In the Grow - Q & A

Q. We have had the pictured vine above our sink since 1977. It has never bloomed in all that time - until this spring. It bloomed for the very first time. We don't know the name of the vine and would like to know. Our daughter told us it is a common vine. What can you tell us?

A. Wax plant, known botanically as Hoya carnosa, is a popular, easy-to-grow houseplant. This vigorous, twining vine may take years before it is mature enough to bloom, but once it does, it often continues blooming for months. Wax plant performs best in bright light with a well-drained soil mix that is allowed to dry a bit between waterings. This species seems to prefer being a bit pot-bound, so don't be in too much of a hurry to repot, even if it seems overgrown for its container.

Q. I have a question about cedar and bark and any wood chips for mulch. Will these chips attract termites?

A. Mulch of any kind can create a stable, moist habitat favorable to termites, so if termites are already in the area, or happen to wander into the area, you might see them in or under the mulch while they forage.  <Read More>

August Home, Yard, and Garden Calendar

HOME (Indoor plants and activities)

Take cuttings from plants such as impatiens, coleus, geraniums and wax begonias to overwinter indoors. Root the cuttings in media such as moist vermiculite, perlite, peat moss or potting soil, rather than water.

Order spring-flowering bulbs for fall planting.

YARD (Lawns, woody ornamentals and fruits)

Newly established plants are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat and drought. If possible, apply 1 to 1.5 inches of water every 7 to 10 days as a gentle, thorough soaking.

Even well-established trees, shrubs and perennials will suffer from extreme heat coupled with drought. Symptoms may include wilting, leaf scorch, branch dieback, blossom drop, early "fall" color and leaf drop, and in some cases, plant death of specimens that were already ailing.

GARDEN (Vegetables, small fruits and flowers)

Temperatures above 90 F often leads to poor fruit set in most vegetable crops; upper 90s will stop fruit set in nearly all crops. Fruits that were already set may show uneven ripening, blossom-end rot, skin cracking, sunburn where foliage cover is poor, poor ear fill in corn and bitter flavor in cucumbers and other vegetables.

Keep the garden well watered during dry weather and free of weeds, insects and disease. Early morning is the best time to water, but areas under watering restrictions may need to adjust accordingly. While normally we discourage overhead sprinkling due to its inefficiency and potential for promoting plant disease, it can be very effective at decreasing temperature in the plant tissue.  <Read More> 

On Six Legs - Insects Down on the Farm

A couple of weeks ago I was facing a long plane flight and needed something to do while cramped in one of those tight seats. So I grabbed two books to read. One was "The Land, The People" by Rachel Peden.

Peden was a newspaper columnist and book author who wrote about life on a family farm in Monroe County, Indiana. The book chronicled farm life from the 1940s through the 1960s. First published in 1966, the book was republished in 2010 by the Indiana University Press.

I loved reading the book because it captured the time when I was growing up on a farm. Peden was a wonderful writer who accurately and poignantly captured the people and the rapid changes associated with rural America of the time.  <Read More>

Sap-sucking Bugs Make a Mess of Indiana's State Tree

Tuliptree with scale and
sooty mold (Purdue PPDL)

Across Indiana this week, homeowners with tulip poplar trees could be finding their cars and landscape plants covered in a mysterious sticky film. This time of year tulip poplars are easily recognized by leaves whose shape resembles a tulip and the two inch long lime green and orange flowers in the tree canopy.

The culprit in this sticky mess could be the tulip tree scale insect, a small sap-sucking bug that feeds on the trees’ branches. Declared as the state tree of Indiana in 1931, tulip poplars are well-regarded and widely planted for their beautiful flowers and form, shade, and rapid growth. The tree’s sap carries vital nutrients, and feeding by the insect can cause damage to the trees in addition to the unsightly mess.  <Read More>

Black Cutworm Flocks to Indiana; Scouting Proves Critical

Record numbers of black cutworm moths have descended upon Indiana fields, and after a week of warm temperatures and rainfall now is a critical time to scout, a Purdue Extension entomologist says.

Pheromone trap cooperators throughout the state monitor for the insect's arrival, which has the potential to cause significant economic damage to field crops. A round of storms originating in southern states in March brought not only rain to Indiana, but cutworm populations not previously seen. Since that time additional captures have had the trappers very busy counting. 

According to John Obermeyer, the key to successfully controlling the insect is to scout early and often and to apply insecticides when larvae are small - especially because large larvae are difficult to control.  <Read More>

New and Improved Home Fruit Production Guide

A valuable Purdue Extension Fruit Production resource has recently been updated and improved. 

