- Basil downy mildew has been reported in New Jersey. All growers should be scouting on a regular basis and applying protectant fungicides.
- Late blight was reported on potato in northern North Carolina near the Virginia border on this past week. There have been no reports of late blight in the region to date. To track late blight in the US please visit http://usablight.org/
- Cucurbit downy mildew has been reported on cucumber, butternut, acorn, and yellow summer squash as far north as central South Carolina. To track the progress of CDM in the US please visit http://cdm.ipmpipe.org/
- The first reports of bacterial leaf spot are coming in on pepper and tomato.
- Black leg has been reported in potato in southern New Jersey.
Archives for June 2015
Vegetable Disease Briefs 6-14-15
Audit Ready: 10 Tips to Help You Prepare
1. Auditors will most likely look at aerial maps of the farm prior to their visit. They may ask about water sources, buildings etc. that they see on the online map that you might not have included in your production area maps. Take a look at your farm on google maps to make sure you included everything required.
2. Auditors will not tell you how to fix a problem but can prompt you to solve a problem by asking questions about what they are seeing.
3. If you contract pesticide applications out to a third party you will need to have these spray records on hand during the USDA audit. Ideally growers should have a copy of these spray records on farm, regardless of an audit. [Read more…]
Vineyard Nutrition Monitoring
from NJ Center for Wine Research & Education
Bloom is here and it is a great time to get an accurate assessment of the nutritional status of your grapevines.
Monitoring Grapevine Nutritional Status
What to sample? Soil or leaf petioles.
Soil sampling should be performed before planting and every 3 years, primarily to track the pH. Sample each block as you would for other crops.
The more direct method for determining the nutrient status of the vine is tissue sampling, specifically petiole sampling (Figure 1. Grape leaf blade and detached petiole). Petiole sampling should be performed every 2-3 years in established plantings. You may need to sample annually when establishing the vineyard.
[Read more…]
Potato | Tomato Disease Forecast 6-12-15
Click to View | Download Report 6-12-15
Potato Disease Forecasting Report
We will be tracking DSVs for Late blight development and calculating P-days for initiating the first early blight fungicide application.
The first late blight fungicide application is recommended once 18 DSVs accumulate from green row. Green row typically occurs around the first week in May in southern New Jersey. An early season application of a protectant fungicide such as mancozeb (Dithane, Manzate, Penncozeb) or Bravo (chlorothalonil) as soon the field is accessible is suggested. Please be vigilant and keep a look out for suspect late blight infections on young plants. No late blight has been reported in our region to date.
Remember the threshold for P-days is 300! Once 300 P-days is reached for your location early blight fungicide applications should be initiated. Growers who are interested in using this model should chose the location above that is closest in proximity to their farming operation and should regularly check the Cornell NEWA website (http://newa.cornell.edu/) where this information is compiled from. Click on Pests Forecasts from the menu, select your weather station, and click on tomato diseases, set accumulation start date and a table of daily and total DSVs will be generated.
Disease severity values (DSVs) for early blight, septoria leaf spot, and tomato anthracnose development are determined daily based on leaf wetness (due to rainfall, dew) and air temperature.
On a daily basis DSV values can range from 0 to 4 where 0 = no chance for disease development to 4 = high chance for disease development.
DSVs are accumulated during the production season.Fungicide applications are based on an individually determined DSV threshold. The first fungicide application for the control of these three diseases is not warranted until 35 DSVs have accumulated from your transplanting date. After that, growers can base fungicide applications on different DSV thresholds.
Fruit IPM Report 6-9-2015
Peach
Clean Up Your Ground Cover – Plant Bugs and Native Stink Bugs: As we move into summer heat, catfacing insects become a primary target, especially in dry seasons.
Many orchards have ground covers composed of flowering weeds and clover, which makes an ideal habitat for catfacing insects. These insects breed and multiply in the ground cover, and then find their way to the fruit. Wet springs that help make a healthy ground cover (especially if it’s weeds), followed by prolonged dry periods can often aggravate catfacing damage, since the insects often move from the weedy ground covers to the fruit in the trees.
[Read more…]
Veg IPM Update: Week Ending 6/10/15
Sweet Corn
Catches of European corn borer (ECB) are now in decline through much of the state. Remaining areas of highest activity include parts of Morris and Warren counties (see ECB map).
ECB infestations are now rising in sweet corn plantings. Feeding ranges from single digits to 12% in areas where IPM personnel are operating.