Soil, Plant Pest Center

2 days ago

Dr. Windham took these images of a leaf cutter bee on mountain mint in August of 2017. Dr. Laura Russo, our new UT pollinator expert, confirmed the ID. This is just one of many native pollinators found in the state. ...

Soil, Plant Pest Center

3 days ago

It's definitely southern blight season. Hot, humid weather is ideal for this fungus (Sclerotium rolfsii). It can attack hundreds of herbaceous and woody plants. Damage to Joe Pye Weed is pictured. The first symptom is rapidly wilting, literally overnight, as the fungus kills stem tissue that transports water to leaves. White mycelium and small, spherical, tan sclerotia (tightly bound mycelium) are found on the stem at the soil surface. Remove the infected plant and carefully scoop up sclerotia visible on the soil surface and dispose of away from garden. Southern blight will be active until temps cool into the low 80's consistently. It's difficult to predict where it will appear, making preventative treatments unlikely to be effective. ...