ID-146, Managing Pests in Home Fruit Plantings, contains information on variety selection and pest management for a variety of tree and small fruits, including apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, gooseberries, currants and raspberries. Updates to the publication include revised chemical recommendations featuring new, safer products, organic pest management options, and the inclusion of currants and gooseberries.  

The publication is available online or at your local Purdue Extension Office.

Old Books and Bugs

That rite of the post-winter season - spring break - has come and gone. Again! This year we visited Arizona. We didn't attend a spring training baseball game but did do some other things.

We toured a copper mine at Bisbee. We stayed overnight at the Shady Dell. Our accommodation was a restored 1950s vintage travel trailer, complete with '50s music on the radio. We walked a bit in the Saguaro National Park, west of Tucson. We stopped at Patagonia Lake State Park, an area frequented by Geronimo some years back. <Read More>

April Yard and Garden Calendar

HOME (Indoor plants and activities)

Start seeds of warm-season plants, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, marigolds, zinnias and petunias, indoors for transplanting later to the garden.

Harden off transplants started earlier in spring before planting outdoors - gradually expose the young plants to outdoor conditions of wind, brighter sunlight and lower moisture.

YARD (Lawns, woody ornamentals and fruits)

Plant a tree in celebration of National Arbor Day, April 27. Bare-root stock should be planted before new top growth begins. Balled- and-burlapped and containerized stock can still be planted later in spring.

Fertilize woody plants before new growth begins. Two pounds of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet should be sufficient.

GARDEN (Flowers, vegetables and small fruits)

Plant seeds of cool-season crops directly in the garden, as soon as soil dries enough to be worked. When squeezed, soil should crumble instead of forming a ball. Cool-season crops that can be direct-seeded include peas, lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips and Swiss chard.

Plant transplants of cool-season crops, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and onions.  <Read More>

Insects: Could They Be What's for Dinner?

Back in biblical times John the Baptist was a participant. Long before European settlers showed up in the so-called New World, so were Native Americans. Ditto the ancient people living in the Orient. We're talking about entomophagy - eating insects.

Yes, according to Old Testament biblical accounts, John the Baptist wandered in the wilderness and chowed down on locusts and wild honey. I suppose one could argue that John didn't have much in the way of food choices available so he had to make do. Locusts, called grasshoppers here in the U.S., would have been plentiful. These insects were so common and numerous as to constitute one of the biblical plagues inflicted on the Egyptians of the time.  <Read More>

Weird Weather and Pest Predictions

One of the most common questions that has come up in response to this season's winter weather (or lack thereof) is what effect it will have on pest problems this spring or summer, particularly insect populations.  Below are excerpts of responses given by two Extension experts. 

Larry Caplan, Extension Horticulture Educator in Vanderburgh County addressed this question in a recent newspaper column:

I was asked the other day what effect this strange weather will have on our pest problems this year. That is always a very tough topic for me. I don’t like to make predictions, because there are so many variables that can affect future events, rendering my predictions worthless. Still, there are a few things that I expect will happen this season.

First of all, everything will start happening at least 3 weeks earlier than normal because of the long warm-up we’ve had. Crabgrass germination occurs at about the same time as the forsythia shrub blooms. Usually, we can hold off applying our pre-emergent herbicides until mid to late March; this year, though, some parts of the tri-state may already be too late to get the best preventative control.

Dormant oil is applied to fruit trees to prevent later problems with spider mites. The oil needs to be applied before the trees bud out, otherwise the young leaves will be burned by the chemical. It’s already too late in some places. Likewise, the traditional orchard sprays to control disease and insect attacks should begin as the buds open. Normally, gardeners don’t expect to begin this until late March or early April, but I’ve already seen apple and cherry trees in bloom. Be sure to stop spraying while the flowers are open, so that you don’t hurt any bees that may be out.

The repeated storms of the last few weeks have dumped a lot of moisture on the tri-state. With moist conditions and standing water, we can expect increases in biting midges, mosquitoes, and crane flies. This is what we’ve seen for the last couple of years, which have all been pretty wet.

Warm, moist weather is ideal for fire blight, a bacterial disease that attacks apples, crabapples, and pears. The bacteria usually enters the tree through the flowers, but it can also enter twigs damaged by hail storms. Spraying the antibiotic Streptomycin during bloom and after a hail storm may offer some protection.

If warm weather continues, we may see an earlier emergence of Japanese beetles, eastern tent caterpillars, and other pests, but I don’t believe we’ll see increased numbers. Very few of these insects are killed by severe winters, so I don’t think their survival rate will change much.

