>>There's a lot of insects that we've not typically dealt with in Virginia, but all of a sudden, it seems like year after year now, we're dealing with this tropical insect.

>>Last year alone, we gave away I think about 250 native milkweed plants that we grew from seed.

>>I'm Peggy Singlemann, host of "Virginia Home Grown" and this month's show is all about insects.

Up first, I'll be meeting with two gardeners who are striving to inspire their community with their love for butterflies, other pollinators and the native plants that support them.

>>And I'm Keith Nevison.

In the second half of the show, we'll be visiting beautiful Bellair Farm in Southern Albemarle County to learn more about organic pest control techniques with Dr. Tom Kuhar from Virginia Cooperative Extension.

As always, we welcome your questions and comments via Facebook and email.

Stay tuned for another episode of "Virginia Home Grown."

>>Production funding for "Virginia Home Grown" is made possible by... (bright upbeat music) >>Hi, I'm Peggy Singlemann.

Welcome to "Virginia Home Grown".

July is the time for enjoying vibrant garden borders and harvesting vegetables.

Midsummer is the time to celebrate the garden.

Today, we're taking a closer look at insects in the garden from our friends, the pollinators to the pests that damage our vegetables and some lesser known folks too.

Remember to send in your questions through Facebook or email to ask our guests about the insects issues you are having or other gardening questions you have on your mind.

In the second half of the show, my co-host Keith Nevison, will meet up with an entomologist at an organic farm to talk about safely managing pest problems.

Now, let's take a look at my visit with Chirs Burnside and Karl Green at their home in Richmond to see the pollinator paradise they have created.

And learn how their approach to supporting pollinators and other beneficial insects has changed over time.

>>Chris and Karl, I want to compliment you on this beautiful garden, such color, and the diversity of it.

Most of it being native plants.

You guys have created a proverbial pollinator paradise.

So how did you do that?

And where did you start?

>>So I've been gardening for years.

And about 30 years ago, I was really interested in birds.

And then I started being interested in plants.

>>Okay.

>>And at that point I was interested in the most exotic colorful plants from all over the world that no one else had.

>>You were a collector.

>>I was a collector.

And then about 10 years ago, I read the book by Doug Tallamy called "Bringing Nature Home."

And it basically changed my entire perspective about the natural world, and certainly our garden and like what we can do here.

>>And Karl took two days to read the book.

>>I read the book in two days.

>>And I read it in six months.

>>It's okay, you read it.

(Peggy laughing) >>But the book really is about the relationship of insects to plants.

>>Yes.

>>So then I started seeing insects, and I had noticed them before, but not like this.

So I understood then the importance of plants and host plants, not just pollinator plants.

>>Correct.

>>And if, when I'm gardening, if I can have both, if I can have a native plant that is a host plant and a pollinator plant, I'm really winning.

>>Well I see behind you are a lot of natives, and I can see that some of these have already bloomed, and some are coming on.

So how did you make your plant choices for these, this garden?

>>For me, it's really intuitive.

I'm also a designer, so when I'm designing, it just comes out of my body.

I don't plan, like I don't garden plan.

But my favorite color is green.

So I also look at the shape of the leaf and the color of the leaf >>Texture, and so yes.

>>So I look at that.

but I also look at having the right plant at the right place with the right amount of sun, water, the right soil.

>>So they can thrive, thank you.

>>So they can thrive.

But I also look for plants so that something in the garden is blooming from say, late February until November.

So there are things for the insects to eat all year long.

>>So really important in the spring, you know, to get something going so that the pollinators that are emerging, like the bumble bees, or the early butterflies, they can find something to feed, and then start to grow their hives.

>>Oh, that's great.

But we're here into the summer now, and I can see that you've got some flocks coming on, and of course the baptisia has already bloomed, but I can also see one of my favorite is the Joe-pye weed, and that's about to come on.

So you've really elongated that opportunity from spring into summer as well.

>>Right, right, yeah.

I would say Joe-pye is in my top five favorite plants.

>>And I would say my favorite in the garden right now is the syriaca milkweed.

I love the structure of that, and I love those big, huge ball blooms.

>>Yes, yes.

It's such a difference to our normal garden flowers, such as our rudbeckia here.

People think of that, you know, it's a daisy-type flower, even the echinacea, but people have to start thinking differently with the fact that pollinators require different shapes, different pollinators, are looking for different shaped flowers, to either land on, or to crawl into, to pollinate.

>>And different colored flowers.

Because a lot of insects can't see red.

>>Yes.

Pollinators, you all are, are kind of known for your butterfly actions, and I'll say your passion.

So tell me about that.

>>So I would say for me, the focus was monarch butterflies, and I always kind of identified with them.

>>Right?

>>But then as a young dancer, like at 20 years old, I was dancing professionally in Los Angeles, and we got into our van.

We made a three-day blitz across the country where we were gonna fly out of New York to Europe to have our first tour.

>>Nice.

>>And on the second day of this journey, it's three dancers to a seat in an old broken down van.

We were someplace in Texas, and I was in the passenger seat, and I looked up on the horizon.

There was this haze, and I just, it was sort of orangeish in color.

And I didn't know until we got up there, it was the Monarch butterfly migration.

>>Fantastic.

>>Hundreds of thousands of them.

I can't tell you how dense this was.

They fly all the way from Canada, through the U.S., down to Mexico.

And our van slammed into this migration, killing hundreds on the windshield and the bumper, as did every other vehicle on the road.

And I was just like, oh my God, what are we doing?

And I thought the whole day about that, and it just seemed wrong to me.

And I, you know, I went back, I was a young dancer.

I focused on my career, but I put it on the back burner.

And I said, at some point in my arc of my life, I will try to address this.

So that's what we, and you should tell how many we raised last year.

>>So then about, fast forward to five years ago, we started raising and releasing monarchs, from the beginning from egg, and to releasing them as butterflies.

And last year we raised and released 532 Monarch butterflies.

