At least in the northern hemisphere, fall is on its way --
though with our 90+ degree temps it seems hard to imagine down
here in the south.

Too often, Fall means a sudden increase in nasty insects -- from
chewing insects like caterpillars, and especially the sucking
insects such as the various stink bugs (Hemiptera), lace bugs
(Homoptera) aphids, white fly, and scale. Spider mites may be a
problem on conifers. They're in a feeding frenzy as they get
ready to lay eggs, hibernate, or whatever else they do to insure
that their genes survive over the winter.

A pyrethrin spray will take care of most of these beasties. The
benefit of pyrethrin is that it is very lethal to insects, but
short lived. If you prefer non-toxic sprays, horticultural oil
will get (suffocate) many of them. A soap spray (repeated
weekly for a while) will get others, and BT will get the
caterpillars. A blast of water is probably enough for the
spider mites. You really don't need anything stronger.

Fall also means leaves are getting old. Black and brown spots
on leaves -- especially on members of the Rose family (cherries,
apricot, pear, hawthorn, etc.), on various maples, sweetgum,
hophornbeam, quince, and many others -- are normal at this time
of year. Sprays are NOT called for. If it really bothers you,
remove the old leaf, but it's a bit late for complete
defoliation so be careful.

And note that even "evergreens" get old, spotted, and yellowed
leaves (or needles) at this time of year. Ditto "tropicals."

As fall advances, trees shut themselves down. They'll need less
water, so overwatering gets to be a distinct possibility as some
of your trees go dormant while others go merrily on their way.
Keep your eyes open. You may want to rearrange your tables so
the trees that need more water aren't sitting next to trees that
need less at this time of year.

A more thorough seasonal care article can be found in our
website. Go to the "Knowledge Base."

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Bonsaiests
are like genealogists: We know our roots!

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