Crazy Ants on the Horizon for Katy

Recently I attended a meeting designed to alert all Gulf Coast AgriLife extension agents of the pending infestation of the Rasberry Crazy Ant, RCA. Evidence of the interest in the new invasive specie, Tom Rasberry, the Pest Control Operator for whom the ant is named, attended as did representatives of the USDA-APHIS, TDA, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas A&M, University of Texas, and some political dignitaries.

The ant does not sting or bite humans: they are a significant pest, however, because their sheer numbers overwhelm homes, lawns and businesses. We are talking colonies numbering in the billions per acre. These colonies can double monthly during its foraging season April - November.

The Current treatment protocol uses 4 to 5 insecticide formulations and maintaining an insecticide residual by treating monthly. House keeping for the homeowner is imperative, that is sweeping away the dead. The insecticides kill many ants but the survivors crawl on top of the bone pile; consequently no insecticide touches thse ants. After all, if you have a billion ants and you kill 20 million, you still have 980 million left.

To date, the ant has been positively identified in 11 Texas Counties to include Harris and Ft. Bend and nothing has worked to control their advance. It is widely believed they are transported on agricultural products such as hay bales and nursery stock. I recommend before planting new plants to hire our company to inspect your plant material for this ant. There is desperate need for funding for the Entomologists to research these insects, to scientifically determine how they're spread and where the State should use its quarantine powers. I encourage you to contact your State officials and express your concern about this insect.

I invite you to the following TAMU website to learn what we know. There are some good video on the website of the ant http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/ants/exotic_tx.cfm. Another blogger made an informative video of this meeting that I also recommend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oUbzvlQB0U

Katy Hibiscus Attacked By Mealybugs

We have a number of customers who cherish their hibiscus and have us fertilize and maintain an insecticide residual to protect them from aphids and the like. Recently we were called to a residence located behind Katy Mills Mall to asscess a problem which has taken over their entire stand , about 500 square feet, of hibiscus. It was not pretty. The leaves were gnarled and covered with black sooty mold which had developed on the sweet honeydew released by some insects.

In this case, the insect proved to be our first true infestation of Pink Hibiscus Mealybugs in Katy. The insect was discovered in Florida in 2002 and was identified in our area last year. Protected by white scaly deposits encircling the stems of the plant lives this pale little insect; pink not even a Mary Kay lady could love and lacking the common courtesy to confine itself to hibiscus plants.

Best to attack this insect through the use of systemic insecticides. If you have hibiscus and other plants you care about, perhapes you should have JNJ Pest Control and Grounds Care begin a preventive program for them.

Irrigation 101 for Katy Summers

Watering you lawn in this extreme heat and long daylight is important to keep your turf alive. Remember you want to water the soil. Little water is absorbed by the leaf. You should water seldom but heavily. This will cause the grass roots to go deep to search for more water. Daily sprinklings create shallow root system making the turf vulnerable to drought and traffic. The first 5 minutes will probably evaporate by the time it reaches the soil.

Just because you have an irrigation system does not mean it is working efficiently. When you have brown spots in the lawn it can easily be the lack of water at that particular spot.

I am recommending 2 inches of water on the entire lawn twice a week. Below are steps to insure successful irrigation plan.

Step 1: Place shallow containers, like cat food cans, throughout you lawn. Run the irrigation system or sprinkler apparatus until you have filled a container to 1 inch. Typically in Katy that will take 20 minutes. So 40 minutes will put out 2 inches of water. Check the remaining containers and determine the deficiency. Sometimes it can be as simple as a shrub limb has moved into the path of the water stream or the grass runners have covered the pop up head of the sprinkler. If not easily determined contact a qualified irrigation repair company. We have numerous names to refer you.

Step 2: Watch your system and determine how much water your soil can absorb until it begins to run down the drive. Typically that will take 15- 20 minutes. This becomes the maximum run time per zone for this session.

Step 3: Now you know how long to run your system to reach 2 inches and how many start times you will need to accomplish your goal. Give at least 90 minutes between start times to allow the water to percolate into the soil strata. Irrigate from 4am-10am. If you have many zones break the run times for different days. Example of 12 zones: On Thursday run zones 1-4 for 20 minutes with a start time 4 am. This will take an hour and 20 minutes. Set a second start time at 5:30 am and repeat 1-4 zones for another 20 minutes. Set to repeat zones 1-4 on Sunday. On Friday and Monday run 5-8 zones like suggested and then Saturday and Tuesday 9-12 zones. Make the day off the day you mow. You will probably maintain this schedule through August.