>>Good gracious, you had a monarch nursery.

>>We did.

And it was very time intensive.

Nine hours a day, sometimes.

>>Nine hours a day sometimes.

And it was a labor of love.

And then recently, actually just this past fall, we read many articles from scientists who are studying, studying monarchs, and it's actually quite harmful to them.

>>Really?

>>It changes their genetics, and almost all monarchs have some kind of a virus.

But if it has a strong virus and its raised in captivity, let's say there were 50 of them in a cage, and only one has the virus, then that passes them to all 50 of them.

>>And we know that example.

>>Yeah, we do.

>>So it's very current, but it was happening in the monarch population.

>>Interesting.

>>So we weren't helping them.

And then we were releasing monarchs that were gravely I'll, and that their genetics, perhaps, weren't adapting for being raised in captivity.

>>So it was like a scientist down in Georgia who was capturing them and studying them, they don't know where they came from.

Is this a wild monarch or is this one in captivity?

>>Interesting.

>>So, so then there's, you know, their results are qualified.

>>Kinda skewed, yes.

>>Are skewed.

>>It's very interesting.

So my friends who are raising them on their porch should really reconsider what they're doing and have them just be outside in their gardens.

>>There are some great links that Monarch Joint Venture, the Xerces Society.

>>There's wonderful monarch links out there, thank you.

But you have responded in a different way with this beautiful garden here, that attracts not only monarchs and other butterflies, but pollinators.

I mean, this garden is buzzing.

>>All kinds of pollinators.

This is sort of our, our trophy for our yard.

This one spot has the most sun in our yard, and also gets the most water in our yard.

>>Lucky spot.

>>Lucky spot.

Because the water, when it rains, just sort of comes, rushes all around our property and comes right through here.

So most of these plants are native.

We have lots of bumblebees that love to be here.

And in the morning, I always do a morning walk about an hour to two hours, and sometimes to stand and watch them, which I think is great to witness them.

A lot of times people say I don't have any pollinators in my garden, and it's like, well you may, if you just stop and you look, you just need to stop and look.

It was either yesterday or the day before, we had a sleepy orange in the yard, which is one of our favorite little butterflies.

And I stayed half an hour, 45 minutes, maybe even an hour.

And I witnessed her laying her eggs on whatever native plants, which is that wild senna plant.

>>The yellow one.

>>Which is the big, tall yellow one.

So the eggs are there.

I saw them after she left, and it's really exciting.

So that's what we're doing.

And we're trying to do it in a more natural way.

We're also putting as many milkweed plants as possible in our gardens, like front and back gardens.

>>Different species.

>>And we also share native plants and native milkweeds with our neighbors, or people who just sort of happened to drop by.

>>That's wonderful, that is wonderful.

Well, I really appreciate the mission that you two have embraced.

And I love how you started down one avenue, recognize that it wasn't the right way to go, shifted gears and have, you know, just continually poured your energy into this beautiful pollinator paradise we'll call it.

And I truly, I thank you for what you're doing for our community here.

>>Well, thank you for coming, and thanking you for helping to spread the word.

>>Yes, thank you.

(birds chirping) Thank you Chirs and Karl.

It was such a joy to spend time with you both in your lovely pollinator garden.

I'm very pleased to be joined by Marina Williams, a graduate entomology student at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Before we get started, remember to send in your gardening questions via Facebook or email.

Well Marina, you've brought in quite, I'll say, contrasting display here.

You've got these beautiful flowers and then you have pinned samples of pollinator insects.

So, how do we the insects from the box over to the vase in our gardens, let's say?

>>Yeah, so it definitely depends on the flowers' shape, the color, the sides as well, obviously.

A large bee can only go to a large flower.

So it's not gonna be able to climb into, you know, some of these smaller buds that we see.

Unfortunately, this isn't fully blooming, but we've got you know, this beautiful red and purple that would attract you know, lots of bees or, butterflies love reds and purples.

Bees and butterflies also love you know, this kind of a beautiful purple-ish pink kind of color.

So even think of your butterfly bushes that grow really large and you know, very lustrous purple buds that just kind of descend really nice.

So you know, we've got yarrow.

We've got some allium or onion, garlic kind of species.

>>Right.

>>These can also sometimes bloom white, but pollinators still love them.

>>Yes.

>>And we've got goldenrod, obviously per the name, very like beautiful golden color.

They will attract bees, flies, even butterflies will come to these sometimes too.

And we've got mountain mint.

Unfortunately, this is not in bloom.

Otherwise, it would be you know, small white flowers, but they create this nice flat platform which- >>So insects here we need to be able to have a place for insects to land on?

>>Hmm.

Yeah, so a lot of insects like bees and butterflies like to have this kind of like flat platform that the mountain mint would create, or even some of this dill creates this nice kind of flat... >>Amble, you know type flat- >>Yeah, like an umbrella.

Yeah.

>>Yes.

>>So for them to rest on while they collect nectar.

And then we've got of course cone flowers that can come in purple, whites, yellows, just a large variety just depending on you know, which cultivar you have.

So there are large, so small insects can come to them, large insects can come to them.

Butterflies love them.

Bees love them.

>>Yes.

>>Flies will come to them too.

Our lovely hover flies that often look like, you know, bee impersonators.

And of course our black-eyed Susans, which you can find everywhere.

I love them.

>>Yes, even along the roadside.

So you're saying color is an important aspect to consider.

Is to have a garden with a variety of colors?

>>Yes.

Colors are very important.

So generally you can think the more colorful your garden, the more productive it will be.

The more diverse insects that you can bring in, so.

>>And also I'm hearing flower shape and size is important.

>>Flower shape hmm.

So, some small bees, even moths will like more tubular flowers, they can kind of climb into it.

Bumblebees come in a variety of sizes, but some of the smaller bees can climb into flowers and do with the buzz pollination or sonication where they shimmy their flight muscles to release pollen.

And then... Yeah, so.

