Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County 

Client's Requests:  I have these pests on EVERYTHING from my tomato plants to my Rose bushes & flowers to my Lambs Ear plant! I'm certain the green worms are eating these because I've seen them on the leaf undersides. However, I'm not certain if the beetles are eating as well. I have an infestation of both pests every year along with White Flies & Aphids!! 😬 We've sprayed with ALL the common treatments from Neem Oil to calling the pest control man. They continue to come back and destroy nearly every flower, or plant I have. Any thoughts??? Thank you, Very frustrated!

Help Desk Response:  Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk. You asked about insects in your yard. There aren't insects named green horned worm or red boxed beetles, but you probably mean the tomato hornworm (a green worm with a pointy "horn" on its rear) and possibly the box elder bug or the red-shouldered bug. 

T

omato hornworms are found on tomatoes and other plants related to tomatoes such as potato and eggplant. They are the caterpillar of a large moth. The hornworms can get very large--up to four inches long. Natural enemies (parasitic wasps, lacewings, spiders, and others) usually keep their population under control, but hand picking is also effective. Bacillus thuringiensis) or Spinosad is effective against smaller larvae.  Here is a UC link to more information about hornworms:  http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/PESTS/hornworm.html 

The insect you refer to as red boxed beetles could be either box elder bugs or red-shouldered bugs, also known as golden rain tree or soapberry bugs. Neither of these bugs does much damage to ornamental or fruit trees. You might be seeing the red-shouldered bugs right now. They are out in numbers in my yard. They eat the seeds of the golden rain tree or other related plants, but nothing else. Both of these bugs are more of a nuisance than a pest that needs to be controlled. Here is more information about box elder bugs: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74114.html. 

 
You also mentioned problems with aphids and whiteflies which are very common pests throughout the County. The links below are to more information about both of these pests:   http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7404.html and http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7401.html. 

It is important to identify the pest before spraying. There are some pests that are controlled by natural predators that won't become more prevalent if the predators are indiscriminately killed by sprays. It is easier to deal with problems when they are caught early. As you notice something amiss, either damage from insects or disease, feel free to contact us. Photos of the problem/pest will help us diagnose it and enable us to send you information on what to do.  

Please don't hesitate to contact us again if you have more questions.

Don't miss our 2019 Great Tomato Plant Sale -  Walnut Creek 3/30, Richmond 4/6, Antioch 4/13.  Click here for more information:http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/tomato/

Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SEH)

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Note:  UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions.  Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.

Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County

Client's Request:  Thank you for bringing the unknown biting insect to the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk.

Help Desk Response:   As I said in our conversation today, your insect is not a bed bug, but rather a mite of some kind. From its appearance, I believe it is a rat mite. There are also bird mites that can invade homes and bite people, but its appearance is closer to the rat mite. 

These mites need rodents to survive, but will come into homes when their preferred hosts die or decrease in number. They cannot survive for too long without their hosts, even though they feed on humans. If there is a large population of rodents (rats or mice) in your attic or crawlspace, you might see a continued presence of these mites. 

Here is a link to information from Contra Costa Vector Control District:  https://www.contracostamosquito.com/mites.htm and from
Alameda County Vector Control about biting mites:
http://acvcsd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Mites.pdf.

I didn't ask if you had rodent problems in your home, but I would be surprised if you did not (rat infestations are very common in our area). These links below are to information about controlling rats and mice: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74106.html;
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/housemousecard.html.
More information can also be found on the Vector Control districts.

I hope this information is helpful and you're able to get rid of these pesky biting creatures. Please let us know if you have more questions.

Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SEH)

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Note:  UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions.  Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.

 

 

Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County

Client's Request:  Yesterday I found what appear to be hundreds of white tiny eggs on my raised bed soil. I'm attaching a photo. Can you tell me what they are and if I should remove them? Thank you!

Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk and for sending those good photos of the little white things on your soil. As I said in our conversation earlier today, they look like a type of slime mold and are not harmful to your garden. They eat bacteria and fungal spores, as well as organic debris and are not harmful to your garden They come in a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes. 

Slime molds are pretty interesting organisms. They start out as individual cells and join together into a moving, sometimes pulsating mass. I found a couple of articles and videos about slime molds you might find of interest:

From KQED Science: https://www.kqed.org/science/635319/this-pulsating-slime-mold-comes-in-peace

From Bay Nature magazine: https://baynature.org/article/ask-naturalist-mysterious-tiny-eggs/

Happy gardening! Please let us know if you have further questions.

Don't miss our 2019 Great Tomato Plant Sale -  Walnut Creek 3/30,  Richmond 4/6, Antioch 4/13.  Click link for more info:   http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/tomato/

Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SEH)

---

Note:  UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions.  Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.

Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
 

Client's Request:  I'm confused about the lengthy lists of Tomatoes and which can be grown in my area (micro-climate). Would you please clarify which tomato variety, especially heirloom tomatoes, would grow best in my area.

MGCC Help Desk's Response:  Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk with your questions. I know the list of available tomato seeds and seedlings can be overwhelming. 
 
Unfortunately, given our area each area can have lots of micro-climates. So we cannot tell you exactly which variety will grow best in your yard. That is highly dependent on your individual circumstances (are you planting in pots, raised beds, the amount of sun, temperature, disease). Your best information on how individual varieties will perform is likely from your successful tomato-growing neighbors. 
 
There is some good information about heirloom tomatoes though. The scientific definition of an heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated variety that will make fruit identical to the parent. This means if you save seeds from your tomatoes you would expect to be able to produce the same fruit year after year. There is disagreement on how old a variety has to be to be considered an heirloom with some saying at least 50 years and others saying at least 100 years. Here are some links to articles written by nearby Master Gardener organizations which discuss  heirloom tomatoes in further detail. In addition, if you want to save seed yourself you might look over the website for Seed Savers Exchange. 
http://sacmg.ucanr.edu/What_are_Heirloom_Tomatoes/
http://sonomamg.ucanr.edu/The_Kitchen_Garden/All_About_Tomatoes/Heirloom_Tomatoes/
https://www.seedsavers.org/
 
If you look through our list of tomatoes for our Great Tomato Plant Sale this year, you can see there are lots of different heirloom tomato varieties. It does appear that only one is a determinate variety (Black Sea Man, a slicer). As you likely know, determinate tomato varieties grow in more of a bush form than a vine and tend to set fruit all at once and then decline. For older varieties, most are likely going to be indeterminate. If you look through the offerings on Seed Savers, only 9 out of their 82 heirloom varieties appear to be determinate. You likely have found these lists already but below are the links to our descriptions of all our varieties and the shopping list to make it easier to find what you want the day of the sale. 
http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/files/298659.pdf
http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/files/298656.pdf
 
Thank you for contacting us with your questions. We are very excited to see you for our MGCC tomato sale either on March 30^th in Walnut Creek, April 6^th in Richmond, or April 13^th in Antioch.

Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SES)

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Note:  UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions.  Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.