Catocala briseis (briseis underwing moth)

Catocala briseis - female

Catocala briseis                Family: Erebidae
(kah-TOCK-uh-lah  bree-SAY-iss)
Common name: Briseis underwing; ribbed underwing
Host plants: Populus sp. (incl. aspen, poplar,
                           cottonwood);
Salix sp. (willow)
Adult size: wingspan 2.5 – 2.75 in (6-7 cm)
Flight time: June through late August

Type: Pest

Life cycle:

            Generations per year: one
            Egg:
            Larva:
            Pupa:
            Adult:

female Briseis underwingDescription: Large moth with dark mottled forewings and orange-red hindwings. Forewings are primarily a dark grey colour with some pale scale patches, in particular a whitish patch above the subreniform spot. Hindwings have two black bands across the orange-red. The median black band is variable, typically ending before the inner margin making it invisible when forewings are only slightly open.

Larva is mostly smooth skinned, grey and tan in colour with small orange-red subdorsal spots, an orange-red and black patch in the middle of the back, and a ventral fringe of whisker-like hairs below the lateral line.

 

Special Notes: This moth species is very similar to Catocala californica (western underwing moth) so are difficult to differentiate, particularly as they can both be found in the Pacific Northwest. Some scientists believe they represent ecotypes of the same species.

 

Remedial Actions: None needed with this underwing species. Not generally considered to be too much of a pest as far as I can tell from my research. However, some species of the gardener’s nemesis, the cutworm, are underwing moths in their adult form.

 

Posted on January 10, 2018

 

Lettuce ‘Royal Red’

Lettuce 'Royal Red' Lactuca sativa ‘Royal Red’   Family: Asteraceae
(lak-TOO-kah  saw-TEE-vah)

Type: loose-leaf
Common name: ‘Royal Red’ lettuce
Zone: 9 – 11
Height: 8-12 in (20-30 cm) Spread: 12 in (30 cm)
Aspect: partial sun
Soil: fertile; well-draining
Water: regular
Days to maturity: 50 – 55 from transplanting

Description: A loose-leaf-type with thick, wavy, crumpled leaves tipped generously in red.

 

Special Notes: Discovered in a field of ‘Prizehead’ lettuces in the 1980s. A cool season lettuce, best sown in early spring and/or late summer. Easy to grow. Leaves have excellent texture and a sweet taste.

 

How to grow: Start seeds indoors under grow lights in early March. Direct seed outdoors when soil temperature reaches a minimum of 1.7 °C (35 °F). Optimum soil temperature for lettuce seed germination is 10 – 21 °C (50 – 70 °F).

Amend soil with compost and a complete organic fertilizer before planting.

Sow seed at a depth of a quarter to half-inch (6 – 12 mm) in rows 18 – 24 in (45 – 60 cm) apart. Thin seedlings to a spacing of 8 – 10 inches (20 – 25 cm).

For a continuous supply of lettuce throughout the season, sow a few seeds every 2 – 3 weeks. Cover early and late sowings with a poly tunnel or row cover to protect lettuces from frost.

Ready to harvest in about 50 – 55 days from transplanting. Add an additional 7 – 10 days for harvesting when direct seeding in optimum soil temperatures.

 

In our Zone 7a garden: I grew this lettuce variety for the first time in 2017. We had a late jump on the growing season in spring due to unusual cold temperatures and lots of snow in February, followed by above average rainfall through March and April and a late frost date of April 3rd. Weather in May and June was atypical, as well. Consequently, my ‘Royal Red’ spring transplants into the garden struggled a bit, then languished when the summer heat ramped up.

However, my August-sown seedlings which were transplanted into the garden in late September have done okay outside under row cover…even in minus degree Celsius temperatures and under snow.

Lesson learned: Transplant fall seedlings outside earlier…absolutely no later than the second week in September…to better establish before fall weather of lower temperatures and long, dark rain days arrives.

 

Posted on January 3, 2018

 

 

 

Kale ‘Scarlet Curled’

Kale 'Scarlet Curled' Brassica oleracea var. acephala ‘Scarlet Curled’ 
(BRASS-ih-kah  oh-ley-AY-see-ah  variety  ah-SEF-ah-lah)
Family: Brassicaceae

Common name: scarlet kale, curly scarlet kale
Height: 36 in (90 cm)  Spacing: 18-24 in (45-60 cm)
Aspect: full sun; partial shade
Soil: fertile; humus-rich; well-draining
Water: regular
Days to Maturity: 50 – 60 days from transplant

Description: An open pollinated, tall, ultra-hardy plant with large, frilly leaves. New leaves are blue-green in colour, maturing to a vibrant deep purple-red. Biennial.

