He also gave me some articles and information he had collected on the subject. I thought I'd pass along the information that I've accumulated to-date. An excellent reference book on planting, caring for, harvesting, and using blueberries (as well as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, huckleberries, boysenberries, gooseberries, currants, etc.) is: "The Berry Book" by Robert Hendrickson, published in 1981 by Doubleday & Company, Inc./Garden City, New York. ISBN-0-385-13589-0. The following list of diseases/pests & solutions is a consolidation of information from: (1) primary sources are Robert Hendrickson's "The Berry Book" and his article "Blueberry Fields Forever" published in the July 1984 issue of "Country Journal"; (2) William Kreutzfeld 's article "Blue Magic" published in the August 1987 issue of "National Gardening"; (3) some tips provided to me by Mr. Eric Mattson (the 90-year-"young" gardener who has had lots of successful experience with fruits and berries); and (4) a few things from my limited experience with blueberry gardening. BLUEBERRY DISEASES/PESTS & SOLUTIONS 1. BIRDS - Birds love to eat blueberries and may even feast on your entire crop if you don't cover them with netting or use some other means to protect them. Mr. Mattson provided me with some plastic netting which seems to be effective and still allows sunlight to reach the plants. Be careful about leaving openings in the netting though, because birds may get through the opening and end up getting trapped inside the netting, become frantic, and possibly even die. 2. YELLOW LEAVES - Indicates problem with soil pH and/or drainage. Blueberries need acidic soil conditions and good drainage. Adjust the soil pH. Pine needles spread at the base of the blueberries seem to help with pH, drainage, and minimizing weed "takeovers" :-) Robert Hendrickson suggests applying iron chelate to the soil. Some people use miracid. 3. SHRIVELLED BERRIES - Indicates potential fungus disease. Berries shrivel, may turn purple or brown, and/or shoot tips die. Overfertilizing and/or using fertilizers with high nitrogen content creates an environment susceptible to some fungal diseases. All affected growth should be pruned to prevent the disease from spreading. Fungicides can also be used as a control. 4. ROTTING BERRIES - Potential causes may be fruitworms (small red worms that feast on berries) or fruit fly maggots which infect and rot the berries. Dusting berries with rotenone when they start turning blue helps prevent infections from fruit fly maggots. Robert Hendrickson also suggests controlling fruitworms organically with Beauveria bassica (a parasite fungus). William Kreutzfeld says that blueberry maggots and fruitworms are more common in Michigan, New Jersey, Maine, and North Carolina. Blueberries should not be left on the ground beneath the bushes (fruit fly larvae can survive the winter and infect the next season's blueberries; also, infections/diseases/parasites can be spread via the dropped blueberries). 5. FEW OR NO BERRIES - Potential causes include: overfertilizing, too much nitrogen in the soil, and/or inappropriate pruning. Another possibility is the viral infection "stunt disease" (typically spread by insects from nearby wild blueberries that are infected), which causes small leaves, few berries, and very little plant growth. Infected plants must be removed and destroyed (to keep from spreading the infection to other bushes). 6. BERRIES TOO SMALL - May be characteristic of the particular variety of blueberry, or the result of insufficient pruning. 7. ATTACK OF THE "LEAF-EATERS" - Aphids, leafhoppers, caterpillars, gypsy moths, and japanese beetles are potential culprits. Robert Hendrickson recommends "milky spore disease preparation" as an organic control of japanese beetles. Spraying with Sevin can be used to control leafhoppers, which in addition to leaf-eating can also spread disease (such as the stunt disease virus). Don't use Sevin during blossoming season because it kills the bees needed for pollination. 6. WILTING CANES - Wilting can be caused when Stem Borers bore through canes. Prune affected canes. Spraying with Sevin can be used to control Stem Borers, but should not be used when blueberry blossoms begin to bloom because Sevin kills the bees needed for pollination. I highly recommend obtaining a copy of "The Berry Book" which provides more extensive and more detailed information on both this subject as well as other aspects of growing berries. Please feel free to add suggestions from your experiences and knowledge on the subject. From bigblue.oit.unc.edu!concert!gatech!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!zip.eecs.umich.edu!yeshua.marcam.com!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!waikato!taranaki!hesterb Mon Jul 18 13:30:09 EDT 1994 Article: 38388 of rec.gardens Path: bigblue.oit.unc.edu!concert!gatech!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!zip.eecs.umich.edu!yeshua.marcam.com!