EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University extension educators offer expert advice to farmers and growers year-round. Recently, they addressed tips to potato farmers, Christmas tree operators and those who use ground sprayers.

Ground sprayers apply pesticides to field crops and vegetables, according to MSU Water Quality Educator Christina Curell.

There’s a different kind of sprayer that’s used to apply pesticides to trees, as well as the aerial method. Curell said it’s important for growers to get the water out of their hoses so they don’t freeze and crack.

“This is what they should do every year,” she said. “This is just a good reminder. This is a busy time of year, harvest is in, people are tired and this is just one more thing that people have to do.”

Curell said farmers should take the water that’s used to clean out their sprayer, called rinsate, to a Clean Sweep distribution site, which is sponsored by the state of Michigan. A location sheet for these sites is available by looking up Clean Sweep at www.michigan.gov

Barring that, Curell’s advice is to dump the rinsate as far from any source of water as possible and not allow it to form a puddle.

Another issue that comes up this time of year has to do with Christmas trees and a condition called stippling. According to Jill O’Donnell, extension educator in MSU’s forestry department, stippling is the yellowing of interior needles in Fraser and Concolor fir trees caused by mite feeding. The needles will also shed.

“Damage from mites is not a big problem, but something we can see each year,” O’Donnell said.

In Scotch and white pine trees, inner yellowing is normal in early autumn. When normal stress is the cause of needle shedding, however, it only occurs in 1-5 percent of the trees in a stand.

O’Donnell advises growers to develop a treatment plan for their entire stock if symptoms are caused by spider mites.

Also, on occasion cut Fraser fir trees can develop a vertical crack in the trunk. This is caused by the sudden loss of moisture that comes with the tree having been cut.

According to Jeff Owen, extension educator at North Carolina State University, Christmas tree operators can minimize tree trunk splitting by taking certain precautions: these include providing shade for the cut tree, humidity if possible and shelter from the wind. According to Owen, small trunk cracks will not crack the bark, but large ones will.

When Trunks Crack: What Should You Do? by Owen, is available online.

Late blight is another topic that’s timely, especially given the increased interest in farmers’ markets and home vegetable gardening. That’s according to James Isleib, MSU extension educator.

Although large commercial potato growers are generally careful to use fungicides and are aware of late blight, home gardeners and small commercial growers of potatoes and tomatoes may not be. According to Isleib, growers who do not control late blight at the end of the year may be setting the stage for an outbreak the following spring.

Isleib recommends growers take the following steps to control late blight:

•Use only certified seed potatoes

•Don’t plant seed potatoes from last year’s garden

•Destroy volunteer potato plants

•Leave diseased tubers and waste tomatoes on the ground to freeze over winter.

•Use fungicides; he suggests Daconil or Manzate

•Apply fungicides about every seven days

If symptoms develop, pull up the diseased plant from the roots and put it in a sealed plastic bag. Don’t open it up because spores from the disease can travel through the air. Get rid of diseased plants as soon as possible.

In early spring, don’t throw waste potatoes outside, because they can survive during this period. Check tubers regularly after harvest because infected ones can quickly decompose. More about late blight, growing potatoes in a home garden and other potato related information is available at www.mipotato.com