 

Special Notes: This is a relatively new variety from the UK. As with other kales, ‘Scarlet Curled’ is full of healthy nutrients and anti-cancer properties. But do not limit this one to the vegetable garden! The gorgeous frilled leaves on this cultivar add a delightful splash of sensuous red tones to the ornamental garden. Just be sure to place it where you can still easily harvest a few leaves for the morning smoothie or dinner salad.

 

How to Grow: Kale prefer humus-rich soil, although they are decently tolerant of almost any soil conditions. Soil acidity is another matter…preferring a pH of 6.5 – 6.8. Targeting this range will greatly benefit the plant’s abilities to draw up necessary nutrients from the soil.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, timing for direct seeding kale in the garden is early March…so as soon as you can work in the garden, work lime into the designated spot in the vegetable garden where kale will be sowed or transplanted. This should be done 2 – 3 weeks prior to seeding.

Soil temperature range for kale seed germination is 10 – 30 °C (50 – 85 °F), but they have been known to germinate at low soil temperatures of 5 °C (41 °F). At the other end of the scale, being a cool season crop, seed germination is very poor at temperatures nearing 35 °C (95 °F).

If you are itching to get growing before March, you can start kale seed indoors under grow lights. I typically start a few kale varieties around mid-February to transplant out in mid- to late March.

Direct sow seeds about a half inch (1.25 cm) deep and space 8 inches (20 cm). Rows should be 24 inches (60 cm) apart. Thin seedlings to a spacing of 18 inches (45 cm). It is possible to transplant the thinned seedlings, if you want lots of kale. This is best done when the plants are at least 8 inches (20 cm) tall and have three or four leaves. Bury the seedlings a little deeper than what they were initially. It won’t hurt the plants.

To harvest, pick 2 – 3 lower leaves from each plant. Do not cut the developing bud in the centre of the plant or you will stop its growth.

For a fall and winter crop of kale, sow seeds in pots or starter trays in mid-July to early August. Sowing in pots or trays allows you to keep the seeds out of the hot sun of high summer. Transplant seedlings into the garden or cool frames when they are tall enough. Be sure to water young seedlings regularly in dry weather. Cover or mulch heavily when fall temperatures threaten to dip to freezing range. This will ensure a harvest of leaves through the winter months.

 

Pieris rapae larva on Kale 'Lacinato'Pests: Early plantings of vegetables typically come under fire from a number of pests, hungry for a meal. Kale is no different. Cabbageworms, larvae of the small white cabbage butterflies (Pieris rapae) can be a real problem. (For information about this pest, click here.) Covering the young seedlings with floating row cover will help keep the female small whites from laying their eggs on the leaves but be sure to anchor the edges of the fabric securely.

The cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae, can also be a real pest. Keep a close watch for these as you do not want them to get a foothold on your plants. Because of their incredible reproduction capabilities, one cabbage aphid can produce up to 41 generations in a single season…depending on how long your growing season is. If you see any, hit them with a strong jet of water from the hose to knock them off. Or you can use a soap spray of 1 – 2 teaspoons (5 – 10 ml) dish soap diluted in 4 cups (1 litre) of water. Whichever method you use, be sure to repeat the treatment every 7 days to catch the ones you missed and any new ones which have been born in the meantime.

 

In our Zone 7a garden: We grew ‘Scarlet Curled’ for the first time this year and were very pleased with its performance, overall health, and taste. However, the jury is still out on its winter-hardy capabilities. Early indications are favourable, though. Two nights of -8.0 °C and -8.5 °C temperatures only caused the leaves to droop very slightly…and lasted only until the temps climbed back to -5 °C and above.

In the kitchen, we really enjoyed the addition of deep-red ‘Scarlet Curled’ leaves to our kale salad. Combined with the dark grey-green leaves of ‘Lacinato’, the blue-green of ‘Dwarf Blue Scotch Curled’, the bright green of ‘Scotch Curled’, and blue-red of ‘Red Russian’ definitely brought the salad to life.

 

Posted on November 19, 2017

 

 

Pieris rapae (small white cabbage butterfly)

Pieris rapae - female Pieris rapae                     Family: Pieridae
(PEE-err-iss  RAY-pee)

Common name(s): small cabbage white butterfly; small white; imported cabbageworm; cabbage white; small cabbage white
Host plant(s): plants which contain glucosinolates, a chemical which cues female to lay eggs (See list of some of the host plants below.) 

