Integrated Pest Management, what should be practiced by everyone not just organic growers, involves some steps beginning with, 1. Identify the problem. 2. Identify the cause of the problem. 3. Using the least toxic means available control the problem, if necessary. 4. Review and return to step 1 if necessary. So far you have identifed that something might be laying some eggs on a plant but have not yet determined if there is a problem. Is this plant being eaten by the eggs? Is there enough harm to the plant that something must be done? I understand that you are trying to take a proactive approach and possibly prevent a problem, but you may also be doing more harm since those eggs might be a beneficial insect and not a potential pest. Then if these might be a pest they may not do enough harm to warrant spraying something to control them and that control product may well do more harm by killing off any beneficial insects as well as any predators that could be around. If you cannot determine what is laying those eggs it is best to wait and see what hatches and then decide if they need control.

We got frost last night, supposed to be colder tonight. It has been fairly windy today, I'm hoping it will just be scattered frost. I covered my tomatoes & dahlias last night, thank goodness. I didn't really expect much frost last night, the weatherman wasn't predicting a real frost for us, but he was wrong. One tomato plant lost its cover & was very black this morning. A couple of my lilies looked rather dark, they were some that were taller, & farther away from the house. I don't think I'll get blooms from those, but the asiatics nearby were shorter & got a bit of protection from a shrub. Hopefully it won't be much worse than last night. It sure feels cold, brrrr.

Thanks for your comments, Ed. I appeciate them. I'm unsure about being able to kill off the rust or not (in warm weather areas). Just about everything that I have read says that you only suppress it, yet my garden seems to have been clean (at least, no visible pustules) since that initial exposure, so I don't know what to make of it. (Not, mind you, that I have minutely scrutinized every leaf on every plant - though I do check the remaining previously very rusty plants periodically.) I "got it all in time"? (Sounds like cancer, lol - and doesn't explain why those non-dormant rusty plants haven't been rusty since.) Climate not conducive? (Which seems to be the case, but still...) Re dormants... you make a good point in that northern gardens don't necessarily have to worry about rust resistance (especially those hybridizing mainly for other northern gardens). I was just curious as to whether - in zones 8 and 9 - if one DID have a garden of all dormants, if they got infected, would the plants all come up clean next year (provided all the dead leaves were removed). I guess we may never know. Re hybridizing - only two generations to get a very resistant plant? Depending on how many genes control resistance, the genetics of the parent plants and how many F2 seedlings you grew out, I can see that happening. (Only takes four years minimum to get there, sigh - and that's IF your environment is such that you can reliably tell which seedlings are susceptible or not.) (DH asked me something to that point - why not cross the rusty purchased plant to a resistant plant, etc. etc. Well, there are a lot of excuses (er, reasons) as to why not, including not much sunny, deer-proof, unlandscaped space that I can use for seedlings. Since I have WAY more crosses that I want to make than I ever have the time/energy/space to grow out, and since I also don't want to perpetually be battling rust, it seemed the best thing to just toss the rust bucket(s).) Ed, do you mind if I ask how many F2 seedlings you had to grow out to get at least one resistant plant? I would guess at least 16 for tets - with no guarantee that you would get a very resistant plant because the probabilities hold for large populations, not necessarily for small ones (though you could get one to a few moderately resistant plants, depending on the genetics of the parents). (My reasoning is as follows... We don't know how many genes are involved, but for tets, making some very simplistic (and possibly incorrect) assumptions (only one gene determines resistance, an additive as opposed to dominant/recessive mechanism (what I gather seems to be the case?), the pod parent's extra DNA does not affect resistance, the resistant parent is rrrr and the susceptible parent is RRRR - so this assumes the best and worst case plants), I would guess you would get in the first generation F1 all rrRR (call that average resistance/susceptibility), and in the second generation F2: 1 rrrr very resistant F2 plant 4 rrrR equivalent moderately resistant plants 6 rrRR equivalent average resistance/susceptibility plants 4 rRRR equivalent moderately susceptible plants 1 RRRR very susceptible plants If the resistant parent is rrrR and/or the susceptible parent is RRRr then the picture gets more complicated.) I wish there was more information available in one location as to resistant cultivars. (Yes, I have been reading daylilyrust.org, forums, and hybridizer's comments.) I have gathered some of the reputedly resistant plants together, but for other plants (with traits that I want) it is hard to tell. (If anyone can tell me one way or the other re resistance on WHITE MOUNTAIN or ARCTIC LACE I would appreciate it!)

Thank you, Henry, for that Phytopathology Abstract on compost tea. Here's an excerpt from Henry's link: "Application of chemical products on the plant or in the soil kills a range of the beneficial micro-organisms thereby disturbing ecosystem. Compost tea helps to restore and increase the populations of those beneficial micro-organisms." That's so true. This is what I learned from my experiments: 1) Maintain Nature's balance helps with fungal diseases. Here in my garden, roses buried deep with added soil on top & fertilized with alkaline manure are clean. See articles on soil bacteria suppressing fungi growth. 2) When I mess up nature's balance with acidic mulch like cocoa mulch, acidic alfalfa meal, too much gypsum (17% sulfur), or muriate of potash (salt index 116.2), molasses & vinegar added to pH 8 tap water ... then my roses go downhill. 3) Decayed wet mulch foster fungal growth. The exception is fresh recycled wood chips (with mold-retardant) or treated wood with fungicide. 4) Keep surface dry and alkaline to prevent fungal germination. Sharifa Asma in a pot came down with mildew, thanks my bringing down the pH with molasses/vinegar, gypsum (calcium sullate), and potassium (sulfate of potash). Those sulfate-compounds caused rust to the metal scoop. Sulfate compounds zap soil bacteria if applied on top. 5) Salt in chemical fertilizer drives down potassium. Last year I put Lilly Miller NPK 10--5-4 with chemical nitrogen (salt index over 80), plus sulfur. I induced mildew on Mary Magdalene rose. This year, no fertilizer on Mary M., except for corn meal, she's clean. 6) Both potassium and calcium levels go down with lower pH, per U. Extension sites ... leaves got thinner and wilt in the heat with lowering pH. More diseases when I lowered the soil surface of my pH 7.7 clay. 7) My most healthy and many blooms is Stephen Big Purple rose, fertilized with soluble MiraceGro Bloom Booster (with trace elements), at 1/4 dose to make it NPK 2.5 - 13 - 2.5, rather than 10-52-10. No mulch nor granular dumped on top to mess up microbes balance. My alkaline clay is tested lowest in P, but the best result is soluble phosphorus with trace elements. Phosphorus mobility is a 1, stays put where applied. Too much phosphorus burns roots, and stunt plant. I did that to Deep Purple rose by dumping Jobes Organics NPK 2-7-4 (with bone meal). I no longer apply granular fertilizer on the surface, be it gypsum (salt index of 8, with 17% sulfur) ... too much burns root, and kill beneficial soil bacteria, essential for nitrogen-fixation. Granular fertilizers gunk up on top, kill soil bacteria, plus change the soil chemistry, and make it more hospitable for pathogenic fungi germinaton, releasing spores to leaves. Too much phosphorus, be it chemical or bone meal, can stunt plant. See pics. at below Purdue University extension: 1) lack of phosphorus, reduced branching 2) too much phosphorus and zero potassium: very stunt plant. The below link is worth seeing: Here is a link that might be useful: Effect of too little or too much phosphorus This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Tue, Oct 1, 13 at 12:17