>>And then we have of course different heights, I would imagine 'cause- >>Yes, different heights.

So as much variation as I can... As you can get between colors, shape, size of the bloom and the height of the flower, as well as things that'll bloom different times throughout the year.

>>Yes, all those are great attributes to consider when you're designing a garden for a pollinator.

>>Yes.

>>Yes.

So we have our beautiful garden, we'll say, and then we have our insects here.

But I noticed at the top, you've got a whole line of European you know, honeybees.

We always, you know, kind of fall to them, but they're either European, they're not native.

>>Yes, that's very important.

They are not native.

You know, we hear about them all the time.

When you talk about colony collapse, I know that they were brought to the forefront of a lot of conversations and they are very important commercially.

You know, they are used throughout the US to pollinate a lot of the crops that we eat.

Fruits and vegetables because we've convinced them to live conveniently in a hive.

You know, it's easy to cart them from farm to farm as needed to pollinate, you know, whatever needs to be.

Apples or lots of different kinds of fruits.

Even berries.

And I mean, I think something like 50 to 60% at least of the fruits and vegetables we eat use honey bees to pollinate.

But you know, we have- >>Such an array right here in the- >>Yes.

>>Rest of these two boxes.

>>Yap, so there are probably seven major families of bees in the US and six of them we can find here in Virginia.

So we have carpenter bees.

We have bumblebees.

Mason bees.

Sweat bees, just to name a few.

>>Can you point those out?

Because I don't think people know the difference between a bumblebee and a carpenter bee.

And I know you've got some right here.

>>Yeah.

So, here we have bumblebees which are very easy to differentiate really between the carpenter bees.

They do have the fuzz going all the way down their abdomen.

>>Okay.

>>Versus a carpenter bee, which you notice has a nice, shiny romp.

>>Yes.

>>So they look very similar from the waist up, but once you kind of get...

If you're willing to take the time to zoom out a bit, you'll see that, you know, one has a nicer shine to them than the other.

So, that would probably be the easiest way to tell the difference between the two, but they're both very gentle species.

I mean, really all bees are very, you know, they're calm, they're easy to observe at least from a distance, so.

>>I do know that from experience that I can get a bumblebee angry and I will not be pleased with it, but I can get a carpenter bee angry and he'll just fly away.

>>Yes, yes.

Some of them are a little more defensive than others that may even be because we have different varying levels of how social bees are.

So are more social bees or are use social bees, bumblebees have a nest.

So they kind of have that more defensive character to them where carpenter bees aren't really as social.

And so they don't have that nest.

So they kind of just believe if they feel like, you know, a little too much pressure is on them.

>>I understand.

>>It's nice.

>>Moving along though.

Let's move over to the other box.

'Cause we've only got a few more minutes.

So who's at the top of the other side?

>>Oh, yes these are scaliad bees.

So they are very common to find.

I find that they're very beautiful.

I think sometimes they can be kind of scary.

They do look a little wasp like, but they are parasitoids or parasitisers of beetles.

Like our Japanese beetles seen here.

>>I can see that little one beetle.

Can you point it out for us, just to- >>Yap, this one nice green and shiny, but unfortunately not as cute as it may seem.

>>Yes.

And then our beautiful little blue guy is down there talking about fashionistas of the insect world.

(Peggy laughs) >>Yes, I know.

Blue and pitted, these are cuckoo wasps Although they say wasp, they are actually bees and they're also parasitoids but of other bees, unfortunately.

So, beautiful and dangerous.

>>Absolutely.

And our bottom rows?

>>These are our sweat bees.

These are all pretty small, but also very shiny, pretty.

So they catch the eye really easily when they're going flower to flower.

They are really good pollinators as well.

And you'll see them throughout the summer.

>>Yes.

Well, you know, those are so small, but we do have what we call sort of the, I'll say the clumsy guy- >>Yes, my favorite.

>>As a pollinator.

>>Really.

>>I'd like to finish up and say, not all pollinators are tiny little things, but the beetles- >>Yes.

>>We have some wonderful junebugs here.

>>Yes, our big clumsy beetles that you'll find in large flowers just rolling around in there.

>>Right.

And they actually have a tendency just by happenstance to do the pollinating.

>>Hmm yes.

Accidental pollination that's all pollination is.

Really just conveniently they're coming for pollen or nectar and then move to the next flower.

You know, >>I don't think people realize that it's a matter of the insect going from plant to plant.

It's not intention as they're going for the nectar from flower to flower.

>>Yes.

>>And it's just, they're picking up the pollen and moving it along the way.

>>Exactly that.

So, sometimes they come in for the pollen, for bees to feed their larvae back at their home, but also for the nectar, the sugar that gives them energy to go from flower to flower to collect that pollen.

>>That's great Marina.

I want to thank you.

And I want to say that you've opened our eyes to be more aware of the beneficial insects in the garden.

And this has been great information and I do truly appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge with us.

>>Thank you for having me.

It's really, really great.

>>And now we're going to get ready to answer your questions.

But first we have a tip from Alison Hearst at legacy farm RVA about how to manage insects in your garden by providing an ecosystem of plants to meet everyone's needs.

>>Oftentimes bugs get a bad rap, because you have plans and you have expectations.

And when an insect comes in and kind of muddles that, it can be kinda hard and disappointing to figure out, where do I go next?

I like to focus on biodiversity, because I think when you can foster a great companionship between your plants, and those bugs out there, you're gonna find it benefits you, your plants, and everything else around you.

I planted a cucumber here, it's growing great on this trellis, but I thought that it should have some companions, we should share the space.

And so I have a sunflower, it's helping to keep some roots in the soil and aerate.

I also added a nasturtium plant as a trap crop, so that if it was really ridden with bugs, it actually would go first to the nasturtiums, and you could bag them and cut it, and remove the plant with all its pests and eggs.

But it's kind of funny, 'cause my nasturtium is doing really great actually, and hasn't really brought on a lot of pests.

