TCI EXPO 2026 · Fort Lauderdale · Nov 12–14

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National Snapshot

The season narrows to the trees that stay green

As deciduous clients go quiet, the conifer and evergreen work takes the chart. Elongate hemlock scale — the "other" hemlock pest — is this week's feature, because the same fall oil pass that treats HWA can miss it if you don't know to look. Michigan adds a fourteenth county to its box tree moth quarantine (see the alert), SLF and spongy moth masses keep accumulating until hard frost, dormant-oil and antidesiccant bookings fill, and the last uptake-dependent soil work finishes from the north down. Oak pruning runs wide open.

Sap feeder

Elongate hemlock scale hides on needle undersides while HWA wool steals the show — flip tips for both before writing the hemlock ℞ (see the featured pest). The fall oil window serves both, but the materials call differs.

Invasive

Box tree moth — Michigan's quarantine grows to 14 counties with Genesee added (see the alert). SLF & spongy moth masses accumulate until hard frost — keep the scrape-and-tally pass going; de-mass firewood before it travels.

Evergreen

Winter desiccation prevention starts now: deep-water broadleaf evergreens and conifers into dormancy, book antidesiccant applications for after true dormancy, and get windbreak/burlap plans onto winter work orders.

Disease

Leaf-drop sprays in their window: copper/chlorothalonil for curl, shot hole, and Pseudomonas as leaves come down; boxwood blight stays live in cool wet spells; dormant canker removal on fire-blight hosts once fully dormant.

Planning

Oak pruning wide open across the North; deer guards on young trees before rut peaks; cable/brace and risk work beats the first ice storm; dormant-oil routes filling for late fall and early spring.

Deadline

Soil work closes by latitude — last phosphite / mefenoxam drenches and fall injections finish where soil still reads above ~45°F; probe, don't guess. Northern Plains and upper New England are done; Mid-Atlantic has a couple weeks left.

Methodology Note

How we report growing degree days

Growing degree days accumulate from January 1 and only climb through the season. Each region's reading is anchored to the latest measured cooperative-extension station data (base 50°F), so figures track real, on-the-ground heat rather than the calendar. Because published station data can lag by a week or two, always confirm against your nearest local station (NEWA, Enviroweather, or your state tool) before timing an application.

Pest on the Chart · This Week

Elongate Hemlock Scale

Fiorinia externa

This week's pest on the chart, because it rides in HWA's shadow — and outlasts the easy fix. Elongate hemlock scale is an armored scale that settles on the undersides of hemlock and fir needles, flat, waxy, and yellow-brown, bleeding chlorotic bands into the upper needle surface while the white wool of HWA next to it gets all the attention. Heavily infested hemlocks thin from the lower-inner canopy outward, and the two pests together accelerate decline faster than either alone. The catch for your program: crawlers emerge over a long, ragged season rather than one clean window, and the scale's armor shrugs off treatments that handle adelgid — which is why "we already oiled it for HWA" hemlocks keep declining.

Scout

Needle undersides

Hosts

Hemlock·Fir

Rx Note

Not just HWA

℞ — Flip the same branch tips you're checking for wool and look at the needle undersides: elongated, waxy yellow-brown covers in rows mean scale, and a mixed infestation changes the prescription. Thorough-coverage horticultural oil in the fall window suppresses both pests — coverage of needle undersides is everything with an armored scale. For systemic work, know the difference: dinotefuran (basal bark or soil) has activity on elongate hemlock scale and HWA both, while imidacloprid — the HWA standby — is weak on armored scales. Skip pyrethroids entirely; they remove the natural enemies that keep EHS suppressed and flare it. On heavy mixed infestations, set client expectations for a multi-year program: oil now, systemic in spring, and re-checks — and inspect incoming hemlock and fir nursery stock before it plants, because that's how EHS arrives.

Regional Alert

Michigan's Boxwood Map Grows

One verified quarantine move this cycle — and it's a pattern worth noting: the find came from USDA trapping at the edge of the existing zone, exactly where containment lines get tested.

