Yard & Garden

Updating and replanting the landscape with plants that are not a preferred food source for these troublesome insects is a great long-term goal, but what can be done to minimize damage right now? Here are some quick tips.

1. Don’t buy a trap. They attract many more insects to your landscape!
2. Plan to tolerate some damage. Healthy vigorous trees can tolerate a high level of damage with little to no long-term impact on its health. Small ornamental plants and small newly installed woody plants may need more protection.
3. Prep your handpicking supplies – a bucket and dish soap. Scout for insects in the evening, around 7 p.m., and knock them into a bucket of soapy water.
4. Choose an insecticide with low toxicity to bees and pollinators, such as neem or horticultural oil. Of course, additional higher toxicity products are also available but follow all label use directions to minimize their impact on beneficial insects and pollinators.

Japanese Beetle - Adult

Japanese Beetle - Grub

Japanese Beetle Defense Plan

Fruit cracking is a common problem in home vegetable gardens. As fruits near maturity, heavy moisture - like a rainstorm - following dry periods may cause the fruit to crack. Cracking can occur either vertically, up and down the tomato shoulders, or horizontally around the tomato. Tomato skin has reduced flexibility as they near maturity. Sudden moisture causes plants to take up water quickly and results in skin cracking.

There are significant differences between tomato cultivars and their susceptibility to cracking, so gardeners can choose cultivars with greater resistance if their current selections are very susceptible. Jetstar, Mountain Fresh and Mountain Spring are all tomato cultivars with good crack resistance. 

Mulching plants to help maintain uniform soil moisture may reduce cracking. Or harvest near-mature tomatoes before any forecast rain and let them finish ripening indoors. Infrequent watering, dehydrated plant takes up water quickly and causes ripe fruit to split.

These are most likely the dreaded squash bug. They are are a common pest of cucurbits, with a preference first for winter squash and pumpkins, followed by gourds, summer squash and melons, and occasionally cucumbers. Among squash, winter varieties such as hubbards and marrows, are most severely effected.

Both adults and nymphs feed on plant leaves and stems by sucking sap from the plant tissues. While feeding, they inject a toxic substance into the plant, which causes yellowing of the leaf foliage and eventually wilting and death of the plant. This condition is called Anasa wilt of cucurbits.

Early detection of squash bugs is vital to effective control. Adults are very difficult to kill and can kill entire plantings if not controlled.

Begin scouting plants for adults insects and egg masses as soon as plants emerge in spring. One egg mass per plant indicates control measures are needed. Begin control as soon as insects are found, and prevent large populations from developing.

1. Cultural Control- Remove and bury or burn all garden debris in the fall to eliminate insect overwintering sites. Mow vegetation around the garden or planting field to minimize insect habitat. Plant varieties of squash and pumpkin that are resistant, including Butternut, Royal Acorn and Sweet Cheese.

2. Manual Control- Home gardeners can handpick adults and crush egg masses to reduce insect numbers in the garden. Place boards under plants, to provide aggregation sites for the insects. This can simplify collecting and destroying of the insects.

3. Chemical Control- Adults are difficult to kill with insecticides, so control should be targeted at the nymphs to prevent them from surviving. Homeowners can spray plants with an insecticide, such as Sevin (carbaryl) or Eight (permethrin), being sure to target the undersides of leaves. Reapply the insecticide as directed on the label.

Always read and follow all directions and precautions on the insecticide label.

Controlling Cucumber Beetles and Squash Bugs Without Insecticides? Yes, It's Possible. 

Squash Bugs, University of Minnesota Extension

To decide when to plant your fall crops, get out your calendar and start counting backward from your normal first frost date. Check out the National Weather Service Nebraska map for the first frost, first freeze and first hard freeze in your area. 

Add together the days to harvest listed on the seed packet and the number of days you'll need to harvest a crop.  If the crop is sensitive to cold, add in 10-14 days as a cushion to avoid damage from an early frost. 

The growth rate of cold sensitive plants slows as temperatures get cool and all plants respond to the shorter fall day length by slowing their growth.  Add in another 10-14 days to account for this “fall factor”. 

The total number of days, counted backward from the first frost date should give you a pretty good estimate of when to seed your fall crops.  Of course, plants that are hardy or semi-hardy; like cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage; will flourish in the cool autumn days and even survive light frosts so timing doesn't have to be so exact as with very frost sensitive plants, like lettuce or snap beans. 

But while snap beans are not frost tolerant, many bush varieties mature so quickly – within 55 to 60 days from planting - they can be planted even into July and still have time to produce a crop before frost. 

What to Plant? 
Certain cultivars are better suited for a fall garden that others. Below are good cultivars and planting dates for eastern Nebraska. Many other great cultivars can also be used; look for those with shorter days from seeding to harvest, along with good disease resistance and heat tolerance. 

June 1

• Broccoli - Packman, Premium Crop
• Brussels sprouts - Jade Cross, Long Island Improved
• Cabbage - Discovery, Dynamo, Red Acre, Savoy Ace, Savoy Express

July 1-15

• Cucumber – Marketmore, Straight Eight
• Kale - Red Russian, Vates, Winterbor
• Summer Squash – Ambassador Zucchini, Yellow Crookneck

July 15 – August 5

• Carrot – Danvers, Nantes Half Long, Chantenay
• Snap beans – Contender, Top Crop, Tendergreen
• Spinach - Bloomsdale Longstanding, Melody, Melody Tyee, Olympia

July 20 – August 15 

• Lettuce - Buttercrunch, Summer Bibb, Black Seeded Sampson, Red Salad Bowl, Salad Bowl, Oakleaf or Green Ice
• Radish – Champion, Sparkler, Comet, Cherry Bell
• Turnip – Tokyo Cross, Early Purple Top, Purple Top Globe

August 1 - 10

• Beets – Ruby Queen, Detroit Dark Red
• Mustard – Florida Broadleaf, Southern Giant, Tendergreen
• Swiss Chard – Ruby Red (also know as Rhubarb Chard), Bright Lights

Fall Vegetable Garden

Selected Vegetable Cultivars for Nebraska

Nothing is more disappointing to the home vegetable gardener than to raise a tomato plant, finally have it loaded with fruit, when suddenly it wilts and dies. What could be the problem? Possible causes include lack of water, fungal wilt diseases, tomato spotted wilt virus and stalk borers.

Possible Causes of Sudden Wilt and Death in Tomatoes