It's actually my amaranth weed, which I did not put here, but has grown on its own.

And throughout the trellis, you can actually see, there are leaves that have been eaten and it's kinda taken the hit for us all.

We really tolerate a fuller ecosystem, because it's going to serve everything.

Now if you, you know, had some other companion plants and they just weren't doing all that you thought it could, or you just thought your plant was ridden and you can't figure out what it is, you could and should identify those pests and those things that are happening to your plant, so that you can create a better plan for success.

I like to use containers to trap those bugs, so that I can go use a search engine or an app that identifies, there's a lot of great ones that you can download, and they'll tell you exactly what it is you're dealing with.

What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna dig this hole, and I'm gonna dig a hole right in between my whole system here of everything I got going on.

So get it level as you can with the ground.

Yep, I think I've done that.

And now I'm going to pack in the dirt around it.

And you can come back to check this and pick up your cup and figure out what it is that's in your garden space.

And it'll be really helpful for you as you continue to steward the biodiversity and companions in your garden space.

Good luck on your growing journey.

Thank you Alison, for sharing how to control insect pests with companion planting practices and simple methods to trap and identify the insects in our gardens.

On Facebook right now, cohost Keith Nevison and the team are answering your questions.

So please send them in via Facebook or email.

We always enjoy hearing from you.

Well Marina, we've got a bunch of questions here and there's some for you and some for me.

And you just feel free to jump in any time.

You know, if you want to add something.

Our first question is from me though.

And we never able to touch on what is your favorite insect?

>>My favorite insect would be almost any kind of beetle.

I just think that they are so many that you really aren't lacking in any particular kind of characteristic or cool little trait.

I think they're the most populous animal on the planet.

Almost anywhere you go, you'd be able to find a beetle within almost like three feet of you if you're outside.

So, once you get familiar with them, no matter where you go, you've always got a little friend.

>>If you wanted to attract more beetles, like my...

I'll be honest.

My grandson loves lightening bugs right now.

(Peggy laughs) What are some of the cultural practices we could adapt in our garden even in our yards to try to attract more of those beetles?

>>Large white flowers.

So, I mean, Magnolia trees are very popular.

They're one of my favorite trees in happenstance.

If you have a Magnolia tree, you'll always be able to find a beetle somewhere in one of the large blooms.

But they like white flowers.

A lot of them are... You mostly find on the ground around trees.

So if you have hardwood trees around, you know, you can...

They love the hardwood trees and you can find a lot of them just running along the grass.

Generally, if you promote any one kind of insect, you're really promoting all of them.

So you can do almost anything to encourage just more variety of plants around you and you'll find more of everything.

>>So you bring it more insects.

>>Hmm.

>>Sounds great.

We've got some questions here.

And one of them is, we've got a question on how to safely manage aphids on kale.

Is it okay to spray insecticide or soap all over the kale?

And I don't know if you're a gardener, you're more of an entomologist.

>>More of an entomologist.

>>So I think I'll take this one, okay?

(Marina laughs) And Mary yes, it is.

It's perfectly fine.

It's extremely important for you to follow the directions on the label though, because there is a repeat spray period for that.

And so it's important for you to be able to follow the directions and be able to handle that aphid problem.

I also take my hand and I kind of carefully remove, you know, kind of squish a number of the aphids before I spray them.

Just to kind of quickly reduce the population, okay?

We have another question on plants that they can plant for butterflies.

And you had a few in your vase right there.

>>Hmm I did.

>>You did.

And some of those were the chives that you had mentioned.

>>Yeah, the chives.

The small little skipper butterflies love the small purple red things like the yarrow.

But you can, I mean, also I know I mentioned already butterfly bushes are really easy to bring in butterflies.

The coneflowers too.

You can get butterflies to them.

So really anything that's purple, purply red, pink.

Doesn't have to have a strong scent to it at all will really just bring them in.

>>Yeah, particularly be able to give them a place for them to land.

We use a lot of... Maymont we use a lot of yarrows for the butterflies and we have phenols of course.

>>Oh yeah we love phenols.

>>Yes.

And actually later on in the season, iron weed will also meet that need.

It's a native plant.

That's a purply pink.

That'll also give you a fall color for the later season butterflies.

>>Oh, that sounds nice.

>>And of course, for our monarchs, the milkweeds.

>>Oh yes, the milkweeds.

>>Yes.

So I have some questions about milkweed seeds.

My milkweed plants produce lots of seeds.

I can't seem to make the seeds germinate and grow the following spring.

What am I doing wrong?

And it's actually it's gonna be dealing with giving that seed the right stratification.

Meaning it needs to get the right amount of cold period for you to be able to plant.

And so if you're bringing them into your house and you're storing them in the house, it's important that you put them in the refrigerator.

And I put all my seeds down with my vegetables.

Yeah, my husband loves opening the cabinet, you know, oh, I see what we have here.

(both laughing) Anyway, I put them in envelopes and I do label them.

(Peggy laughs) >>Yeah.

Oh wow yeah.

It's nice to learn something new.

I would never have thought.

>>Yes, but it's important to seal those envelopes too or you end up with a pretty messy yeah, bin.

>>Yeah.

>>But anyway, it's very important.

And then to understand that for the sewing of those seeds, is they're wind blown from the plant and so they don't get planted too deeply.

Many people plant the seeds far too deeply.

You just have to put them right underneath the surface.

And I think we think of them as beans and we try to pop them in.

>>Yeah, to probably just, you know... >>Push them and burry them down in there- >>Yeah.

>>When actually the surface of the soil and then a little bit of soil on top will do the job.

At least that's what I've found, so.

With daylilies, is rust a death sentence?

Rust is a disease on daylilies and it covers the leaves.

And no, it's not a death sentence.

I'm a person who advocates particularly with daylilies because they've got such a fibrous, I mean, intense root system with some storage apparatus on their roots.

That it's easy to just cut the plant down and start all over again.

So, it's a simple one.

