Scouting and Diagnosis Flashcards
When scouting, what does the system of regular inspections include?
- Observe overall turf quality
- Allows early detection of problems
- Quantify damage levels
- Collect and evaluate environmental data
- Evaluate treatment effects
What is the Scouting Program?
- A system of regular inspections
- Builds historical records
- Helps in planning and prioritizing
What is the Key Plant Key Pest Concept?
Main problems for the most important plants
Include all biological information……about what?
- Plants
- Disease or Insect
What are the Scouting Priorities?
- Focus on Key Plant - Key Pest profiles
- Follow historic records
- Consider current environmental conditions
- follow a regular schedule
There are two types of data….what are they and describe them.
- Qualitative - Yes or No
- Quantitative - How much or How Many
Visual Inspection
- “Hands and Knees” method
- Closely examine plants with a hand lens
Take a Picture
Use a Digital Camera
Cell Phone camera
Helps build historical records
Can send to diagnostician with plug
Tug Test
- primarily for insect diagnosis
- Pull on turf and see what happens
When doing a tug test, you tug and nothing happens…you may have:
Chinch Bugs or Foliar Disease
When doing a Tug test, you tug and there is nothing to pull, you may have:
Root or Crown Disease
Cutworm or Armyworm
When doind a tug test, you tug and it breaks off at the crown, you may have:
Billbug
ABW
Anthracnose
When doing the Tug test, you tug and pull the sod up like a rug, you may have:
white grubs
Soil Sampling
- Used for Disease and Insect diagnosis
- Cup Cutter Plug
- One inch soil cores
What is the measurment of a cup when cut out of the turf?
1/10th of a square foot
What are the different ways to sample a plug?
- Incubate the plug for disease
- Break apart and count beetle larvae
- Float it in water for chinch bugs
When sampling your soil and detecting insects, what are some ways to have a systematic approach to controling them?
- Use a grid and determine qualitative and quantitatve date for each square
- Map the Populations & Record them
What are 1” soil cores used for?
- for Soil testing…
- when sending to a lab take at least 25 cores from healthy areas
Flotation
- used for insect diagnosis
- drop cup cutter plug into bucket of water
- or Tin Can method
- wait for insects to float
- count them and record information
Incubation
- used for disease diagnosis
- Put plug in moist chamber
- look for fuzz
Disease Detection Kits
- For Disease diagnosis
- they come in different formats for different diseases
Sweep Net
- for insect pest diagnosis
- better for Ornamentals than Turf
- Inverted Leaf Blower can be used to vaccum insects for diagnosis too
Clipping Basket
- Insect and Disease Diagnosis
- examine clippings for fungal signs
- sclerotia, leaf lesions ets.
- float clippings for insects
Disclosing Solution
- used for insect diagnosis
- 2 gal. water with 1 oz liquid dish soap (lemon scent)
- Best on short cut grass and warm, moist soil
- Pour Solution on turf, it penetrates soil and causes insects to go to surface
How can you use disclosing solution to be effective?
- Use a ratings grid to determine your Quantifiable Data
- avg # of insects per sq. foot
Ratings Grid
- Make with PVC and string - 1 sq. yard
- Used to QUANTIFY data
- used with disclosing solution
Use a Weather Station
- Air Temp
- Soil Temp
- ET rate
- Soil Moisture
- Rainfall
- Relative Humidity
Sil Moisture Meters
- Tests soil moisture for irrigation needs
- every site is different
Degree Day Models
- Used for insect and weed diagnosis
- Uses Heat Units to predict activity
How can you create your own GDD model?
Base of 50 for insects
Base of 32 for seedheads/crabgrass
- Start March 1st
- average daily temp
- subtract Base from avg. daily temp
- This will give you your GDD # for that day
Disease Predictive Models
What are they used for and give an example of one
- for disease diagnosis
-
Rhizoctonia solani
- Warm Nights
- Soil temp > 61 deg.
- Air Temp >59 deg.
- Extended Leaf Wetness
- 95% RH for > 10 hours
- 0.1” rain or irrigation in preceding 36 hours
- Warm Nights
Plant Phenology
What is it and give an example
- Flowering trees or shrubs can help predict insect activity
- Peak adult emergence of chinch bugs is complete when Sumac is in full bloom
Insect traps
Name 3
- Pitfall
- Blacklight
- Pheromone
How would you set up/use a pitfall trap?
- remove soil core in an out of the way area
- place a 16oz cup in the hole
- Catch insects and see what you got and how many
Pheromone Trap
What is the limitation of this trap?
- Limitation is that it’s only going to attract the insect that gives off that pheromone
What do Black Light Traps do?
- Attracts night flying isects
- continuous monitoring can identify peak adult flight
For night flying insects, what would be the best scouting technique to use and how can you use it to be the most effective?
Black Light Traps
By using this and continuously monitoring, you can determine peak adult flights for insects to tell you when the most effective time to treat will be
Websites and Newsletters
give a few examples.
- www.turf.rutgers.edu
- www.gddtracker.net
What is Scouting Technique # 15?
- Use Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Lab
What is a Scouting Program?
A system of regular inspections that builds hitorical records over time that help with planning and prioritizing.
