Polk County Social
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 22, 2017 7A
Head off houseplant pests with vigilance and cleanliness
CORVALLIS, Ore. – In-
sects lurking under leaves,
climbing up stems and set-
tling into the soil of house-
plants frustrate indoor gar-
deners to no end.
But there are answers, ac-
cording to experts with Ore-
gon State University’s Ex-
tension Service.
Winter is a good time to
check indoor plants for sap-
sucking insects like mites,
thrips, mealybugs, scales,
whiteflies and aphids. Spot-
ting problems and respond-
ing to them early can keep
populations from exploding.
There are a number of
strategies to keep your in-
door pests at bay without re-
sorting to chemical controls.
First of all, learn your
houseplants’ needs and
keep them healthy with the
correct amount of light,
water and nutrition.
Stressed plants encourage
problems. For example, hot,
dry and dusty conditions
promote mite outbreaks,
and feeding plants too
much high-nitrogen fertiliz-
er makes for a delicious din-
K YM
P OKORNY
Your
Garden
ner for aphids.
When you spot some in-
sects, it’s necessary to identify
the pest before treating since
different insects require dif-
ferent treatments. If you don’t
know, put a few infested
leaves in a plastic bag and go
to your nearest Extension of-
fice, or take a photo and sub-
mit it to Ask an Expert, an on-
line Extension question-and-
answer feature.
Once you determine that
you’ve got a problem, iso-
late infested plants from
others so the insects don’t
spread from plant to plant.
If whiteflies are present,
you can carefully vacuum
them off with a hand-held
vacuum, dislodge them
with a soft spray of water or
wipe leaves with a sponge. If
you go the vacuum route,
freeze the bag to kill the
contents.
Another trick is to place
aluminum foil around the
base of a plant. This may
disorient winged pests like
thrips and aphids and dis-
courage them from landing.
Or paint a small dish yellow
and fill it with water to at-
tract and drown them.
Use yellow sticky traps,
available at garden centers,
to capture aphids and
whiteflies. Blue sticky traps
are good for snaring adult
thrips while white ones
work best for adult fungus
gnats. Kill fungus gnat larvae
that live in the soil by reduc-
ing the amount of water you
give plants; they love mois-
ture. Also, remove standing
water in the saucer.
Swabbing bug-ridden
leaves with a small paint-
brush dipped in rubbing al-
cohol will destroy soft-bod-
ied aphids and mealybugs.
This works best when infes-
tations have just gotten
started.
Some pests can be easily
eliminated by shaking them
onto a sheet of paper and
discarding; or by hand if
you are not too squeamish.
Pinch off heavily infested
leaves or other plant parts
and destroy.
Spray plants plagued by
soft-bodied pests with gen-
tle insecticidal soaps or light
horticultural oils available
at garden centers. These
may hurt some plants, so
spot treat one leaf first. Also,
soaps and oils are not as ef-
fective on winged adults,
because they fly off and
come back later.
You may want to consider
throwing out heavily infested
plants. Discard soil and clean
the pot or container as well.
If you feel you have to re-
sort to chemical pesticides,
keep in mind that few pesti-
cides are registered or con-
sidered safe for indoor use
on houseplants. Read labels
carefully for where and how
to use a pesticide. If indoor
use is not listed on the label,
take the plant to be treated
outside, away from children
and pet traffic areas. Leave
the plant outside a day or
two after spraying.
MI TOWN
Tomorrow is Thanksgiv-
ing, and many of us in MI
Town are planning celebra-
tions with family and friends
from near and far. We’ll be
reflecting on Thanksgivings
past, and of the changes
we’ve seen over the years.
Whether we’re sitting down
to a sumptuous feast at a
beautiful table set with
china and crystal and high-
ly-polished silver, or having
a simple meal of soup and
bread, this is a time to pause
and be thankful that our
lives are as good as they can
be.
—
We’re thankful to be
members of communities
that look upon members of
our younger generations in
a positive and optimistic
way. Both the Monmouth
Independence Community
Foundation and Emeritus
have donated scholarships
to graduating seniors from
Central High School, as well
as providing enrichment
grants and interesting pro-
grams for MI Town. Please
P ATTY
T AYLOR
D UTCHER
Columnist
take a moment to see if ei-
ther (or both) of these very
worthy community organi-
zations can be included on
your Christmas gift list. Con-
tr ibutions are tax de-
ductible, and you’ll feel
good about your entire con-
tribution going to scholar-
ships and assistance for
these dedicated groups of
volunteers.