Very simple.

Just put it in the trash and let it go all over once again.

(Marina laughs) I get a new fresh start for that daylilly plant, so.

>>Yeah.

>>Anyway Marina, it's been a pleasure having you on the show and I thank you for sharing your knowledge about beneficial insects.

>>Thank you.

You're welcome.

And now let's join Keith Nevison to visit with Dr. Tom Kuhar.

An entomology professor at Virginia Tech.

They met at Bel-Air farm, an organic CSA in Southern Albemarle County to talk about pests in the vegetable garden.

(engine humming) >>In early spring, we did a frost seeding on a pollinator mix, and it took really well.

And we've just been letting it go since then.

All right.

>>Well, thanks for having us out to Bellair Farm.

>>Yeah, I'm really glad to have you here, Keith.

>>It's a beautiful farm.

You've got nice flowers.

You've got rows of vegetables.

Can you tell us a little bit more about Bellair?

>>So we're just south of Charlottesville, in between Charlottesville and Scottsville, and we're doing about 25 acres of produce every year.

>>Wow.

>>And we're mostly marketing that through a CSA program.

We also have a fair amount of Pick Your Own, just for the general public, and then a farm store that's open as well.

>>That's great.

And so how many types of vegetables and different things are you growing out here?

>>We're growing about 50 different types of vegetables and probably 150 different varieties.

>>Wow, so you've got to think a lot about, as a certified organic farm, your organic pest control.

>>Yeah, we're thinking about that a lot.

And for us, that always starts with healthy soil and just making sure that plant is happy.

And then they can have a lot of natural defenses.

>>Well, thank you so much for having us out.

It's beautiful, and I'm gonna go catch up with Dr. Tom Kuhar now.

>>Yeah, absolutely, Keith.

It's good to have you.

>>Thanks, man.

Appreciate it.

>>Yeah.

(birds chirping) >>So, Tom, what are you looking at there?

>>Hello, Keith.

I'm looking at any pests that might be on the farm, and I'm checking out these tomatoes right now.

And they've done one heck of a job of keeping the pests off of these tomatoes 'cause I'm having a hard time trying to find any.

>>Nice, so here at Bellair Farm, they practice an integrated pest management.

Can you define integrated pest management?

>>Sure, integrated pest management, it's actually a complicated phrase.

I like to put in for the I instead of integrated, intelligent pest management because I think that's more important to think that you're using all the knowledge that's at your disposal in order to find some way that you can manage this pest problem that you have.

Virginia is rich in natural enemy insect arthropods, which are predators, parasitoids, a lot of these pests.

And help them to enhance them, conserve them, so that they can do what they do is a huge part of integrated pest management.

>>Nice, so what are some of those beneficial predators that we might see?

>>Yeah, that's an excellent question.

There are tons of predators and these are insects that'll consume the whole prey insect.

Praying mantis is one that comes to mind that everyone thinks of, but there's also a lot of predatory bugs.

Assassin bugs, they have a piercing sucking beak, which they jab into their insect prey and then they liquefy the tissue and ultimately kill that insect as well.

There are a lot of those out there, and then there are even more parasitoids.

A lot of these insects that are out there, I happen to find one.

I was walking around earlier.

So this pest right here, Keith, is, well, you know what that is?

>>That's a caterpillar of some kind?

>>It is!

That's a great start, knowing that that's a caterpillar.

That's the imported cabbageworm or the cabbage butterfly, that white butterfly that we see commonly flying around.

Although this is on a brassica crop, they like broccoli, and collards and things like that.

So that caterpillar will chew up the leaves.

Anyone that's growing brassicas in Virginia knows what I'm talking about.

But you may not know what that is, that was found on the leaf right next to this.

And what this is, is a parasitoid wasp that stung one of those caterpillars.

She laid her eggs inside of there, those eggs multiplied.

And ultimately, they developed within the caterpillar and ultimately killed it, and came out and spun their little cocoon.

So out of each of those little cocoons is going to be another wasp, that's going to find another caterpillar, and it'll all start all over again.

So this is a great example of a parasitoid wasp that's out here naturally.

And although we still see a lot of these pests, and this alone is not gonna control this insect, could you imagine how many of these there would be if 60-80% of them are gonna be parasitized?

It would be ungodly.

We couldn't grow collard or broccoli.

So, this is one example.

There are tons of parasitoids that do a heck of a job here in Virginia.

>>How can one go about identifying them?

>>There are millions of insects, so no one's gonna know them all, but you can start getting a good idea of what it is.

And it's very important, that's a essential part of, we've mentioned integrated pest management, the foundation of it is correct identification.

There are some identification apps that you can get, phone apps that are free and really, really effective.

So you get your identification and once you know what it is, in this day and age that we're living, the information is at your fingertips.

So find out what it is, why you may have had this problem, and then what are some things you can do.

>>So, Tom, in addition to some of the organic sprays out there, I know Integrated Pest Management deals with resorting to chemical means when there's a certain threshold cross, so can you talk a little bit more about that?

>>Sure, that's an area that a lot of conventional growers are well aware of, the word action threshold or even economic threshold, where you're bringing in.

Does the cost of putting a control out, is it worthwhile?

But threshold also means, a lot of times you can tolerate pest problems.

A lot of home gardeners can... You've harvested summer squash all summer long, and let's be honest, you might be a little tired of it.

And then in comes the pest, you get some fungal diseases like powdery mildew and squash bugs are starting to take over at that point.

What's your tolerance for it?

Well, your tolerance might somewhat be related to the fact that you're you're kind of done with squash anyway, so there was no pest control needed.

Now, if squash bugs came in before you harvested your first squash, you might have a different thought about it.

And these plants are young, and you need to protect them.

So, yeah, that's definitely something to keep in mind.

There's tolerance levels, and some of that you learn from experience, which ones can really get you.

>>I'm wondering about some of the new insect pests that we should be on the lookout here in Virginia.

