POTATO DISEASES

Common names: Walnut Husk Fly

Scientific name: Rhagoletis completa

Region: This fly is found in western United States and has similar species in the East.

Life cycle: This insect produces one generation each year and overwinters in the soil under the walnut trees in small hard, brown cases.  The adults emerge in late summer, around August and spend a few weeks on the foliage before they mate and begin to lay eggs.

Physical Description: This light brown fly is only 1/3 inch long and has yellow markings and black bars on the wings.  Its eggs are white and are laid in cavities within the husk of the walnut.

Feeding characteristics: This pest will attack walnuts as well as peaches.  The maggots feed by tunneling into the walnut husks, where they will remain for several weeks, until they drop to the ground to pupate.

While the infestation will cautilize stains, the kernel usually remains unaffected.

Controls: Once the walnuts have been harvested, place the nuts in water to drown the maggots.  Remove the husks with the dead maggots.
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Common names: Western Tussock Moth

Scientific name: Orgyia vetusta

Region: This Caterpillar is found in western North America with a similar species in the East.

Life cycle: This insect produces one generation each year and overwinters in frothy white egg masses on trees.

Physical Description: This 1 1/4 inch long caterpillar is a strange looking, hairy insect.  It has a bright red head with two hornlike tufts of long black hair.  Its primary colors are brown with yellow and black longitudinal stripes.  The adult moth is gray with dark wavy bands and a wingspan of 1 1/4 inches, the female is wingless.  The eggs are laid in frothy white egg masses on the females cocoon and covered with hairs.

Feeding characteristics: This pest attacks apple, apricot chrysanthemum, geranium, German ivy, hickory, horse chestnut, peach, pear, plum, rose, and quince by skeletonizing leaves and form silken cocoons on the bark.

Controls: Pick off the infested leaves and groups of larvae, and destroy them.  Scrape off the masses of eggs or paint them with creosote.  The masses are easy to find.  They are about an inch long and lathery.

Natural predators of this caterpillar is various Trichogramma Wasps and birds.

For serious infestations, apply Bacillus thuringiensis to the larvae and eggs.
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Clubroot is the most debigating disease to affect all members of the brassica family including Brussels sprout, cabbage, cauliflower, calabrese and swede. This virulent fungal disease persists in the soil for many years (spores can lay dormant for over twenty years). Clubroot is frequently a major predicament on old allotment sites and kitchen gardens which have been cultivated for many years. There is no known cure, but by adopting the following strategies decent crops may still be generated.

Recognizing the Presence of Clubroot

Infected plants wilt during hot days and develop stunted red to purple tops.When lifted the roots will be swollen and club-like. In bad infestations the stench from the roots can be horrendous.

How Clubroot disease stretchs

Clubroot stretchs through the soil water and on footwear and garden tools.

How to Reduce the Severity of Clubroot

Despite there being no cure preparations can be taken to reduce the severity of the damage cautilized:-

• Improving the drainage of heavy soil by making raised beds and incorporating organic matter in the form of garden compost or well-rotted farmyard manure helps massively.
• Raising the pH to 7.0 or 7.5 by applying garden lime and thereby making the soil more alkaline is another worthwhile tactic. Putting two good handfuls of lime into each hole and watering the hole before planting may lessen the impact of this disease.
• Growing seedlings in 9cm (in any case this big) pots of sterilized compost (growing medium) means a strong root system is in place at planting-out time, this make sures the plants are mature before the disease gets a grip.
• Some gardeners go to the trouble and expense of taking out a large hole for each plant and replacing this with sterilized loam every time they plant their brassicas.

Brassicas Which are Resistant to Clubroot

The development of some brassicas which show resistance to this virulent fungal disease is the most considerable breakthrough in the battle to combat the debilitating effects of clubroot. Resistant strains include the following:-

• Swede ‘Invitation’
• Calabrese ‘Trixie’
• Cabbage ‘Kilaxy F1′ and the larger Cabbage ‘Kilaton F1′ are both high yielding autumn/winter ballhead varieties of cabbage which show fantastic resistance to clubroot.
• Cauliflower ‘Clapton F1′ matures in summer and autumn producing large white heads. Plants show a very high resistance to clubroot.
• Brussels Sprout ‘Crispus F1′ is the latest addition to the clubroot resistant brassica stable. If it proves to be as good as the cabbage and cauliflower resistant varieties its future is assured.

Learn to Live With Clubroot

Where clubroot disease is gift in the soil it can not be get rid ofd, but the gardener by making raised beds to recover the drainage, applying organic matter as well as lime to raise the pH, and raising young plants in pots is able to reduce its impact and grow affordable crops. The development of more resistant varieties for all categories of brassicas holds out real hope for vegetable growers everywhere.

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