—
Be sure to mark your cal-
endars for the Monmouth
Garden Club’s Greens Sale,
which will be held at Central
Baptist Church on Highway
99 beginning Nov. 29.
Wreaths and Christmas and
holiday décor will be avail-
able from 10 a.m. until 6
p.m. on Nov. 29 and 30, and
from 10 a.m. until noon on
Dec. 1. Custom orders are
available — just stop by dur-
ing sale hours and talk to
any of the talented and
hard-working volunteers.
—
With the holidays upon
us, this is a good idea to go
through those bookshelves
and bedside tables and to
find those gently used books
you weren’t going to read
again anyway. Friends of the
Monmouth Library will be
having an on-going book
sale through December, so
here’s your chance to find
more room in your bookcas-
es (Full disclosure: This is a
great opportunity to find
gifts for others, or some-
thing for yourself.).
—
Continuing with my med-
ical diagnosis and journey,
the biopsy went well, with
the physician and techni-
cian very informative and
easy to talk with. They took
me step by step through the
process, explaining the little
click noise that would hap-
pen every time she took a
sample. When she took a
sample, she would say “3-2-
1,” and then click. They took
five samples and placed a
piece of metal (Titanium?)
to indicate to the surgeon
just where the mass is locat-
ed. Very interesting to be in-
volved in the conversation,
no pain at all because of the
Lidocaine which was ad-
ministered very gently.
—
While Don and dogs were
on their morning walk the
next day, I vacuumed the liv-
ing room rug and hoped
they didn’t notice. Then as
Don and Chris were clean-
ing gutters, I made a potato
salad, some guacamole and
sliced tomatoes and cheese
to add to a lettuce plate for
sandwiches later. I am a bit
weary from all the effort, but
am going to curl up in the
comfy chair and perhaps
take a little nap. I’m feeling
very grateful for family and
friends and want to let them
know that I’m stronger than
I think. Now I just need to
convince myself.
A RLENE
K OVASH
Columnist
the setting up; they really
couldn’t do it without their
help.
—
Brennan Burbank got his
elk this year — his second,
the first being when he was
12 — 15 years ago. He didn’t
say where. He and his dad,
Dave Burbank, cut it up
themselves, which took
most of a day. Nice to have a
full freezer. Daniel Russell
got his deer this year, as did
Billy Traglia, who shared his
with a cougar. Anyone else?
—
I’m writing this from Min-
neapolis, where we just re-
turned from the biggest mall
in the U.S., the Mall of
America. It’s not just for
shopping, although it has
520 stores and restaurants,
but also has an amusement
park in the middle complete
with two roller coasters and
a ferris wheel, a huge aquar-
ium, a Lego store with full
size dragon made of Legos, a
miniature golf course, and
much more. Wow. Families
actually take their vacations
there because of all there is
to do. It’s the second largest
in the world, and much big-
ger than downtown Pedee.
—
The Polk County Women
Larry & Nancy Wilson - 50th
Larry and Nancy will
celebrate their 50th an-
niversary with renewal
of their wedding vows
o n Nov. 2 5 a t t h e
church where they were
married; the Commu-
nity Church of Poway.
They will be attended
by their original Matron
o f Ho n o r, C h e r y l
Brown, and Best Man,
Bob Guy, and sur-
rounded by several
family members, including their oldest son, Todd, from St.
Louis, Mo., their granddaughter, Ariel, and her husband,
Nick Wilson, of Salem, their grandson, Carter, and his
mom, Renee Wilson, both from Dallas.
Larry retired in 2009, as an engineer from Quest, after
more than 50 years of working in three states and for sev-
eral variations of Ma Bell. Nancy retired in 2012, as a
physical therapist assistant from Salem Health West Valley
Hospital.
They both are volunteers at Salem Health West Valley
Hospital, driving the Connections Van. They have enjoyed
traveling, including a 34-state, eight-week road trip across
the USA. Winter usually finds them flying to find sun-
shine, especially Maui. But summer finds them tending
their garden and spending most Saturdays at a car show
with their 1935 Chevy, a project that took a “village” and
10 years to restore, and Nancy has taken pictures of all of
the above.