>>Sure, well, that's something that's becoming more and more an issue, is new pests.

Spotted lanternfly is one of the new ones that some folks have heard of, especially if you're in the Winchester area of Virginia.

That's where it's kind of centered right now in the state.

It originally came into Pennsylvania and it's spreading.

There's a lot of insects that are kind of southern pests that we've not typically dealt with in Virginia.

But all of a sudden, it seems like year after year now, we're dealing with this tropical insect.

Tickleworm is a great example.

Last four years in Virginia pumpkin growers, squash growers, they get this late season caterpillar that bores into their fruit.

And it's not something we've always dealt with, but we are now it seems like continuously.

So that's a late season pest we've got to be on the lookout for.

>>If we're able to identify things like spotted lanternfly migrating down from other counties, who should we contact with Cooperative Extension?

>>Yeah, that's a great question because I think some homeowners aren't aware of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service and what they do.

That's their job, is to handle these calls, help growers and homeowners identify what their problems are, maybe come out to the farm.

They may find something for the first time in Virginia and that's really important to document, this new pest problem, this new outbreak.

They will find specialists or they may be able to just solve the problem themselves.

>>Thanks, Tom.

It really has been so valuable learning from you.

It's been great information, Really appreciate you taking the time to teach us about different insect pests that we might see here in Virginia.

And thanks so much.

>>Sure.

My pleasure, Keith.

Keith, thank you for helping us learn more about the bugs in our gardens.

Dr. Tom Kuhar, entomology professor at Virginia Tech is with us now, to talk more about the pests we find eating our plants.

But before we begin, I want to remind you to send in your gardening questions via email or Facebook.

Tom, I love the fact that you didn't bring many bugs, but you brought, I'll say evidence of the insects.

So, what do we have here?

>>Well, first Peggy, I'd like to thank you for inviting me to be part of the show.

>>Certainly.

>>And I'm very happy to show off some of the insect- >>Damage.

(Peggy laughs) >>Insect damage and some of the things.

And I want to thank the folks at the Enrico and Hanover and enrichment extension offices for helping me get this with the Master Gardeners.

Fresh off the press here today is some insect injury.

One of the most important things about pest management is diagnosing the problem.

What is the problem?

You can't manage it until you know exactly what it is.

>>Right, yes.

>>Obviously this is injury to a broccoli, or it could be a cabbage leaf, collard it doesn't matter.

But, one thing I would like you to point out is it's holes.

It's chewing holes.

You may think, duh, that's what that is.

But, making that connection that this was very likely a caterpillar, possibly a beetle.

But it's getting you to diagnosing the problem to where there are certain kind of insects that may have caused this injury.

In the very same field though, you may find these kind of starbursts like feeding areas.

>>Almost like somebody peeled back part of the leaf.

>>Yes, yes.

That's... And it's much different than a hole that was chewed in the leaf.

And this was caused by an insect that has a piercing sucking kind of mouth part that jabbed it stylets in there and liquified the tissue and sucked it back out.

And it leaves behind these marks.

This could be in a leaf.

In this case, the injury was actually caused by a bug with piercing, sucking mouth parts.

And there's the insect right there.

The culprit.

And you may have actually seen the bugs when you went out there, but is the one that caused it.

You can see they're piercing, sucking beak.

That's the harlequin bug.

Feeds on broccoli and cabbage and collards.

So that would be a step of just figuring out what it is that's eating your crops.

>>So we can think about sort of how the insect is, you know, are they chewing or piercing and sucking and it'll help us determine what type of insect it is- >>Exactly.

>>In our garden.

>>Exactly.

I have had calls where someone said, did this bug do that?

And I'm like, well it's a hole.

The bug has a piercing sucking mouth part, so, no it wasn't the bug.

It was the...

So it's a great first step in diagnosing what might be going on.

And another thing that you can use is frass.

>>Yes.

>>And not everyone knows what frass is, but it is the excrement that insects leave behind after they feed.

And this is a common occurrence sadly enough for a lot of gardens, especially in Virginia.

So this is taken right from a garden in Richmond today.

We have a lot of this, this year.

As you can see- >>So this is a squash?

>>Right, this is a squash plant.

I should have pointed that out.

Could be pumpkin, could be squash, it doesn't matter either one of those.

But the vines started dying and you start to go there and find out what is going on here?

Is it a disease?

And you could notice that what is left behind is frass.

And that is the excrement of something that was feeding in there.

A lot of times the insect that's gonna leave behind frass is gonna be a caterpillar.

Very clear evident injury.

It's kind of an orangy looking frass.

And this is squash vine borer.

A caterpillar that that will bore into the squash vines and ultimately kill that vine.

I had them here a minute ago- (Peggy laughs) And he just escaped.

So we will just assume that... >>He's there.

>>That he was there, but it was clearly, that was what caused it.

>>Well I think too people see their squash or their zucchinis or whatever, starting to wilt and they go, oh, I have to water.

And they water.

And then they find, hmm, it didn't do any good.

>>It wasn't the water, yeah.

>>And going down and doing some investigation, I'll be honest, I take a very long paperclip and I unfold it and I just kind of start stabbing away.

>>You can control the problem that way.

>>Yap.

>>That's a very interesting...

If you don't have that many squash plants, you can really stop the damage that way.

You're physically taking them out, almost like a Knight in shining armor.

Sticking them with the... (Tom laughs) >>Just piercing them in there.

Sometimes two zucchini plants is too many anyway.

(Peggy laughs) >>Right, right.

>>But we also have with our fruit, not just in our stems and our leaves, but we have issues with some of our fruit that we need to be aware of.

>>Yep.

And this is another kind of borer if you know, in a sense.

This is actually tomato fruit worm or corn ear worm.

It's the same worm that gets in the tip of the ear of the corn.

Will also feed on tomatoes and it's called the tomato fruit worm in that case.

But, it is probably our most damaging pest of crops in Virginia.

It's called the bollworm when it feeds on cotton.

