Cucumbers and summer squash can be canned or processed for eating out of season, but they are best when eaten fresh. New cultivars have been developed to improve both disease resis…
There is something magical about spiderwebs with dewdrops in the morning sun. While you may not like spiders in your house, there is only one medically significant spider documente…
Editor’s note: This column was originally published on July 25, 2021. We are in a drought. Farmers are having their irrigation shut off. Municipalities are limiting when and …
To protect the large Idaho onion industry, all allium products are subject to Idaho quarantine laws. The reason for the quarantine is to reduce the possibility of introducing onion…
Most people call small creatures with many legs bugs. In the entomology world, the insects in the order Hemiptera are called “true bugs”. True bugs have piercing-sucking mouthp…
People often water their garden when the soil looks dry. This is the wrong approach as the roots are not at the soil surface. Vegetable plant roots vary from 6 to 36 inches deep. S…
Flies are good??? What about mosquitoes, fungus gnats, no-see-ums, tsetse flies and others? Many members of the family of flies (Diptera order) are beneficial. At the very least, m…
Sometimes people will call my office and ask what to do about all the bugs. Since 99.9% of insects are either beneficial or innocuous, the usual answer will be nothing. Many insect…
Despite the prolonged cool weather this spring, it appears the fruit trees have dodged hard freezes. My mother-in-law’s apricot tree is loaded with fruit, so I spent some time th…
The most common apple and pear flesh-feeding insect in eastern Idaho is the codling moth. This spring, the codling moth emergence and egg-laying has been delayed about three weeks …
Cucumbers are interesting. Most cultivars are monoecious, meaning they have male and female flowers on the same plant. Female flowers have a miniature cucumber behind the blossom. …
There are three types of tomatoes based on growth habit: determinate, semi-determinate and indeterminate. In reality, there are only two growth types — determinate and indetermin…