Following the vow renewal, the couple plan a night in
Catalina then to Disneyland and San Francisco. They will
be home in time to welcome everyone to an open house
on Dec. 9, hosted by Ariel, Nick, Carter and Renee Wilson.
It will be held at 705 SE Walnut Ave., in Dallas. Light
snacks and beverages will be available from 2 to 5 p.m.
Please come by and share the happiness. In lieu of gifts,
consider an ornament to go on the Golden Anniversary
Tree.
Happy 90th
Birthday
to Joan Cobine
We love you Mom!!
WWW.POLKIO.COM
PEDEE NEWS
It was another good year
for the Pedee Women’s Club
holiday fair. The soup and
pie were close to selling out,
with lines out the door from
10 a.m. till almost 2 p.m..
They did well with their new
menu item, hotdogs, too,
with only a few left at the
end of the day. This was the
first year for the silent auc-
tion, which was popular,
and several quilts club
members had made were
sold. The vendors seemed
pleased, too. The soldier
quilt which they sold tickets
for most of the year was won
by Lisa Willden, of Pedee,
the first time a Pedee resi-
dent won. The women ap-
preciated and thank the
men of the Pedee Fire De-
partment, who helped with
ANNIVERSARY
for Agriculture is sponsoring
their seventh annual Consti-
tutional Essay Contest this
year and set the deadline for
Dec. 31 so students can work
on their essays during the
holidays. The contest is open
to all Polk, Benton, and Mar-
ion county high school stu-
dents, including home-
schoolers, and I’m hoping
Pedee students will enter.
Prizes are $250 for first place,
$100 for second place, and
$50 for third place. Also, each
entry will receive a $5 Dutch
Bros. card and a pocket Con-
stitution. This year, students
will have a choice of three
different questions to an-
swer, so they can choose
what they like. Email me, Ar-
lene, at kovasha@gmail.com
for a flyer with the rules.
Visit our
website,
www.polkio.com
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Matinees are all shows
before 6pm. New pricing for
matinees are: Adult $8.00
Children $7.00 • Senior $7.25
Pricing does not reflect
3D showings.
Friday - Sunday • November 24-26
DADDY’S HOME 2 (Digital) (PG13) (12:10 2:30 4:55) 7:20 9:45
THE STAR (Digital) (PG)
(12:25 2:35 4:45) 6:55 9:05
*COCO (Digital) (PG)
(With Short: Olaf’s Frozen Adventure) (12:45 12:55 3:40 3:50)
6:45 9:40
THOR: RAGNAROK (Digital) (PG13)
(12:50 3:45) 6:45 9:40
*JUSTICE LEAGUE (Digital) (PG13)
(1:35 4:20)
6:35 7:05 9:50
BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS (Digital) (R)
9:20
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (Digital) (PG13)
(1:55 4:35) 7:15 9:55
WONDER (Digital) (PG)
(1:30 4:10) 6:50 9:30
Monday - Tuesday • November 27-30
Kelly K. Denney
Financial Advisor
503-623-2146
244 E. Ellendale, Suite 2
Dallas, OR 97338
Ben Meyer,
AAMS ®
Bob Timmerman
Financial Advisor
503-623-5584
503-606-3048
193 E. Main Street
Monmouth, OR 97361
Financial Advisor
159 SW Court Street
Dallas, OR 97338
DADDY’S HOME 2 (Digital) (PG13)
(2:30 4:55) 7:20
THE STAR (Digital) (PG)
(2:35 4:45) 6:55
*COCO (Digital) (PG)
(With Short: Olaf’s Frozen Adventure) (12:45 12:55 3:40 3:50)
6:45
THOR: RAGNAROK (Digital) (PG13)
(12:50 3:45) 6:45
*JUSTICE LEAGUE (Digital) (PG13)
(1:35 4:20)
6:35 7:05
BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS (Digital) (R)
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (Digital) (PG13)
(1:55 4:35) 7:15
WONDER (Digital) (PG)
(1:30 4:10) 6:50
*Starred attraction, no passes accepted for first 17 days