Michigan

Genesee Co. is BTM county #14 — MDARD is adding Genesee County to its box tree moth interior quarantine after USDA trapping confirmed a population near the edge of the existing 13-county southeastern Michigan zone (announced Sept 22). The rules travel with the line: no movement of boxwood material — living or dead — out of the regulated area without a compliance agreement, nursery movement inside the zone only under MDARD stipulations, and Buxus yard waste moves only sealed, March–October, to sites with no boxwood within 100 yards. Suspect finds outside the zone: photograph and report at Michigan.gov/ReportBTM — and notify MDARD before spraying or disposing.

Standing

Districts hold — no other new orders verified this week: laurel wilt (Suffolk Co., NY), oak wilt (Finger Lakes, NY), box tree moth (8 MD + 3 NJ counties, OH federal zone), HLB (Imperial Co., CA), Minnesota's spongy moth zones, and the 2026 EAB quarantine footprints in Maine, Texas, and Oregon all stand as reported.

℞ Edges are where you earn your keep. If your routes touch a quarantine boundary — any pest, any state — the boxwood, ash, and oak just outside the line deserve your closest looks. That's where the next county gets added, and early reports keep zones small.

Soil-Borne Disease Watch

Close the Books Below Ground

The below-ground season ends as an accounting exercise: finish what's still open in the south, and turn this fall's field notes into next year's proposals.

Last Calls

Southern-tier soil work — where soil still probes above ~45°F — the Mid-Atlantic's last weeks, the Southeast and Gulf comfortably — finish phosphite / mefenoxam drenches on Phytophthora ground and any remaining soil systemics. North of that line, bank it for spring and write it into the proposal now.

The Winter File

Mushroom map → work orders — close out the fall mapping: every Armillaria cluster, Ganoderma conk, girdling root, and buried flare logged since September becomes a line item — risk assessments, removals, collar excavations, replant specs. The PNW keeps mapping; everyone else starts writing.

Sanitation

Last leaves, last loads — final diseased-litter passes as leaf drop finishes: BLD beech litter stays on site, tar-spot and scab leaves out of the compost loop, and drainage/grade fixes wrap before the ground sets up.

℞ A finding without a work order is a lost season. The root-zone file you built since September is the winter proposal packet — write it up while the photos are fresh.

Regional Rx · 6 Zones

Read your zone like a chart

Each card reports the region's growing-degree-day reading (the vital sign that drives every timing call), what's active now (Diagnose), and how to time treatment (℞). GDD ranges are typical for the week, base 50°F from Jan 1 — always confirm against your nearest station.

NE

Northeast & New England

ME · NH · VT · MA · RI · CT · NY

GDD · Accumulated

~2,550–3,000

0

1,500

3,000+

Conditions: Heat accumulation is done for the year inland; leaf drop past peak in the north. Hemlock work headlines: HWA wool plus elongate hemlock scale checks on every stop. Laurel wilt (Suffolk Co.) and oak wilt (Finger Lakes) districts stand.

Diagnose · Active Now

•

Hemlocks: flip tips for HWA wool and EHS on needle undersides — mixed infestations are the rule in southern New England.

•

Cankerworm bands up and catching after inland frosts — tally weekly; coastal winter moth flight comes with the November warm spells.

•

SLF masses accumulating; EAB blonding readable at leaf-off — log every flaked ash (Maine's 2026 municipality list keeps growing).

•

Deer rubs active on young smooth-barked trees.

℞

Prescribe · Timing & Materials

•

Hemlocks: fall-rate horticultural oil with underside coverage for HWA + EHS; dinotefuran where systemic rescue is warranted; imidacloprid alone won't carry scale.

•

Winterize evergreens: deep-water into dormancy; book antidesiccant passes for post-dormancy; burlap screens on exposed yews and boxwood.

•

Soil work: closed across most of the region — bank remaining drenches for spring.

•

Oak pruning: wide open — work the winter list; keep district wood local.