And from Dr. Rick Foster, Purdue Extension Entomology Specialist, some points focusing specifically on insect populations:

While some insects, such as flea beetles, are directly impacted by cold winter weather and experience greater survival and higher populations as a result of mild winters such as the one we just experienced, many insect species are very well adapted to winter weather and will survive just fine no matter how cold it is.

Most insects have an amazing ability to reproduce in large numbers and, if spring and summer weather is conducive, will be able to develop to serious population levels no matter how many survived the winter.

Finally, some of our pests overwinter indoors and others overwinter in the South, so our winter weather has little effect on their populations.

The bottom line is that for a few insects, we can definitely expect higher populations, but for many others, we just can’t predict.

As you can see, there is no one answer to this seemingly simple question.  While winter weather conditions have little effect on most insect populations, it is the earlier-than-normal emergence of these insects, as well as weeds and diseases, that will be the most likely effect of our mild winter.  And, as Mr. Caplan adds, this is Indiana, so it could snow this weekend and change everything!

These Insects Rob for Food, Not Money

Robber fly

Human history has had its share of infamous robbers. In the United States, Jesse James, Bonnie and Clyde, and John Dillinger come to mind. England was home to Robin Hood and Dick Turpin; individuals who it is said sometimes helped themselves to the money of others.

In the interest of full disclosure, to my knowledge, the English outlaw Dick Turpin is not one of my ancestors. While being related to a legendary robber might not seem to be a good thing, in this case, it does have its perks. People with the surname Turpin are sometimes given a free drink at Dick Turpin British pubs!

 Robber fly eating Japanese beetle

The insect world also harbors a band of robbers. Called robber flies, these insects are just as ruthless as robbers of the human kind. But robbers of the insect kind are after food, not money.  <Read More>


Little Insects on the Prairie

Almost everyone has read or heard a story that begins with, "Once upon a time." That phrase is often used to introduce a fable or a tale with its origins in bygone days. For example, "The Story of the Three Bears" begins, "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks."

Once upon a time in the Midwestern United States there existed a major ecosystem - the tallgrass prairie. It covered some 142 million acres from western Indiana through Illinois and Iowa to the eastern parts of
Nebraska and Kansas.

The first Europeans to see the tallgrass prairie called it a treeless plain and generally did not perceive the land to be of much value. Some of the first farmers agreed, and in the words of one Illinois settler, "The land here is the worst I have seen since I left the banks of the Ohio." Indeed, Thomas Jefferson acquired most of this area for the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase for three cents an acre. <Read More> 

If You Tell the Bees, Will They Listen?

For thousands of years humans have taken advantage of what has been called the “food of the gods.” We’re talking about honey. Honey is a sugar-laden substance produced by a few species of bees as their food.

And somewhere in our history ancient humans got a taste of honey, and we have been eating it ever since.

Of course, bees don’t willingly share their food stores with humans – or other animals for that matter. So the first honey eaters had to resort to stealing from the bees. And such pilferage wasn’t a pleasant thing because, as Shakespeare wrote, bees are “armed in their stings.” <Read More>

'Ugly is as Ugly Does' Applies to Insects

Spiny Katydid

To many people, the term is an apt expression of their feelings regarding the appearance of insects.  I haven’t done a formal survey on the subject, but in my experience people often express their feelings about insects using the words “ugly” and “gross” – especially if the encounter is up close and personal.



To many people, the term is an apt expression of their feelings regarding the appearance of insects.  I haven’t done a formal survey on the subject, but in my experience people often express their feelings about insects using the words “ugly” and “gross” – especially if the encounter is up close and personal. <Read More>  

You Might be an Entomologist If....

Stand up comic and TV personality Jeff Foxworthy made a name for himself with a series of "you might be a redneck" one-liners. You know, things like you might be a redneck if you think a stock tip is advice on worming your hogs.

Like many previous good ideas, nearly everyone and his brother have adapted this one for other uses. Such a joke can be used to describe localities: You might be from a small town if you know all your neighbors and their dogs by name. Or you might be from New England if your Dairy Queen is closed from September through May. <Read More> 

Home Invaders of the Six-legged Kind

Dr. Tom Turpin
Professor of Entomology
Purdue University

It happens every year about this time. I refer of course to the arrival of fall. It is an appropriately named season. Leaves fall from trees. Football teams fall from the ranks of the unbeaten. Nuts, apples and acorns fall from their nurturing boughs. Petals fall from the last flowers. And temperatures fall from the highs of summer. All of this falling stuff means that winter is on the way.....  <Read More >