Nursery/Landscape Pests & Disorders Identification

Insects

Aphid  Small, soft-bodied insects  Green, pink, black or yellow  Can be wingless  They cluster on tips of new growth & leaf undersides  Suck plant juices  Secrete “Honeydew”  A sweet smelling fluid that attracts ants and causes black sooty fungus to grow on leaves

Bagworm  Caterpillars that make spindle-shaped bags  Attack both deciduous and coniferous trees  Really like the evergreens  Will strip the plant of foliage  Often get mistaken for pine cones

Borer  Eventually transforms into a moth  They bore into the bark at soil level and eat their way through the tree  Small, sawdust piles will appear around base of tree  Sometimes sap will ooze from small holes

Leafhopper Largest family of plant-feeding insects More leafhopper species worldwide than all species of birds, mammals reptiles and amphibians combined They feed by sucking the sap of vascular plants

Leaf Miner  A moth that as a caterpillar lives on the leaves of plants  As it feeds, it leaves a trail or a path way

Scale  Sucking insects that insert tiny, straw-like mouthparts into bark, fruit or leaves  Causes plant to weaken and grow slowly  Different species will harm the plant more than others

Spider Mite  Congregate in dense colonies on the undersides of leaves  Damage by puncturing plant cells  You’ll see a silvering or a stippled effect on top of leaf  When you rub the underside of a plant, the plant will feel gritty

Snail/Slug  Snails have coiled shells at adult age  Slugs lack a shell or have an internal shell  Feed on leaves of plants

Whitefly  Feed by sucking juices from the leaves and stems of plants  Especially vegetable plants  They secrete Honeydew as well  They lay eggs on the underside of the leaf that look like semitransparent scales

White Grub  Larvae of Scarabs or Beetles  Attack the roots of turf grass and ornamental plants  Damage appears to be drought-like

Diseases

Anthracnose  Fungi that attacks hardwoods  Attacks Oaks and Sycamore more than others  Will completely defoliate trees  Strip off all leaves  Starts with small parts of necrosis on leaves

Apple Scab  A disease of apple trees caused by the Ascomycete fungus  Manifests by dull black or grey-brown lesions on the surface of tree leaves  Fruits are most susceptible  Rarely kills the plant but dramatically reduces yield

Black Spot  Fungus that causes Black Spots or dead spots to appear all over the leaf  Kills the photosynthetic capability of the plant

Botrytis  A Necrotrophic fungus  A fungus that causes tissue to die  Often referred to as Gray Mold  Attacks the fruit of plants

Canker Encompasses a large number of plant diseases that have similar symptoms Dead tissue that grows over the years Cankers vary and each canker has a different effect on the plant

Cedar-Apple Rust Caused by a fungal pathogen that attacks crabapples and apples, as well as few junipers Must move from one type of host to other

Crown Gall

Fireblight

Powdery Mildew

Root Rot

Weeds

Annual Bluegrass

Broadleaf Plantain

Buckhorn Plantain

Chickweed

Crabgrass

Dandelion

Henbit

Nutsedge

Oxalis Wikipeida.org

Purslane

White Clover

Physiological Problems

Frost/Freeze Injury

Iron Deficiency

Leaf Scorch (drought/winter burn)

Nitrogen Deficiency

Pot-bound roots

String Trimmer Injury

2,4-D Injury