And it just attacks a lot of crops.

300 different plants actually.

>>Oh my, he's a busy little guy.

>>And tomatoes can be hit really hard in Virginia, starting in mid July and it just gets worse as you get into August.

And sometimes it just can be our most devastating pest of tomatoes.

>>How would it be the best way to control it?

I'm a person who goes out and looks at my garden every day.

And so if I see that I can remove it and throw it away.

>>You know, it's... You can find those when they're a lot smaller, but you need to catch them when they're tiny.

So it would just be going out through your garden often.

The eggs are really hard to see.

A moth comes and flies and she drops a little tiny egg.

You can almost can't see it.

It's a little white cream colored sphere.

And out of that hatches a little tiny caterpillar.

>>And off he goes, yeah.

>>And if you can catch it early, yes, you can get it off of there.

But the problem is you usually see the damage before you see the insect.

So tomato fruit warm is a very difficult one to deal with.

But another tomato pest- >>Yes.

>>And so many people have seen this before.

(Peggy laughs) And I think it is one of the most fascinating things.

This is the tomato horn worm or tobacco horn worm.

And this one is actually alive and that is the horn worm.

But a lot of people have seen this.

And these are these white clusters... Cottony clusters that are on that.

And this is a great illustration of biological control.

These wasps occur naturally.

They are culiacán.

That is the genus of this wasp that she will sting the horn worm- >>Uh huh.

>>That egg will multiply inside the horn worm into larvae, which will feed on the insides and then eventually crawl out and pupate.

And what you see there is basically the pupil cocoons of the wasp.

>>Coming on out.

>>Yep.

And every one of them is gonna give rise to a new wasp, which will fly and find more hornworms.

Which you'll find as you get later and later into the summer, is that more and more of them are parasitized.

It's because we have a lot more parasitoid wasps than you do horn worms.

So it's kind of a numbers game.

>>Wonderful.

>>And they eventually will make sure that not all the hornworms will make it and be there for next year.

>>The good guys will win.

>>The good guys finally win in the end, but sometimes they've caused some damage to your garden before then.

>>Well, not all of them are good guys though Tom, and we've got coming down the pike we'll say.

We've got an insect that I think we all need to be aware of.

>>Right.

Yes, thank you for bringing it up Peggy.

This is the spotted lantern fly.

If you're in the Winchester area of Virginia, unfortunately you probably have heard about this for the wrong reasons.

And that is because this invasive pest it first showed up in the US a few years ago in Pennsylvania and has since been spreading.

It popped up in Virginia a few years ago, Winchester area.

And it was isolated to maybe a few blocks in the town of Winchester originally and then has since spread.

It is in multiple counties now.

Probably the closest to the Richmond area is Albemarle.

They have found this insect.

So it is- >>Yes.

>>On the move and is one to be on the lookout for because it's an invasive species.

We have seen tree trunks completely covered by this.

And it's kind of a pretty- >>Pretty little thing.

>>Pretty insect.

It definitely is.

It's got warning coloration.

You see these reddish colors, it's warning predators and birds to not feed on it because it picks up toxins from the trees that it feeds on.

Like tree of heaven.

>>Yes.

>>When it's a nymphal stage, it feeds on those trees and is then toxic to a lot of predators.

So, one of the reasons why it's an invasive is because not too many things are killing it.

>>No.

>>It multiplies like crazy, and we have a terrific habitat for it.

So, it is spreading and be on the lookout for it.

>>Yes.

And it's inhabiting more trees and attacking more trees than a lanthus.

And you were saying in the garden, you're finding it on cucumber, yes or no?

>>Yeah, that's one of the questions.

I'm a vegetable entomologist and one of the big questions is okay, I know it feeds on trees, is it gonna attack vegetable crops?

Well, first of all, the crops that it's probably most at risk for are wine grapes, grapes and hops.

But we have found that the nymphs also feed on cucumbers and cause a lot of damage.

>>Wonderful.

Well Tom, thank you.

Thank you for bringing in what I'll call the evidence of insects so that we can learn as we're looking at our gardens.

What's there or not.

And whether to dive in a little deeper and do a little bit more investigation.

So thank you.

>>My pleasure.

>>And now we're going to get ready to answer your questions.

But first we have a tip from Jen Naylor about growing Korean cucumber.

(upbeat music) >>We're gonna be harvesting some cucumbers today, and these are Korean cucumbers.

This is very similar to English cucumbers, as you can see, the size and the length.

However, it has a texture of Kirby cucumbers, which is pickling cucumbers.

They're very crunchy and it's great for eating fresh, or you can make it into pickles, or for me, I may Korean cucumber kimchi.

Now what I did is I used cattle panel to make this beautiful trellis.

You can find cattle panel at any farm market.

All you have to do stake one side into the ground and bend over to whichever height you want.

See, I'm kind of short, so here we are.

So I put the other end, stake it in, and voila.

You have this beautiful trellis for the cucumbers to grow onto.

These cucumbers, because they're climbing cucumbers, they grow very fast at a peak growing season.

They grow almost, I would say, like a foot a day.

And so what I do is every morning I come out here and I tie the vine to the trellis so that it follows the shape of the trellis.

Now, as far as pests is concerned, these cucumbers, this variety, I haven't had any serious issues with pests.

Now my farming theory is that you just have to go out and work with nature.

If there's couple of pests bothering your crops, that's okay.

You got plenty more than you can harvest.

Now, as you can see, once they get to full growing season, you see all these beautiful cucumbers, they are just hanging and all you have to do is come underneath in the shade, glass of wine maybe, and I usually just go ahead come out here with my apron, 'cause I'm always cooking in the kitchen.

So what I do is just go ahead and take this off and just go ahead and harvest.

Cucumbers are so easy to grow and they are so, so, so good, and it's loaded with nutrients and you can just eat it.

(cucumber crunching) Mm, so good.

Try growing cucumbers of your own.

It is so easy and it is so good for you.

