What is the best product to control Japanese Beetles that are eating the leaves of my plants?

The best control for Japanese Beetles would be Eight. Just spray the foliage of the plants (early morning or late evening) and just wait for the beetles to disappear!

How do I kill ants and earwigs around my house foundation and garage?

The best product for ants and earwigs is Bayer’s Power Force in easy-to-use granules. It’s fast acting and the results are guaranteed!

Why do some insects come back after I have killed them with spray insecticide?

Almost no insecticide will kill eggs so that hatching eggs will re-infect the plant. That is why it is necessary to re-apply an insecticide or miticide one week to 10 days after the initial application.

When it is hot and dry, I sometimes get webbing on my plants in addition to the leaves looking mottled and dull. What caused this?

This problem is caused by spider mites that are sucking on plant juices. These mites, although related to their beneficial insect eating “cousins”, can be very harmful to plants even to the point of death. Insecticides will not touch the members of the arachnid family and must be destroyed using a miticide such as Bayer’s 3-in-1 Insect, Disease & Mite control. Use the spray form to correct an existing problem being sure to spray under the plant leaves where the critters like to hide. Three sprays will be necessary 10 days apart to take care of successive egg hatches.

I have applied insecticides such as Sevin and Malathion for years but now they do not seem to work! Why?

For insect or disease control, it is necessary to “rotate” the use of chemicals as insects

build up a resistance and will not be killed anymore by that particular product. To prevent a resistance build up, use the same product twice in succession and then move to another product of a different chemical class, not just a different trade name. For example, a product with the active ingredient “acephate” is in products such as Orthene, Orthenex, Bonide Systemic Insect Spray and Isotox so that the rotation of these products with the same active ingredient is ineffective. Be sure to read the label of active ingredients to look for an alternate as well as using the correct product for the insect or disease to be controlled.

I have a tank pump sprayer that I use for lawn weed killer. Is it okay to use it for insecticides and fungicides as well?

The answer is yes and no. If you are willing to wash out the sprayer with soap and water, and then ammonia and then rinse it, the answer is yes. However, we would advise one sprayer labeled for lawn weed killer and one for insecticides-fungicides as it is difficult to get rid of 2-4D residue typically contained in lawn weed killers. This residue sprayed on your plants will distort the growth or even kill your valuable plants.

I spray my roses once per week with insecticide but they seem to have deformed blooms and the plants seem somewhat stunted. What’s wrong?

Continuous weekly sprays of the same insecticide can build up the toxic levels in the plant causing a slow down in growth. A better scenario would be spraying every other week with an insecticide and/or miticide and rotating products to prevent resistance. On most plants, spraying only when trouble starts is the best method of control.

Powdery mildew is a constant problem on some of my plants such as lilacs and roses. What can I do?

Use Bi-Carb fungicide to prevent or even to eliminate mildew. Bi-Carb is a salt potassium bi-carbonate and is more effective than baking soda. It was developed by Dr. Hurst at Cornell University in New York and will actually pierce the cell walls of the fungus cells and “dry them up”.

I do not want chemical sprays on my herbs and other garden plants but sometimes bugs are a problem. What can I do?

The use of the following organic products can be used without fear of leaving a chemical residue on the plants that you and your family may eat.

Insect Control: Neem Oil, Insecticidal Soap, Thuricide, Horticultural Oil

Disease Control: Serenade, Bi-Carb, Bordeaux

Note that dormant or horticultural oil must be used with caution as it may burn plants if the wrong dilution rate is used. Bordeaux while not technically organic, is an old-fashioned fungicide that has been around since the 18th century. It consists of copper sulfate salt and lime “mixed” with water. It cannot be applied with a hose-end sprayer as the lime will not dissolve in water. Be sure to use a pump sprayer for Bordeaux and agitate it periodically to keep product in suspension while spraying. The copper portion of Bordeaux will also correct bacterial problems such as fireblight.

Why do my Azalea leaves look stipled, gold, clear and even light brown?

It is most likely lacebug sucking on the leaves from the undersides which you can see by examining the undersides of the leaves. The best time to spray for lacebug is right after bloom and again in 10 days. Then spray late July and again in 10 days.

I’m starting to notice dieback on a few of my plants. I believe borers are eating the inner bark of my Dogwood and Rhododendron. Is there anything I can do to stop it before they kill my plants?

