We are offering an educational opportunity to learn more about hydrangeas on June 19 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Join OSU Extension, Delaware County, as we welcome Eric Barrett, OSU Extension educator in Mahoning County, who will teach about types, care, pruning and bloom times of hydrangea. You can go to our website http://delaware.osu.edu where you can download a registration form or call the office at 740-833-2030 to register. Cost is $35, which includes handouts and a potted hydrangea to take home! Program is filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so register today.

The crops got some needed rain this past week even though it was scattered with up to 5 inches reported around Ostrander and 1 ½ inches reported just north of Delaware. Most corn and soybean fields are up around the county and the wheat is looking good for getting a little later start to planting than most years.

Job opportunity

If you are interested in a job with OSU Extension here in Delaware, we have an Agriculture/CD position — go to: http://jobsatosu.com for details and an application.

Because of the late planting in many areas, the small size of both soybean and corn plants, and the damp cool conditions, there is a greater potential for slugs. When you are out scouting your fields, no-till fields, or ones with cover crops should be checked closely as they are more prone to have a history of slug problems.

According to Andy Michel, OSU Extension specialist, Entomology, we don’t have good economic thresholds for slugs in corn or soybean, yet the following guidelines are helpful in scouting for their presence and intensity. Egg and adult sampling should occur until late May/early June when newly hatched juveniles that are particularly damaging are found. “Eggs look like small, pearly BBs and are near the soil surface, buried only slightly under thin soil or residue. Juvenile slugs are quite small,” says Michel.

The most important time to sample for the smaller juvenile slugs is when defoliation is occurring. Michel says that the best technique to sample juvenile slugs is to visit the field at dusk or immediately after dark (a flashlight helps). Juvenile slugs are easily found feeding on the plants or crawling over the crop residue. Although there are different sampling procedures involving embedded soil traps with or without beer, these traps do not give a good estimate of juvenile slugs; they are more appropriate for adult slugs.

There are few rescue treatments available for severe slug damage. If caught early enough, fields may be replanted. There are two available poisoned bait options, those containing metaldehyde (Deadline MPs and others), and those with iron phosphate (an organic option).

You can read more about slugs in field crops by going to this site to get our fact sheet: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/ENT-20.