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master gardener tagged posts

Disease-Resistant Vegetables and How to Find Them

Thanks to the University of Maryland/Maryland Grows for this informative article about disease-resistant vegetables.

I mentioned in my post last month that many of the pepper plants I grew from seed this year were infected by bacterial leaf spot. I did my best to remove diseased material from the garden. However, undoubtedly some of it still lingers in the soil and might survive to infect plants next year, so I will plan to grow varieties that are resistant to this disease.

The leaves of a pepper plant that have been infected with bacteria.
Pepper leaves infected by bacterial leaf spot. Photo from HGIC.

And no, I don’t just have a list of these varieties in my head. I’ll have to do some research. Maybe you’ve faced this problem too...

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Manage bagworms now photo

Manage bagworms now so they don’t harm trees

Thanks to the University of Maryland/Maryland Grows this informative article about how to manage bagworms.

Bagworms

“Why are the pinecones on my tree moving?” a client asks.
“Because those aren’t pinecones, they’re bagworms,” I reply.  

Dangling from evergreens like teardrop-shaped Christmas tree ornaments, bagworms cause many a homeowner to scratch their head in wonder. Pinecones that dance?

Manage bagworms now
Bagworms dangle from a juniper branch.
Image Credit: Erik Rebek, Bugwood

But the tell-tale thinning of trees that can follow is no laughing matter. Covered with bits of needles and leaves, the bags that give bagworms their name serve as protection for the caterpillars inside. Bagworm caterpillars are the juvenile form of a moth.  

That sounds innocent enough, but like al...

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