OSU Extension: Gratitude can have health benefits. Are you ready to challenge yourself?
Did you know that gratitude can lessen anxiety, relieve stress, improve sleep, boost immunity, and even support heart health? Join Ohio State University Extension for the “Gather Your Gratitude” six-week email wellness challenge to learn more about how OSU Extension has tied together a variety of wellness topics related to gratitude.
The email challenge connects participants with tips, research, and resources to share the ways gratitude can improve your health. Go to https://go.osu.edu/lhlwfairfield and answer a few short questions to get registered. During the week of Oct. 23, all registered participants will receive a pre-challenge message. Participants will then receive one email per week through Dec. 11. Participants will have access to optional resources available including the Ohio State University Extension Live Healthy Live Well Blog, a free Wednesday wellness webinar series, and a tracking challenge bingo card. Pre- and post-challenge online surveys will be used to track participant progress and comments.
“Gather Your Gratitude” will challenge you to explore a variety of ways you can celebrate gratitude in your own life and encourage it with others. This program is offered free and is sponsored by Ohio State University Extension.
For additional information contact Shannon Carter at carter.413@osu.edu or 740-653-5419.
Fall garden cleanup is important
Garden cleanup or sanitation at the end of the growing season is a way to reduce some of the plant disease potentials for the following season. The list of plant diseases that can overwinter is long, but those that can perhaps be reduced the following season by good fall cleanup include rose black spot, hollyhock rust, Septoria leaf blight on Rudbeckia, bacterial blight on geranium, botrytis blight on peony, bacterial leaf spot on English ivy, canker and dieback on vinca, crabapple scab, and Septoria leaf spot on tomato, just to mention a few.
Disease management can include debris cleanup, such as raking up infected leaves, flower heads, and other plant parts, and cutting infected stems back close to the ground. The debris can then be put in yard waste for collection or otherwise removed from the garden area. It can also include turning plant debris into the soil or adding it to a hot compost pile where it will degrade quickly. Plant pathogens are less likely to survive over winter if organic debris in the garden decomposes quickly.
Weed management can be important as well, as some weeds are hosts for the fungi that infect cultivated plants and most weeds this time of year also have seeds. For example, round-leaf mallow, a common lawn and waste place weed, also serves as a host to the hollyhock rust fungus and can serve as a source of spores (inoculum) the following season. Horse nettle, jimsonweed, and nightshade also serve as a host for the same pathogen that causes Septoria leaf spot on tomatoes. Tomato rotation without tomatoes but with these weeds, even for four years will not avoid this disease.
Armyworms marching across Ohio
Over the past couple of weeks, we have received numerous calls from curious homeowners and frustrated farmers regarding the dreaded fall armyworm. Damage to established turf is most often aesthetic. However, newly planted sod or sprigs can be severely damaged or even killed by fall armyworm feeding.
This pest has the ability to devour a lawn, pasture or hayfield in a very short period of time. It often goes unnoticed as the caterpillars feed and cause most of the damage at night. They may also migrate in large armies and invade landscapes consuming all above-ground parts of herbaceous ornamentals. They seem to prefer feeding on the flowers of chrysanthemums, and other ornamentals. They tend to feed on the foliage of ornamental grasses.
One of the first signs of a fall armyworm infestation will be several birds clustered on the turf. Fall armyworms will eat many kinds of grass, Homeowners frequently notice them after their grass starts to thin.
Armyworms are susceptible to cold and thus will not survive an Ohio winter. Each year, fall armyworm moths are carried by air currents from Central and South America. The size and timing of the initial moth flights are two factors that influence the outbreak potential of the pest.
To check for armyworms, simply mix about 2 tablespoons of lemon-scented dishwashing detergent in 1 gallon of water and pour it over a 1 square foot area of the lawn. If armyworms are present, they will quickly come to the top of the sod.
Several insecticides are available that will provide effective control of fall armyworms. They include carbaryl (Sevin), Bacillus thuringiensis (Dipel WP), spinosad (Conserve) and various pyrethroids. Always read and follow label directions carefully.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: OSU Extension can challenge you to be more grateful
