Holly Greenberg - Week 8

Performing tap counts on the Dahlias. 

It is hard to believe how fast 8 weeks of this internship have flown by, along with the summer! I am constantly surprised by how applicable my new knowledge is to my everyday life, outside of work. This was another great week. 

Monday started with a trip to Clear Ridge to monitor the sticky sheets and conduct tap counts. As the beans are getting bigger, many of the pests are moving to them; exactly what we want to happen! However, the dahlias are still being damaged by other pests like caterpillars. After collecting a few samples to bring back to the lab, we headed off. We went to Raemelton, another nursery, where we talked about installing new spotted lantern fly traps. We also looked at their row of cut flowers to see why they were not doing well. Once back at the lab, we analyzed the collected insect samples and took photos using the microscope. The photos are helpful as a tool for differentiating similar insects, like caterpillars. 

On Tuesday, we collected data at our three sites in Rockville, looking for a difference in the amount of beneficial insects between trees with and without the native flower sod. It has been interesting to relate the populations of insects to their surrounding areas. Unexpectedly, the site with the most insects on the tree is closest to the road and faces the most human traffic. Later in the day, Suzanne and I scouted for pests on the Matricaria and Snapdragons. Wednesday was a slower day with some catch-up work, data entry, and lab cleanup. 

Crape Myrtle bloom in Rockville.

Thursday was Box Tree Moth day, my favorite day of the week! We found many empty pupal casings, meaning the adults are flying and will be laying eggs soon. Unfortunately, one of our sites decided to remove their boxwoods. They had a bad infestation in the spring, but the boxwoods bounced back, and we had not found any signs of a second generation on them. While a shock, it is understandable that the maintenance and expense to maintain plants battling invasive species can become too much. 

On Friday, Suzanne and I scouted for pests on our flower trials again. While outside, we noticed the dairy cows had moved a pasture closer, which meant I got to spend some time petting the cows! I wrote a piece for the IPM newsletter on different ant activities that occurred during the week. My coworker, Sheena, observed ants creating structures around the Crape Myrtle Bark Scale. The ants are protecting the scale in order to benefit by consuming the excreted honeydew. It was really interesting to learn about ants farming both aphids and scale. 

Petting one of the cows!

This week’s weekly connection focused on soil. Through the discussion, we shared our opinions on using carbon as a currency, food waste, and how this can be used in the future. I was shocked to hear that we grow enough food for 10 billion people, much of which is displaced by food waste. After hearing the lecture, I have a better understanding of the role of the Soil Conservation District. I had not heard of this organization before and was intrigued to hear they worked similarly to Extension, as they are free for farmers. I enjoyed learning about regenerative farming and the process of moving herds from one paddock to another to replicate the natural way in which bison would move. 

I am thankful for another week of experiential learning that I know will be useful in my future career. Looking ahead to next week, there are many events I am excited for!