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Phenology in the Garden (Part III)
This is the third and final installment in my seemingly endless series on phenology. As yourecall from the previous two articles, phenology is the science of relating the development of organisms to environmental conditions. We usually use some sort of model that is based ontemperature. The most common models use degree-days, which is a measure of the accumulatedtemperature each day over some base temperature. Now that you know what all this business is about, I want to show you how to put this touse in the garden. To follow some of these models, you will need access to some way to track high and low temperatures each day. The best would be a high/low thermometer that getschecked the same time each day. If you don’t want to buy one, you can get weather data fromthe National Weather Service by Googling “weather” + your ZIP code, or by hunting around the NWS’s website.First let’s start with some models that need no weather data. These models are based oneasily observed environmental cues. Some universities have established “phenology gardens” tofind more examples of indicator plants. Some of the more useful models for our area include:
Eastern Tent Caterpillar:
spray at bud break of crabapple and wild plums. Usesomething like Dipel so you don’t interfere with pollination.
Crabgrass
seeds germinate when the soil temperature reaches 55
˚
F
Squash Vine Borers
lay eggs when chicory is in bloom (Spray or dust at that time) Now for the harder ones that use some math. These formulas use the “single sine” technique, buta modified hi/lo method works well enough for the garden. [To refresh your memory theformula is:
min
2
T T T  DD
lohi
−−=
where
T 
hi
is the day’s high temp. or the model’s upper limit(whichever is lower),
T 
lo
is the day’s low temp. or the model’s base temp (whichever is higher),and T
min
is the model’s base temperature.] Begin tracking all these models January 1
st
.
Peach Tree Borer:
hi=88, lo=50; spray at 1400 and 2320 DD
Corn earworm/tomato fruitworm:
hi=92, lo=55; spray when early instar larvae: 147DD and again every 870 DD
Green Peach Aphid:
hi=86, lo=39; each generation (from nymph to nymph) takes 234DD
Cabbage Looper:
hi=90, lo=50; larvae emerge at 420 DD (spray Bt then)There are about 100 models available; these just are some of the more common in thegarden.
www.ipm.ucdavis.edu
has lots of models.For one particularly annoying pest, the two-spotted spider mite, we have a completemodel of its lifecycle. I’m including it in all its juicy detail since we have several rose growerswho are Master Gardeners, and they use a variety of products to target different life stages(lo=53, no hi). If this seems like overkill, just look at the last row. It’s remarkable that anorganism can complete its lifecycle in only 217 DD! That’s why mites are such a problem.
Host: Cotton
DD (°F)DD (°C)
Eggs:83.046.1Larvae:39.421.9Protonymphs:34.219.0Deutoymphs:38.721.5
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