Now that the weather is finally hot enough, tomatoes and peppers should be setting fruit. That also means it's time to start checking your plants for insect and disease damage.

If you see a bit of early blight on tomatoes, be sure to pinch off the damaged leaves and put them in the garbage. Even after the damaged leaves are removed, the fungus keeps producing spores as long as there is any remnant of the leaf it can cling to.I've seen slugs and spider mite damage galore. All this wet weather has been kind to slugs. I hate reaching into my lettuce and encountering a slimy slug. Now that my lettuce is over, I hope the slugs go away too.Now to your questions.Q. How can I get rid of Japanese beetles? They are eating all the leaves on my fruit plants. This is the worst I've ever seen.A.Japanese beetles are vulnerable at two points in their life cycle, and it's good to attack them when they are grubs as well as when they are feeding on your raspberries. The adult beetles are very active from the end of June through July. During that time they are mating and laying eggs in the soil.The grubs hatch and burrow further into the ground where they will overwinter and feed on plant roots, grass roots being their favorite. In the spring you can apply a biological control called milky spoor to areas where the grass looks dead.Milk spoor contains the well-known soil bacteria called BT that we use on gypsy moths, and it does the same thing to Japanese beetle grubs.Once the beetles emerge and start attacking your plants, there are a couple of ways to minimize the damage. One way is to cover vulnerable plants with insect net or row cover during the early summer mating period.If it's food crops you are protecting, you can make a low tunnel out of PVC conduit and cover the tunnel with row cover or insect netting. The tunnel keeps the netting from sticking to the plants.Finally you can spray the leaves of your plant with an insecticide designed to kill Japanese beetles. Insecticidal soap and neem oil won't work on beetles. If you do spray, remember to protect the bees. Don't use the powder form because it sticks to bees.Also, either protect the flowers from the spray, or remove them before you spray so bees don't pick up toxins when they pollinate. Finally, don't use a systemic insecticide because it makes the flowers and roots toxic which means it will kill beneficial insects and soil microbes.Here are some internet references you can look up on Japanese beetle control: Japanese Beetles on the Ornamental Landscape Plants (NC State Extension), How to Identify and Get Rid of Japanese Beetles (The Old Farmer's Almanac), and Use a Trap Crop to Control Japanese Beetles (Cedar Circle Farm Organic Farm Stand and Education Center).Q. I sprayed my lawn with an herbicide and some of it got on my evergreen tree. Can I save it?A.The tree will likely recover but it is doubtful that you will get new growth to cover the scar. It's important to remember that chemically treated turf grass is not a good neighbor to landscape trees, vegetable gardens, flower beds, or the compost heap. That's why it's a good idea to have a mulch barrier between treated grass and other plants in the landscape and garden.Even on a still day, spray can be carried by a sudden puff of wind. It's also why you should use a mulching mower when you cut the grass. That way the nitrogen is returned to the soil and none of those chemically treated grass blades end up doing damage elsewhere.I can see from your photo that your tree is struggling to feed itself with your turf grass covering its root zone. The grass is competing for the same nutrients.I recommend you remove the grass up to the drip line of the tree and put down 2 inches of good compost to improve the tree roots. Then make sure the tree gets at least an inch of water a week when we don't get enough rain.Penn State Extension is now taking names for the October master gardener training class. Call Kathy Storaska, extension office manager, to get your name on the list. Calls will be returned and interviews set up near September. You may also call her to leave your questions for this column. Master gardeners are in the office on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon. To contact the office, call 570-325-2788 or email Kathy at

kms814@psu.edu.