Category: Fact Sheets

Pests: Leek Moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella) Pest/disease identification and lifecycle, most common damage symptoms and crops affected: Leek moth is a newer invasive pest of allium crops like onions, garlic, shallots and chives, and, as the name suggests, they are particularly fond of leeks. As with most moth pests the crop damage is from its larval

Pests: Three-Lined Potato Beetle (Lema daturaphila) Pest/disease identification and lifecycle, most common damage symptoms and crops affected: The favorite foods of the three-lined potato beetle are crop and weed species in the Physalis genus, notably tomatillo and husk cherries. Potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants are also sometimes attacked. The adult of this pest is about the

Pests: Spinach leafminer (Pegomya hyoscyami), Beet leafminer (Pegomya betae) Pest/disease identification and lifecycle, most common symptoms and crops affected: These closely related species of leafminer attack spinach, beet, chard and some weeds, such as lambsquarters. The adult is a fly that lays its eggs on the undersides of leaves. Eggs hatch in as few as

Pests: Imported Cabbageworm (Pieris rapae), Diamondback Moth (Platella zylostella), Cabbage Looper (Trichoplusia ni) The first sign of imported cabbageworm is typically one or more white moths with dark marks on their wings fluttering around brassica plants during the day. Also known as cabbage whites, these moths lay ⅛-inch long eggs singly on brassica crop leaves,

Pest: Onion Thrips (Thrips tabaci) Pest/disease Identification and lifecycle, most common symptoms and crops affected: Onion thrips are active already, and if they have been a problem for you in years past it is time to start scouting for them. They are very tiny and easily overlooked until the onion plants start showing leaves that

Pest: Garden Springtails (Collembolla) Pest/disease identification and lifecycle, most common symptoms and crops affected: Springtails are a very diverse group of soil dwelling arthropods, that largely feed on decaying organic matter. As such, most springtail species are playing a beneficial role in a healthy soil’s food web. That knowledge may be of little relief, however,

Pest/disease identification and lifecycle, most common symptoms and crops affected: Plants that have not yet been hardened off thoroughly, or can’t get all the water they need, can suffer from something akin to a sunburn. The damage usually shows up first as a bleaching of exposed leaf surfaces, typically higher up on the plant, though

Pests: Crucifer Flea Beetle (Phyllotreta cruciferae) and Striped Flea Beetle (Phyllotreta striolata) Pest/disease identification and lifecycle, most common symptoms and crops affected: Crucifer and striped flea beetles feed on brassica crops as well as weeds that are in the same family, such as yellow rocket or wild mustard. Larvae feed on the roots and flea

Pest: Asparagus Beetle, Common (Crioceris asparigi) and Spotted (Crioceris duodecimpunctata) Pest identification and lifecycle, most common symptoms and crops affected: Common Asparagus Beetle (Crioceris asparigi) Blue-black, shiny, smooth and about 6 to 9 millimeters (1/4 inch) long, with three large yellow, squarish spots with red margins along each wing cover. Eggs are black, laid standing on

Pest: Edema Pest/disease identification and lifecycle, most common symptoms and crops affected: Edema usually shows up on tomato seedlings when they have been waiting through lots of cloudy cold days. It is also a common problem in plants in the cabbage family, and some house plants. Blisters or bumps appear on the surface of the