Adult size: wingspan: 1.5 – 2.5 in (3.8-6.5 cm) 
Larva length: to 1.4 inches (3.5 cm)

Life cycle:
            Generations per year: 2 to 3 in southern Canada; several further south
            Egg: 3-7 days
            Larva: five instar stages; 11-33 days depending on time of year
            Pupa: 12 days in summer generation; months in winter generation
            Adult: 5-20 days


Pieris rapae - underside of wingsDescription:
 Wings of adult butterfly are white above with black on the forewing tip and one black dot in centre area of each forewing on males and two black dots in same area on females. Hind wings of both sexes has a black dot on the front edge. Underside of wings is generally a yellowish hue; black dots can be seen faintly through wings. The body is covered with substantial hair…white in females, darker in males.

Early adults emerging from diapaused pupae in early spring in the Pacific Northwest region are typically a little smaller in size with fewer black markings on the upper wings but with an additional edging of black on the underside at the base of the hindwing.

Each female produces 300-400 eggs in their life span.

The egg is 0.04 inches (1.0 mm) long and 0.02 inches (0.5 mm) wide. Laid on end, singly, on the underside of leaves of host plants, the bullet-shaped egg is pale white in colour initially, turning yellowish. Ridges running the length of the egg are visible.

Pieris rapae larva on Kale 'Lacinato'Larva develops through 5 instar stages. It is a velvety green colour with 5 pairs of prolegs and a narrow yellow line running down the centre of its back. (This line is missing in the first instar stage and can be broken up in early instars.) Dashes of narrow yellow lines, or several yellow spots can also be distinguished on both sides.

The chrysalis varies in colour…yellow, green, grey, speckled brown…and is roughly 0.7 – 0.8 inches (1.8-2.0 cm) long. Angled, keel-like ridges are prominently visible. In summer generations, pupation lasts about 11 days. As the chrysalis is the overwintering stage of this insect, the numbers of pupae entering diapause increases as autumn progresses.

In the Pacific Northwest, small white cabbage butterflies are active from early spring through until temperatures dip below 0 °C (32 °F), typically sometime in October or early November.

 

Special Notes: Originally native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, this insect has now become well-established throughout much of the temperate regions in the world. It was accidentally introduced in the Montreal area of Canada in the 1860s. From there, it gradually spread throughout North America…although it is scarce or non-existent in semi-desert and desert regions. Nowadays it is classified as an important pest species.

Its life cycle and duration of all stages is governed by temperature. Whereas there are only two or three generations per year in Canada, there are three in the New England area of eastern United States, three to five in California, six to eight generations in the southern states with the exception of Florida where this pest is active year-round.

 

Remedial Actions: The small cabbage white has several natural predators including ambush bugs, shield bugs, predatory wasps and flies, as well as insect-eating birds. There are also various naturally occurring fungal and virus diseases which are detrimental to this pest, including glanulosis disease (GV)…a disease which acts quickly, inducing diarrhea in insect larvae and typically leading to a mortality rate of over 90%.

small white larva damage to Mustard 'Deep Purple'There are some crucifer crops which exhibit less susceptibility to damage by foraging cabbageworm larvae. These include: Chinese cabbage, kale, mustard, rutabaga, and turnip. Crucifer crops with glossy, dark green leaves seem to also be less susceptible to cabbageworm damage.

Female small white cabbage butterflies appear to avoid laying their eggs on all red cabbage varieties…although it is has been proven larval survival is indeed favoured by red cabbage.

Covering vegetable varieties which suffer cabbageworm damage with row covers is effective in preventing egg-laying.

 

List of host plants:

In the Cruciferae family:

  • Arabis glabra – tower mustard
  • Armoracia lapthifolia – horse radish
  • Armoracia aquatic – lakecress
  • Barbarea vulgaris – bittercress
  • Barbarea orthoceras – American yellowrocket
  • Barbarea verna – land cress
  • Brassica oleracea – wild cabbage
  • Brassica rapa – field mustard
  • Brassica napus – rapeseed
  • Brassica juncea – brown mustard
  • Brassica hirta – white mustard
  • Brassica nigra – black mustard
  • Cardaria draba – hoary cress
  • Capsella bursa-pastoris – shepherd’s purse (females lay eggs on this plant but larvae will not eat it)
  • Dentaria diphylla – two-leaved toothwort
  • Descurainia sophia – tansy mustard
  • Eruca sativa – arugula
  • Erysimum capitatum perenne – sand dune wallflower
  • Lobularia maritima – sweet alyssum
  • Lunaria annua – money plant; moonwort (larvae who eat this plant mature slower)
  • Matthiola incana – hoary stock
  • Nasturtium officinale – watercress
  • Raphanus sativus – radish
  • Rorippa curvisiliqua – curvepod yellowcress
  • Rorippa islandica – northern marsh yellowcress
  • Sisymbrium officinale – hedge mustard
  • Streptanthus tortuosus – shieldplant; mountain jewelflower
  • Thlaspi arvense – pennycress (larvae will not eat, or if they do, maturity is slowed)

