Another similar leafhopper may transmit a disease called Aster yellows. Aster yellows is vectored by the Aster leafhopper, sometimes also called the six-spotted leafhopper. Aster leafhoppers overwinter in Louisiana, Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma and are blown northward on the same winds that carry the potato leafhoppers to the area. The direction of the wind currents in any given year will determine if either leafhopper arrives in numbers adequate to cause problems. Aster yellows may occur on many hosts in the flower and vegetable garden.
Potatoes develop diseases called haywire and purple top wilt.
Carrots may develop aster yellows or hairy root. Many flower species including petunias, marigolds, zinnia, coneflowers, and many other composites may develop aster yellows. Aster yellows may be expressed as a general yellowing of the leaves and in some cases the flowers may become reduced in size, greenish in color and somewhat leaf-like. Brown rot fruit mummies are beginning to appear on plum and apricot trees in the state. Brown rot is one of the big three diseases of stone fruits along with black knot and plum pockets.