Not using correct watering practices can be responsible for insect invasion from the stress of the grass. Stressed turf can cause a fungus indigenous in our soils called Take All Patch to become active. If you feel these pest have selected your lawn it is time to call us for our expert identification and curative practices.

Chinch Bugs Kill Katy Lawns

When temperatures begin reaching 90 degrees the chinch bugs come marching out of the thatch layer to feed on St. Augustinegrass. Chinch bugs quickly run up the leaf shaft and inject their sucking mouthpart into tissue to inject an enzyme which breaks down the cells so they can suck the juices. This is toxic to the cells and subsequently kills the grass. The damage typically begins near concrete where the plant is more stressed by effects on the soil, particularly pH, attributable to the concrete.

We recommend preventive insecticide applications against this devastating insect. Once the damage appears, immediate curative action to arrest the spread should be taken.

There are a number of tricks to identify the chinch bug in action, or go to agrilifebookstore.org to learn more about this prolific summer insect. However, birds pecking at the lawn are probably foraging on the chinch bugs: conclude research; do something!

That could include a call to our office to schedule service to verify the diagnosis and make appropriate product applications to cure the problem.

Let say it is too late and the lawn is dead we can paint it like nothing happened.

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes not only annoy people, they transmit disease-causing organisms to humans and animals. The information which follows may help in combating this irritating insect.

The mosquito has four distinct stages in its life cycle, three of which require standing water. They feed on nectar, plant sap and other sources of liquid carbohydrates. The female requires a blood-protein meal to produce eggs. Adults typically live no more than a month and they seldom travel more than a couple hundred yards from their breeding sites. Logically, control efforts should be focused on areas where they breed and where they feed.

They breed in standing water: eliminate as much of that as possible and treat the rest. I recommend Mosquito Dunks; a solid briquette which contains a bacterium called BT. They dissolve gradually in water and kill immature stages of the mosquito. They can be used in dog water bowls, horse troughs, and bird baths and “installed” in ditches and areas where rain water collects.

They have two food sources: animals and plants, which complicates the issue. Wildlife and birds (where they may get West Nile Virus) are on their own. Humans can reduce exposure by staying indoors during heavy feeding times (morning and dusk), using insect repellents that contain DEET, and not inviting birds into the yard with feeders and baths.

Plants should be treated with an insecticide labeled for that purpose. Mix the product per the label directions and apply it to the underside of vegetation where the insects rest and collect food during the daylight. Also apply it around decks, eaves and gutters

For the best, long-term control use a microencapsulated insecticide formulation. Microencapsulated means the insecticide is enclosed in a microscopic “bead” of sorts, which protects it from rain and UV rays as it sits on the plant surface, where it is easily picked up by insects. The particle surface soon cracks and releases the insecticide. I recommend pyrethroids such Cykick CS or Demand CS, which can be purchased at Estes, Inc. or Katy Chemical (other locations as well, but probably not the hardware or home improvement stores).

You may have found yourself admiring the beautiful white blooms on trees that line the Grand Parkway in Katy. These trees are Bradford Pears or, as some call them, Fruitless Pears. In bloom, the plant is really pretty and, unfortunately, vulnerable to a virus that can be carried on the wind or by insects. The virus enters through the blossom and kills the circulatory system of the leaves on the branch, causing the leaves to turn a copper brown color. While a few infected limbs probably will not affect the overall health of the tree, it surely can make it look awful.

The disease is called Fire Blight and the only remedy is a spray application of agricultural grade streptomycin, which should be made now. In a few weeks it will have no effect, so now is the time to call JNJ Pest Control and Grounds Care to treat your Bradford Pears.

Termites Celebrate Spring Break in Katy

March is the time that college coeds have taken to the sandy beaches at some tropical destination where they frolic in the surf at day and dance all night after gorging themselves on island fare for their right of passage for the spring vacation break.

Termites have the same biological urges, but they have selected Katy, TX as their venue. The termites attracted to over watered wood mulched beds that cover weep holes making easy access to wood structure of residences. At this time of the year the reproductives, dubbed swarmers, are empowered to jump into the wind to finally be discovered on the hard wood floor of their new vacation spot.

What to do to insure the safety of people and property you care. The children I cannot help but termites I can. First walk around your house and look for mud shelter tubes about the size of a strap on a string bikini coming out of the ground to your structure. Another tail-tell sign are mud protrusions on sheetrock walls which are built by termites workers to provide jumping off ramps for swarming winged termites like the divers in Acapulco..

JNJ Pest Control and Grounds Care can arrest termites from your structure. And like a conscientious parent JNJ is best at preventing the unfortunate consequences.