In the Capparidaceae family:

  • Capparis sandwichiana – Hawaiian caper
  • Cleome serrulata – Rocky Mountain beeweed

In the Tropaeolaceae family:

  • Tropaeolum majus – garden nasturtium

In the Resedaceae family:

  • Reseda odorata – common mignonette

 

 

Posted on November 8, 2017

 

 

Aphis sambuci (elder aphid)

Aphis sambuci - elder aphid Aphis sambuci                            Family: Aphididae

Common name: elder aphid
Host plant(s): Sambucus (elderberry); Rumex (docks); Silene (campion)
Adult size: wingless = 0.14 inch (3.5 mm)
                        winged = 0.07 inch (1.8 mm)

Type: Pest

Life cycle: Generations per year: multiple; generation length 20-40 days
                      Egg: overwinters
                      Nymph: unknown
                      Adult: unknown


Description: 
A minute, soft-bodied, sap-sucking insect; elliptical in shape, becoming more round as it matures through the nymph stages. Has six, long, thin legs; two long, six-segmented antennae which are carried over the body; sucking mouthparts called stylets which are enclosed in a sheath called a rostrum; a pair of short, upright, backward-pointing tubes called cornicles (or siphunculi) located on the 5th or 6th segment of the abdomen; a shorter projection called cauda located above the anal plate. Colour can be variable from black-green to yellow-brown, depending on which host plant they are on.

live aphid nymph just bornAphids have a complicated life cycle. In temperate climates, overwintering eggs hatch in spring. The first generation of wingless females (called stem mothers) are already pregnant…reproducing by parthenogenesis (without fertilization). The offspring are born live, called viviparity…a unique phenomenon in this insect. Stem mothers continue to reproduce throughout the summer, typically giving birth to 5 or 6 nymphs per day. (See bottom female aphid on right birthing a live nymph in photo to the right. Click on photo to enlarge.)

elder aphids, some winged & antsWhen the host plant becomes overcrowded, or its resources reduced, some of the offspring will develop into adults and grow two pairs of large, clear, membranous wings. Once able to fly, these winged adults, called alates, leave the host plant in search of another, fresh plant. (Alates can be seen among the mass of elder aphids in the photo to the left. Click on photo to enlarge.)

In northern climates, towards the end of the season, the stem mothers produce both male and female offspring. This is timed to dropping temperatures and lowering light levels as the season winds down. After mating, the females lay their eggs on the root collars and roots of the alternate host plants, Rumex and Silene, where the eggs will overwinter. (In warmer climates, there is typically no egg in the aphid life cycle. The stem females reproduce continuously throughout the year.)

 

Special Notes: Aphids can be found worldwide with the heaviest concentrations found in the temperate climate zones. It is generally thought aphids have been on the planet for roughly 280 million years, placing them in the early Permian period. The oldest aphid fossil was several ten years ago in China…an almost complete insect, minus part of the antennae and part of its legs. It has been determined to be a completely new species of aphid and named Dracaphis angustata. The aphid fossil was dated and found to have actually lived during the Middle Triassic Age…following the Permian period.

To explain some of the body parts on the aphid…the cornicles, or siphunculi, those slightly elevated, slender protrusions on the back of an aphid, are defensive apparatuses which will exude a fluid that hardens when it comes in contact with air as a deterrent to predators. The substance is also thought to contain alarm pheromones.

The shorter cauda tube, located above the anal opening, serves to collect the honeydew excreted from the anus and hold it raised so it does not foul the body.

elder aphids & antsAphis sambuci is one of the aphid species which has a symbiotic relationship with ants. (Not all aphid species enjoy this phenomenon.) The ants stroke the aphids with their antennae, enticing them to release a drop of honeydew to feed the ants. In exchange for receiving the honeydew, the ants defend the aphids from predators.

 

Remedial action: There are several predator insects which hunt aphids…lady beetles, ant-lions (green lacewing larvae), yellow jackets, European paper wasps, and others.

Organically…usually a strong jet of water from the hose, repeated every few days, will dislodge these pests. If possible, and if there are no beneficial insects feasting on the aphids, grasping the affected area of branch between two fingers and sliding them up the branch will squish many of the offenders. Same goes for rubbing fingers over infested leaves.

Another plan of attack is to hit the aphids with a soapy water solution…2 teaspoons (10 ml) of dish soap into 4 cups (1 L) of water, but first check to see if there are any beneficial insects present before you start spraying.

Concentrated, repeat forays against this pest are required in order to eradicate them. With the fast turnaround in their reproduction cycle, their numbers can get out of hand very quickly.

 

Posted on October 16, 2017

 

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