Thursday afternoon found us refreshed from an excellent lunch, and back to the Charlotte, NC summer heat. Dr. Don Booth led a fascinating discussion and demonstration of plant health care. The take-home message, stressed throughout all presentations, is to promote plant species diversity! Other important concepts are the retention and incorporation of organic matter, limiting the amount of asphalt and concrete as much as possible, and attempting to maintain an area in its “natural state.”

Dr. Booth brought out the “bugs” for a great show-and-tell session! Fire ant control using bait was discussed. Northerners are fortunate, indeed, to not have these ants! We saw a very hungry caterpillar killer (beetle), predaceous mites, and rove beetles. The use of pheromone traps to monitor peach tree borers (clearwing moth) was exciting, too! The highlight was a release of ladybugs (this species was native to California). These beneficial insects feed on aphids. The preferred time of day to release these ladybugs is early morning or late afternoon, but since that is not always possible, Dr. Booth discovered a way to keep the beneficials on the target plant. He shook some caffeine-free Coke® onto the plant and on the ladybugs themselves as they were being released. Apparently the lady bugs are looking for the sweet substance upon release and this “holds” them in the area rather than flying away. Note: Other caffeine-free sugary drinks may work as well!

Rick Sypolt & Beth Brantley