MA

Mid-Atlantic & DMV

NY · NJ · PA · MD · DE · DC · VA · WV

GDD · Accumulated

~3,350–4,000

0

1,500

3,000+

Conditions: Peak leaf drop arrives; oak pruning in full swing. SLF egg-laying continues through hard frost in the region's heaviest populations; box tree moth zones stand (8 MD + 3 NJ counties), and boxwood blight stays live in every cool wet spell.

Diagnose · Active Now

•

SLF masses fresh on bark, stone, firewood, and staged equipment — scraping continues.

•

Hemlocks: HWA wool + EHS needle-underside checks from the Poconos to the Blue Ridge.

•

Cankerworm bands catching as frosts arrive; boxwood blight vs BTM tell stays relevant (streaks + fast defoliation, no chewing).

•

Leaf-drop spray targets at timing on curl, shot-hole, and Pseudomonas hosts.

•

Deer rubs ramping toward rut peak.

℞

Prescribe · Timing & Materials

•

Hemlocks: fall horticultural oil underside pass; dinotefuran for mixed HWA/EHS on high-value trees.

•

Leaf-drop sprays: copper / chlorothalonil as leaves come down; no fall nitrogen on fire-blight hosts.

•

SLF: scrape into alcohol; de-mass firewood and equipment before movement.

•

Soil work: a couple of weeks left where soils read above ~45°F — probe and finish; BLS injections still wait until spring.

•

Deer: guards on young trees and every fall install.

SE

Southeast

NC · SC · GA · TN · KY · AL · MS · FL

GDD · Accumulated

~4,300–5,300

0

1,500

3,000+

Conditions: Hurricane season runs through November — keep the post-storm habit. Upland frosts bring cankerworm banding and the first dormant-season work south; the coastal plain keeps planting and growing.

Diagnose · Active Now

•

Cankerworm bands catching in piedmont history cities after upland frosts.

•

Hemlocks (southern Apps): HWA + EHS checks on KY/TN/NC highland hemlocks — same flip-the-tip pass.

•

Boxwood blight active in cool wet spells; laurel wilt on the scout list.

•

Ambrosia beetles on storm wood; Phytophthora drainage fixes during planting season.

℞

Prescribe · Timing & Materials

•

Banding: tally weekly; heavy counts book spring Btk at bud break.

•

Hemlocks: fall oil with underside coverage; dinotefuran where EHS rides with HWA.

•

Fall planting: prime window continues — root-ball inspection, flares high, deer guards at install.

•

Palms (FL / Gulf): keep OTC injection programs current where lethal bronzing is managed.

SC

South-Central & Plains

TX · OK · AR · LA · KS · NE · SD · ND · NM

GDD · Accumulated

~2,750–5,150

No. Plains

—

Gulf Coast

Conditions: Northern Plains are frozen in or close to it; the Gulf stays mild and workable. EAB compliance season continues across the eight new 2026 Texas counties; pecan harvest sanitation is the quiet money job.

Diagnose · Active Now

•

EAB blonding readable at leaf drop across the Texas front — every flaked ash is an inventory lead.

•

Pecan harvest sanitation — infested drops and shucks seed next year's weevils.

•

Pine wilt kills flagged for winter removal in KS/NE windbreaks; Ips / Hypoxylon on drought-stressed trees.

•

Deer rubs heavy on shelterbelt and young trees as rut arrives.

℞

Prescribe · Timing & Materials

•

EAB: inventory ash in quarantine counties; emamectin benzoate injections still viable in the southern half while trunk/soil temps allow; keep ash wood inside the lines.

•

Pecans: pick up and destroy drops — cheapest weevil control on the calendar.

•

Pine wilt: winter removals scheduled; preventive abamectin / emamectin injections booked for spring on high-value pines.

•

Shelterbelts: final deep watering where ground hasn't frozen; trunk guards up.

•

Oak wilt: paint every wound year-round; keep oak wood local.