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!waikato!taranaki!hesterb From: hesterb@taranaki.ac.nz (Hester Bolitho) Newsgroups: rec.gardens Subject: Web Garden server Date: 14 Jul 1994 02:33:25 GMT Organization: Taranaki Polytech Lines: 9 Message-ID: <30285l$lkh@tpsun.taranaki.ac.nz> NNTP-Posting-Host: tpcom.taranaki.ac.nz. X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL9] We are in the process of adding a server with rhododendron data from Pukeiti Rhododendron trust, New Plymouth, New Zealand. Is anybody out there prepared to help us test the data and server? Does any one have any ideas about format or what sort of information they might like from this server? Has any one got any web addresses that we should/could add for links in our HTML files?. Thanx in advance and I look forward to hearing from you. Hester From bigblue.oit.unc.edu!concert!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!umn.edu!newsdist.tc.umn.edu!dawn.mmm.com!horta.mmm.com!DUERR Mon Jul 18 13:36:31 EDT 1994 Article: 38697 of rec.gardens Path: bigblue.oit.unc.edu!concert!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!umn.edu!newsdist.tc.umn.edu!dawn.mmm.com!horta.mmm.com!DUERR From: duerr@horta Newsgroups: rec.gardens Subject: Re: Question about RoundUp use Date: 18 Jul 1994 14:13:46 GMT Organization: 3M, St. Paul, MN USA Lines: 76 Message-ID: <30e2mq$21b@dawn.mmm.com> References: Reply-To: duerr@horta NNTP-Posting-Host: horta.mmm.com In article , resta@iei.pi.cnr.it (Giovanni Resta) writes: >I'm sorry if this was debated recently, I was away for a while. >Recently became an householder, I have a very little garden >crowded with common and less common plants. >My garden is infested by couch-grass (Triticum repens ?) and other >difficult to eliminate weeds. In particular I can't dig out weeds' roots >because weeds grow tangled with my plants. So I bougth RoundUp, >also if I'm not in general a chem fan. > >Few questions: >1) on the bottle the diluition is not specified !!! Help ! Some formulations do not require dilution. You may have purchased the formulation that does not need diluting. Read the bottle VERY carefully, and it should say if it is "ready to use" or something like that. >2) is it really sufficient to wet some leaves of the weed ? > (Due to the crowding I can't spray safely!) Perhaps you (or they) are talking about watering the plants first? Roundup works best on growing plants, and so if you water the plants first, then the Roundup will work better and faster. If you do water allow all the plants to dry out so that the Roundup will not "wick" over to the plants you do not want to effect. >2') Using stronger concentrations does allow me to treat a smaller part of >the > weed, or a strong concentration will just kill the treated leaves but > not the plant ? Use EXACTLY what they say or LESS. Get a rubber glove that goes up to your elbow and a cloth glove. Put the rubber glove on first and then put the cloth glove on over it....you are now double gloved. Hold the gloved hand over a *dedicated* bucket (do NOT use this bucket for ANYTHING but catching Roundup) and put a small amount of Roundup on the glove. Now you can wipe just the plants you want to kill. Washing with water any plants that you accidently touch will eliminate the Roundup that "got away". Do not put so much on that the glove drips, or you will have little dead spots everywhere. If some does drop remember to wash it with lots of water (if you wash it off the leaves then it cannot work on the plant). Roundup will work as a growth hormone, but not in any where near the concentrations that most people have around (very dilute). When Roundup starts to do its thing the plant is history....the roots die first, and then the top buys the farm. >3) In general how many hours or days must I wait to be able to see if > the application worked ? This depends on how actively growing the plant is. I used some yesterday on weeds that had been rained on (1") about 6 hours before I put on the Roundup. Within hours I saw the weeds dying. During other dry times I have seen it take a week. Be patient, a little goes a long way.> >Many thanks >Giovanni. Soapbox On: Roundup is a tool. It has a specific purpose, and it will make your life a lot easier. It is just like a car. When used properly a car is a valuable tool, but in the hands of a drunk....it is a weapon. You have nothing to fear if you use chemicals in the purposes for which they were designed, and if you follow the directions and exercise due care. Chemicals are everywhere and you yourself (and EVERY other person, plant and animal) could NOT exist without chemicals and chemical reactions. WATER is a chemical. Oxygen is a chemical! BOTH are POISONOUS! But you don't hear people screaming about eliminating the use of water or O2. Soapbox off. Brook Internet: bfduerr@mmm.com Opinions expressed here are those of a rationally thinking person. Many if not most will not agree with those opinions. If you do not agree with those opinions, than one will be appointed for you at no cost.