It'll give you happiness to your life.

(water spraying) Jen, thank you for introducing us to a type of cucumber that is new to most of us.

And showing how easy it is to grow on a trellis.

Keep an eye out on our Facebook page because we will soon be sharing Jen's recipe for Korean cucumber kimchi.

Well Tom, we've got a lot of questions and some are for you and some are for me.

So just feel free to jump in when you want and just add in what you would like, okay?

>>Okay.

>>Let's start with one about, my cucumber plants have lots of yellow and spotted leaves.

The new growth looks green and healthy, but then gets discolored and is very unsightly.

but then gets discolored and is very unsightly.

I've had a harvest of cucs and they taste fine, but wonder what should I do next year to avoid this issue or even this year to, you know, address it?

>>Well, I'm an entomologist Peggy so I mean, I immediately start to think insects but in this case, I think it's possibly not an insect.

It's possibly a disease.

I do know we have cucurbit downy mildew, especially the strain that's hitting cucumbers.

And that is hitting them currently in Virginia.

So my guess is it's possibly a disease.

A fungal disease downy mildew.

And it can be a tough one to deal with.

>>It is.

It is.

>>It could be very hard to control.

>>Hmm.

I would say ride the wave and get as much harvest as possible.

And then remove the plants and remove them off the site.

>>Yeah.

I would agree with that.

>>Yes.

And you can try soapy waters, but sometimes it doesn't really work.

Just spraying underneath the leaf is more important than on top, but even then, it's hard.

>>It's a tough one.

>>It's a tough one.

There's been whole conferences on this disease.

So (laughs) you know.

So this is a quite a challenge, but thank you.

Yes.

Another question is when should I start my fall garden in Norfolk, Virginia?

This is zone eight.

Yes.

(both laughing) August.

August is the time to start your fall garden in zone eight, which is Norfolk, Virginia.

And in zone seven, as you creep more into the middle of August to late August, you should start.

I'm gonna be starting my seeds to be honest about the second week of August.

And I'm borderline zone seven, zone eight, where I live.

So, you get ready, it's coming.

I'm so excited.

Summer's almost over.

(both laughing) Here's one about hostas.

And a person is asking, how can they control the creatures that's eating their hostas down at the base and up and through the leaves?

They're calling them cutworms but that's... >>Yeah, that's, you know, the first step would be what is causing the injury.

And my guess is it's probably slugs, which love hostas.

>>Yes.

>>At least I've seen- (both laughing) In my own garden that they love them.

And you know, which you may not see is during the day you just see the damage and you don't know what has caused it.

Both cutworms and slugs feed at night.

>>Yes.

>>So the damage is happening when you're probably not out there observing it.

So, my guess is it is slugs.

'Cause I don't know too many cutworms that are gonna be causing that kind of injury.

And there are some things that can be done.

There's some organic baits.

Slug baits that that can go out.

It's an iron phosphate based bait.

There's a lot of different products that have that.

We have tested it.

It works really well- >>Okay.

>>In the taking care of the slugs.

And you can find that in a lot of your home garden stores.

>>Hmm, well that sounds like a good answer 'cause the alternative is to go with something a little stronger.

And a good IPM is to start with the little gun and move up to the bigger guns.

>>Right.

>>So that's how I kind of encapsulate IPM- >>Yap.

>>And the treatment part, so.

>>Same here.

>>Yep.

Another one.

And I don't know if you deal with deer and rabbits in your vegetable garden and in your pollinator gardens.

But a question is what pollinator plants are best for deer and rabbits feast.

I personally have a lot of experience in this.

>>Well the please take it.. >>Okay.

(Peggy laughs) >>Because I am loosing the battle.

>>First of, everybody knows I garden where there's a lot of deer.

And my pollinator garden have been very successful this year, to be honest with my echinaceas and my sneeze weed and heleniums for the summer garden.

I've put in a lot of alliums.

I know they're not natives, but they've been very good at being able to not be, you know, a type of plant that the deer eat, but the pollinators enjoy.

But here is the trick I suggest.

Buy a plant, put it out in your yard.

Pot and all and let it sit there for a week.

And if the deer eat it down, don't plant it.

Give it away.

But if they don't, plant it and get some more.

That's the way I'm managing this.

It's the simplest way.

>>Yeah, sounds like a good approach.

>>Thank you.

It's a very...

It's a labor saving approach as well, so.

We've got another one here.

Oops, sorry.

I clicked on the wrong one.

I'm so sorry.

We have one here that we're not sure what the question is about.

I'm gonna throw it out there, but I believe I'm gonna be answering this on Facebook later.

And we've got the color goes pale and there's fresh reddish bugs on the inside of the leaf of butterfly bushes, so.

>>Well the reddish bugs are these aphids or are these... You know, leaf footed bugs, the nymphal stage can be red.

>>Yap, and I think we have to stop right there and see where we can go from there Tom, okay?

I'm so sorry.

We'll get to this.

Tom, this has been very enlightening.

And I always enjoy learning more about the insect pests that challenge every gardener.

"Virginia Home Grown" has an awesome Facebook page and I encourage you to look for timely information from our team.

Also look for Pat's Plant Pick after the show.

This month he's talking about interesting plants to grow in Kokedama balls, including the era...

I did it.

Arabica coffee plant.

We are pleased to hear our friend, Randy Battle though, is doing much better.

Randy, we look forward to seeing you in your garden again soon.

There is a native plant sale by the Virginia Native Plant Society at Green Spring Gardens on Wednesday, August the fourth.

The sale inventory is on the Virginia Native Plant Society website.

And next month, our show is all about native plants.

Including unique vegetable varieties, cultivated by Virginia's indigenous tribes.

We will learn about how seeds are being saved to preserve these traditional crops.

And also visit the home of a master gardener to learn how to integrate more native flora into our home landscapes.

I look forward to being with you then.

And remember gardening is for everyone.

We are all growing and learning together.

Thanks for watching and happy gardening.

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