MW

Midwest & Great Lakes

OH · MI · IN · IL · WI · MN · IA · MO

GDD · Accumulated

~3,050–3,750

0

1,500

3,000+

Conditions: Hard frosts region-wide; leaf drop past peak in the north. Michigan's box tree moth quarantine grows to 14 counties with Genesee added (see the alert); spongy moth egg-mass tallies continue (WI rising, MN zones active); HWA stands at 11 Michigan counties.

Diagnose · Active Now

•

Box tree moth — Genesee Co. joins the MI quarantine; boxwood checks (webbing, chewing, green-black frass) on every route in SE Michigan.

•

Spongy moth + SLF masses — one tally-and-scrape pass covers both; cankerworm bands catching.

•

Hemlocks (MI): HWA wool + EHS underside checks along the shoreline counties.

•

EAB blonding readable at leaf-off — firewood season compliance everywhere.

℞

Prescribe · Timing & Materials

•

BTM: report suspect boxwood outside quarantine at Michigan.gov/ReportBTM before spraying or disposal; compliance agreements for Buxus movement; bag debris per MDARD rules.

•

Egg masses: scrape into soapy water or oil; de-mass firewood and anything leaving MN's zones or the federal quarantine.

•

HWA: fall oil or dinotefuran; report new counties to MDARD/DNR.

•

Soil work: closed in the north — probe before any remaining southern-tier drench.

•

Oak pruning: wide open; deer guards on young trees.

W

West & Pacific

CA · OR · WA · NV · AZ · CO · UT · ID · MT · WY

GDD · Accumulated

Highly variable

Coast / high elev.

—

Inland / low desert

Conditions: PNW rains established — Armillaria mapping continues at peak; high country winterizes. Oregon's five-county EAB zone and Imperial Co. HLB district stand.

Diagnose · Active Now

•

Armillaria & Ganoderma fruiting at peak with the rains — keep the photo map growing.

•

EAB (Willamette Valley): blonding and D-holes readable at leaf drop; quarantine on ash, white fringe, and olive material.

•

Olive knot / walnut blight infection windows with each storm; adelgids woolly and visible on true firs and hemlock.

•

Winter desiccation risk building at elevation and in the interior.

℞

Prescribe · Timing & Materials

•

Copper: keep olive knot / walnut blight protection current through the storm train, per label.

•

Armillaria: photograph, map, collar-check — free diagnostics feeding winter risk proposals.

•

EAB: keep host material inside the five-county zone; report suspect finds.

•

Winterize: deep-water evergreens before freeze-up inland; antidesiccant after dormancy; guards where deer browse.

Field notes — read before you spray

One flip, two verdicts. Every hemlock branch tip you turn over this fall gets read twice — wool at the needle base is adelgid, waxy covers on the needle underside are scale — and the ℞ changes if both are home.

Report before you treat at a quarantine edge. A suspect find outside a regulated zone is regulatory data — photograph it and call it in before the sprayer or the yard-waste bag erases the evidence.

Write the winter file now. Every mushroom, flare, and band count logged since September is a proposal waiting to be typed — winter work sells in October, not in January.

Sources · Cooperative Extension & USDA

Compiled from public reporting by cooperative extension and state/federal partners, including Michigan Dept. of Agriculture & Rural Development (box tree moth quarantine expansion, Sept 22, 2026) & USDA APHIS; Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station & UMass Extension (elongate hemlock scale); Penn State Extension; Cornell NYSIPM; NY DEC & Ag and Markets; Maine DACF; Maryland Dept. of Agriculture & University of Maryland Extension; Rutgers & NJ Forest Service; NC State & Clemson; Texas A&M Forest Service & Texas Dept. of Agriculture; Oklahoma State University Extension, SDSU Extension Tree Pest Alert & LSU AgCenter (South-Central & Plains); Michigan State, Iowa State & UMN Extension; Wisconsin DNR; Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture; UC Statewide IPM Program; CDFA; Oregon Dept. of Agriculture / ODF; and USDA NIFA / Forest Service. Regional summaries are paraphrased; consult the original bulletins and your local extension office for specifics.

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