Rhododendron borer and Dogwood borer are a larvae of a moth that eat the cambium (live bark) of these plants. The moth lays her eggs in the month of May in which hatching larvae crawl up the trunks and bore holes into the trunks and lower branches to feed. Lindane was the best control but is no longer available so that an insecticide such as Eight sprayed the week of May 1st, May 15th and May 30th will take care of successive egg hatches. Just spray the trunk and lower branches at the recommended rate for other insects.

I have some bag-like structures hanging from my Arborvitaes that move and something seems to be eating the leaves. What is wrong?

The problem is bagworm that can infest and destroy Spruce, Arborvitae, Juniper, Honeylocust and more. The mild winters of late have allowed it to migrate from the south to Northern Ohio. The larvae emerge from eggs in April and May and can be observed feeding on plants. Control is easy if you spray the caterpillars when they are still small which would typically be in May or June. The most environmentally friendly product is BT or Bacillus thunbergensis sould under the trade name of Thuricide. Two repeat sprays are advisable to kill any late egg hatches.

Small insects that can invade plant tissues especially flowers are thrips. Thrips although usually a problem in greenhouses where they can breed uncontrolled if not checked can be a problem in some flowers such as gladiolus, zinnias, dahlias, chrysanthemums and a few others. Symptoms appear as the stippling of the flower colors and on a slow down in blooming evidenced by deformed flowers or their failure to open. The best control for thrips is an insect growth regulator called spinosad. Three sprays 4-5 days apart will be necessary as eggs hatch quickly in warm weather (above 75 degrees F) Be sure to spray the plants to run off.

I think I might have grubs in my lawn. Is there anything I can apply to get rid of them?

Grubs from European Chafer and Japanese Beetles can destroy a lawn quickly if their numbers exceed 3 per square foot. Beyond this level of 3 per square foot, healthy turf is not able to tolerate the grubs veracious appetite for the roots. More than one life cycle of the Japanese Beetle can be damaging as everyone has seen an adult Japanese Beetles feeding on the foliage of certain trees and shrubs and burying themselves into rose blossoms in order to feed. For lawns though, the grub stage is the most damaging. Two types of control are available in which the prevention method is to apply Merit insecticide from mid-June through July, as directed. Merit is manufactured by the Bayer company and is available under the trade name of Bayer’s Season Long Grub Killer. The other method of control is to apply Dylox by periodically checking the turf for grubs at the end of August to early September. Evidence of grub damage will appear as spots of off-color turf and easy-lifting of the sod where the grubs have been eating turf roots.  More information on Grub Control

Why are my peppers being cut off at ground level after planting?

The problem is a cutworm that is the larval stage of a moth. Cutworms will travel from plant to plan eating the stem just below, or, at ground level. A simple control is to dig around the most recently cut off plant with your finger and almost always you will find the “worm” just below the soil surface that is trying to keep cool. Simply squashing the caterpillars is all that is necessary to end the problem. After June 15th, in Northern Ohio, cutworm does not seem to be a problem as the insect pupates into it’s next stage which causes no harm.

My squash and cucumber plants seem to “bear out” prematurely so that I don’t get all the fruit I want for the summer.  What do I do?

Leaf hoppers are insects that hop from leaf to leaf and suck plant juices from the undersides of the plant leaves spreading a virus that they carry which tends to wear out plants of the curcurbit family decline. Controlling leaf hoppers is one method of stopping the decline of your plants. Neem-oil is an organic control that must be applied frequently, however, dusts such as Eight would be more effective especially it is is applied with a duster under and over plant leaves. The residue will be there at all times to contact these bugs and kill them before they infect your plants with viruses. An easy “organic” method of control is to plant curcurbits in stages so that when one group dies, another follows. To accomplish the “staging method”, just plant more seed every two to three weeks with the last planting about July 4th in Northern Ohio.

Red-orange bugs with black spots are quickly eating my potato leaves.  What do I do?

The potato bug has quite an appetite and will quickly strip the plants of foliage. The best method of control is to watch for them about mid-June on and to simply knock the pests off with a stick into a small can of waiting gasoline, ammonia or other toxin. You could also try organic Neem Oil for out-of-control infestations that cannot be controlled by the “stick & can” method.

Black and yellow colored spiders have formed large webs in my garden. How do I get rid of them?

Please don’t kill them! This common garden spider is your helper in that it eating insects that would be eating up your garden. Scientists estimate that food production might drop as much as one-third without spiders. Just look at them as organic insect control.

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